[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 97 (Thursday, June 12, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1216]]
                 THE FATHERS OF THE GREATEST GENERATION

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2008

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, this year the Poe folks welcomed two new 
Texans to our brood, making me a proud grandfather of seven. With each 
new addition, I think back to my grandfathers and the influences they 
had on me growing up. While they came from very different backgrounds, 
their impressions on me as a child set an example of what a father, 
grandfather and man should be.
  My mom's father was a lanky, fiery red-headed German who was as hard-
headed as he was strong. Theodore Otto Herman Hill, or ``Thunderhead'' 
as he was more appropriately known, was born in 1899. His Prussian 
grandparents immigrated to the United States through Galveston in the 
early 1800's and settled in the growing German community in Texas to 
begin a new life.
  I remember him as being very set in his ways, very militaristic in 
his daily routines. He was meticulous in everything he did and as a 
result, he did most everything well. Like the Army, he did more before 
6 a.m. than most anyone I knew. He arose early, worked hard with his 
hands all day and reared three girls, he called ``the boys'' to work 
the cotton fields with him.
  Papa was a hunter, a taxidermist and a Teddy Roosevelt 
conservationist. He found hundreds of Apache and Comanche arrowheads on 
his land that he organized and that were later donated to the Texas 
Ranger Museum.
  He was the frontiersman type. He could tell the type of tree by 
looking at the bark or observing the leaves and predicted the weather 
by just looking at the sky and watching the habits of the animals. And 
as most men of his generation, he was tough. The only thing I think he 
was ever scared of was my grandmother--an equally fiery German. 
Theodore is a long time family name that has been passed on to my son 
and grandson.
   My dad's father was of Scots-Irish descent and a man of many hats. 
He was adopted by a neighboring family at the age of six after his 
single father decided to move on without him. As a young teenager, he 
ran away from the only real family he knew and set out to start a life 
for himself. I loved hearing his stories, some sounded like tall tales. 
Grandpa, a snake-oil salesman of sorts, rode the rails all over the 
country, selling anything and everything to earn a buck.
   After meeting my grandmother in his late teens, the two married and 
he settled down to raise a family. He became the local Assistant 
Postmaster, worked on the railroad and was a barber. He opened his own 
barber shop next door to the local bank and became so involved in the 
banking business that he ended up running the place. During the 
Depression he loaned farmers money on a hand shake. That job took him 
to Pearland, TX, where he started another local bank and sold real 
estate on the side. Interesting enough, although he was a banker he 
always paid cash and thought credit cards were a bad idea for average 
Americans. The concept of rest and relaxation was not one he could 
appreciate. He was tinkering with something every day of his life. He 
was an electrician, plumber, made furniture and had a huge garden. He 
was a leader in the local Church of Christ and never missed a service 
until his death.
   He never let the fact of his abandonment as a child be an excuse for 
anything.
   Grandpa lived to be 88 years old and he and my grandmothers were a 
large part of my life and my kids' lives. Papa was tragically killed by 
a drunk driver in the 1950s while laying asphalt for the Texas Highway 
Department. Because people married so young back then and their kids 
married young, I got to spend far more time with my grandparents than 
most kids do today.
   Neither of my grandfathers made it past 7th grade, but were far 
wiser than most men I know. While both very different, they both 
embodied the very traits that define men of their generation. They were 
the fathers of the Greatest Generation. They believed in hard work and 
providing for their families even in the depression--no excuses. They 
taught their children and their children's children the value of an 
earned dollar, pride in hard work, respect for their elders and a love 
of God and country.
   I am so thankful to have known these two men and wish there were 
more like them today. They were good men, good examples, good fathers 
and inspiring grandfathers. Happy Father's Day.
   And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________