Dads are Unsung Heros!

Here is a song to praise our Dads. Happy Father’s Day to all the stout-hearted men, fathers, and grandfathers. Even though the song Stout Hearted Men was written in the 1920’s, I would think most people can still march in place hum and hum a few bars of  this catchy tune.

Give me some men who are stout-hearted men

Who will fight for the right they adore.

Start me with ten…”

Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstien II wrote this tune in the 1920’s for a Broadway operetta that also made it to the movie screen. Nelson Eddy sang and rallied the men in the movie The New Moon in 1940.

Many artists in addition to Nelson Eddy recorded this song, including Barbra Streisand. You can still buy it on iTunes.

My Dad’s surname was Eddey which was close enough to make our family fans of Nelson Eddy. I can remember my dad playing this record on his hi-fi. My dad was also born in the 1920’s, like the operetta. And also like the operetta, which was the last of the Viennese-inspired musicals produce on Broadway, my Dad was an only child, and the Eddey name stopped with him.

The convergence of these facts got me to reminiscing about my Dad and the stout-hearted men, my grandfathers, before him. They were good men- family men, church men, solid men, who followed the rules. They were also serious men from serious times. They loved their families and they loved me in a quiet, important way. I loved them all and I thank them for the blessings of their resolute examples. Here is my song for these dear unsung heroes.

My Grandfathers

The people in my family tree generally married later in life, so my grandfathers were both born in the late 1880’s.

My Grandpa Eddey

Grandpa Eddey was born in the New York City area. He was a business man. He and his wife and child moved to a small Ohio town in the 1930’s which must have been quite a change for them. He was civic-minded and served as the president of many local clubs, like the Rotary. He played bridge and taught me how to play checkers.

My Grandpa Way grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio as a young man to care for his younger widowed sister and child. He put his plans to become a doctor on hold and he stayed in Ohio and married and raised his family. He was a grocery store manager and started out in a small, corner store, with cracker barrels in the 1920’s and lived to manage a modern grocery store. He taught me to love baseball. He would have cheered on the 1948 world series winners, the Cleveland Indians- and that was the last time! (So far!) He smoked a pipe and was proud of growing his tomatoes.

My Dad

I love this photos of my Dad focused on the apparently difficult task of giving me a bottle! Also fun to see him in his 1950’s office clothes- great tie! (Sorry Mom, not sure about those drapes!)

He was born in 1924 and lived on “Longisland” until his family moved to Ohio. He had fond memories of NYC and lived there as a young adult. But the move to Ohio enabled him to graduate from THE Ohio State University and a opened up a lifetime of cheering on the Buckeyes. He was an electrical engineer at a time when the world of computers was just powering up. Somewhere I have a photo of him in one of those rooms with the immense refrigerator-sized early computers.

My Dad came home from work, ate dinner with us, and then worked all evening. On Saturday mornings he loosened up a bit and presented what he called his western toast festival. He made my mom, sister and I all the hot buttery toast we wanted. That was fun! Thanks for being a great Dad.

I can’t remember who these debonair gentleman are (I have it written down in a file at home.) I believe they are a generation older than my Grandfather Eddey. I had to include them- they are the definition of stout-hearted!

Happy Father’s Day to all!