I have been able to trace the Beck family back to my Great Grandfather’s parents, but that is documented elsewhere so I will not dwell on it here. I will, however mention a few things that I would like to include with these ramblings.

Grandmother and Grandfather Beck did not live together during their later years. Grandmother took turns living with her four children and Grandfather lived alone, in his home, on the west side of Marcellus, Michigan. I distinctly remember his home, because he and I were good buddies and he would have me come stay with him, at times, during the summers.

Besides going to the Masonic Hall where my only pastime was watching granddad and his cronies play pitch, we would go out to Hemlock Lake fishing. Usually a pal of his would go along. Granddad used the longest cane pole that he could find, with the line five or six feet longer than the pole. He also had a unique ability to get an enormous gob of worms on his hook. With a lash up like that, it was necessary for him to get the whole mess pretty well wound up before attempting to deliver the bait to the other side of the lake. I remember one occasion when just the two of us were fishing. He had just put on a new bait, got the works all wound up, and when he cut it loose, that whole mess, hook, sinker, bait and all, hit me right side of the head, going at a speed only slightly less than orbital velocity.

Just a year or two before his death, Granddad bought a four cylinder Overland Touring Car. The Overland was the fore runner of the American Motors cars, now a part of Chrysler. If you think that some of today’s drivers are scarry with their cars, you should have seen granddad tool that Overland around. I don’t remember that he had any accidents but there were fewer cars, at that time, and I think that people were more alert to the dangers, and pedestrians were quicker. So, therefore, Granddad didn’t really have the opportunities that drivers have today. But I’ll bet you that, given the possibilities that exist now, he could put a lot of these young hot shots behind the fences.

Granddad died in 1923 at the age of 77.