June 15, 2017

A Father’s Day Note from Dad

Dad writes in his note:

“ Jerry—

Your grandfather, William Dote Lucas, created some handwritten diaries for several years. Attached, are entries he made for the year 1945. I thought you and Tim might be interested.

Love,
Yorpa

Happy Father’s Day!

”

The image to the right is actually a PDF of the diary. Click to read, or see my transcript with notes. It’s pretty fascinating to see what my grandfather—whom I never knew—considered worth recording. I take inspiration for this digital version from my grandfather. Read more about W. D. Lucas in a 1995 letter from Dad.

Here are a couple of clarifications from Dad:

“

“Gearl Henry” is your Daddy.  My grandfather Eckman had a daughter (my mother) who he named Pearl and a son who he named Gearl. I was named in honor of my uncle. Some years later, someone added the letter “d” to my name.

Lena was a Beattyville lass who married my brother Elwood.

I would not say my Father was “overly religious” but he was a distinctive leader of our church, which I attended until I went away to college. I continued to attend church regularly the rest of my life until a few years after we moved here. We attended a large Baptist church in Sevierville which was a distance of about 10 miles from our home. This distance and the fact that I did not appreciate a pastor they brought in, along with our hectic wedding chapel business were causes that stopped our attending church just a few years ago.

I do remember some of the events of 1945 that are mentioned in his diary...... particularly the missing in action involving my brother Elwood. Sad and bad experience.

”