My father's father was Tom, but he was known to every one in the family as Pap. Tom was a master mechanic and worked for many years for the local Ford dealership. It was said the he assembled the first motel T in the county.In those days they shipped cars by train to the dealers in crates and local assembly was required. He walked across town to work and back with his lunch in a tin lunch pail. When he came home in the evening, he was usually covered with grease and oil. He would spend as long as it took in the bathroom to come to dinner in a clean shirt,shaved and completely scrubbed of any trace of the garage. I remember his long leather strop for his pair of beautiful pearl handled straight razors. His long cleanup sessions were a constant annoyance to my grandmother, Nettie. But there was nothing that would speed his arrival at dinner until he was ready.
Tom was a baseball fan and listened to every game on the radio. He died too young (in his late 60s), probably as a result of breathing unvented exhaust fumes for many years.
