July Update

This time around I'll be all over the place with the pictures and such. I wish I had more time to dial all of this in so it's no so helter-skelter. I'm trying to reserve my day off for a half-day at the lake with my 14' aluminum fishing boat that I've had for more than 3 years and haven't gotten it wet yet (lots of luck with that, Ran).

 Let's start with a picture of my grandfather, Connie Franklin Minnick and my grandmother, Margaret Janet Minnick (nee Sanders). This is probably right at late 1925. Their son, Connie Ray, was born in April of 1927. She was born in 1908 and passed away in 1983 at age 75.

Connie Franklin died as the result of major abdominal trauma after being kicked by a horse. He died in 1932. My grandmother remarried a few years later. She married her sister, Hazel's, brother-in-law, Aaron Brown. Hazel was married to Otto Brown, of course, but the younger folks will need the timeline. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for sisters to marry brothers in those days.

What I wouldn't give for that "hoopie"!

This my dad at his apartment on Thomas street (half block off Fresno St.) in Fresno. It was only five blocks from Jones' Ambulance where I worked. This is probably late '78 or early '79. He died in April of '79 two days prior to his 52nd birthday.

 This is my grandmother prior to her getting hitched to Connie Franklin. It's interesting that she's sitting on the lap of Connie's brother, Walter who, it is speculated, may have had a shine for her prior to Connie Franklin.

It is without controversy that the Sanders family provided a ton of the talent from which the rest of the clan learned much and probably inherited much of their "ear". However, imagine the shock on Ol' Ran's face when he saw his great-grandfather, Monroe Minnick, with a fiddle in his face!! I'm not yet sure who the young fella is strangling the flat top guitar but, if he's a brother (perhaps Homer), then I can safely report that my generation got a "double whammy" of genetic musical input!

This is great-grandfather, Monroe Minnick, again. It must have been shortly prior to his demise as he died at about age 58. My greatest of thanks and gratitude to cousin, Danny Phillips, for sharing the fruit of his tireless genealogical research. Likewise, my greatest of thanks to cousin, Jimmy Sanders, who also worked hard to fill in a lot of blanks regarding our genealogy.
 

This is my great-grandmother, Margaret (nee Carlisle) Sanders with my mother, Geraldine (nee Kitchen) (Minnick) Black. She's holding the son of a close family friend, Valeta Ruth Johnson. Valeta's father, "Tut" Clark, was married to my great-aunt, Willie Roberson, for awhile but remained close friends of the family following the divorce. "Ma" Sanders died at age 70 (1961 as I recall).

I'm not sure how this picture of some skinny lanky kid got in here but ...hey. He may be related, eh? Summer of 1969 in Fresno, CA where I was staying and working at the time. First wife, Vicki, took the picture. The car is a '62 Olds 98 which I dearly love to this day. It was in this car that I also came the nearest to instantaneous death I've ever encountered.

I had just picked up my wife and our 3 day old son, Jeff, from the hospital. We were on  our way to Exeter to show off the shiny new manchild to his grandmother over there. Right at the intersection of Hwy 65 and Strathmore, some clown made a U-Turn in front of us and stopped! With oncoming traffic, I had nowhere to go but between the stopped car and the median (which is no longer there, thank God). In the three seconds I had to work with, I threaded the Olds between it and the stopped car but the right rear of the car hit the curb, vaulted up, took out the stop sign and taking part of my bumper with it. The violent right and then left turn of the steering wheel catapulted me over on top of Vicki and Jeff yet I was still in control with my left hand! Can you guess who became one of the world's greatest advocates of seat belts was after that?!

Since we're dealing with skinny kids, here's a shot of Ol' Wingnut, and his Air Scout buddies. My instructor, Ray Woodmansee, is kneeling at the right. He recently passed away. The plane is a 2 place 1947 Luscombe 8E. I received my first ten ours of instruction in that bird. Later, I soloed a new Cessno 150G a year or so later.

I've flown the Luscombe 8A and the 8E models and love them to pieces.

Have you ever wondered what an over-weight, middle-aged, white guy looked like in the 4th grade? Well, here is a shot of one of them. This is about the time I the "flying bug" bit hard. I've never found a cure  (not that I'm looking).

This is David Ray Minnick at about the 8th grade. Not sure what the pensive look was all about. Dave was in his own world most of the time. He died the first week of Dec. 1979 just a couple of weeks short of his 29th birthday.

This is, of course, Steven Craig Minnick, at about the 7th grade. After I moved to Rockford in '69, I lost contact with him until returning in '74. He had married and started a family. Unfortunately, that didn't last. He remarried a few years later and that, too, was short-lived. He died July 3, 2014 at age 60.

More really young folks. This shot is in April of '74 ( a mere 41 years ago). I had just returned to the Vally and was at my mother and Jess's home on N. Newcomb (which she only recently sold). Can you handle all of these YOUNG people? On the left is my first wife, Vicki, and I. Steve and his first wife, Cleta, by whom he fathered his daughter, Brandi, is to the right. Steve is taller than I am and yet, he married a gal shorter than my wife, Vicki, who is 5' 2" tall. Go figure.

Dave, ever thinking that he was a real guitar player, is in the background to the right. In the forefront is my daughter, Jennifer (age 3). Someone fed her and she grew up, got married, and had children of her own (making me OLD). My mother took the picture.

Bear with me while I part and parse more pictures and try to get them posted. I don't want to just flood the place with pictures without a narrative. If you've got questions, hopefully, I have answers or can get them.

There are a number of our kith and kin for whom I no longer have an e-mail address. If y'all can help me rebuild my data base (after a couple of hard drive crashes), I'd be much obliged. Ship them to "swordman49@aol.com". I'll try to use that addy as the main contact point. From there, I'll send my address from my main account in return. In fact, you may have to forward this to those that you are fairly sure don't have my address or vice versa. Thanks!!