Grandpa Bear: My Impressions

Several weeks ago I was speaking to my Aunt Veda about Grandpa Bear, family history stuff and my recent visit to Hartville, Missouri. Part of our discussion dealt with how children perceive their parents. As a child there were a lot of things she didn't know about her dad, Grandpa Bear, until years later. The reason being, as children we are not always privy to adult conversation. We don't know our parents as their friends see them. In the same way my memories and impressions of Grandpa Bear are seen through the eyes of a child who was busy playing with cousins, brothers, etc. and not that interested in being around adults. I might add that Aunt Veda's article from my previous blog was a gold mine of information about Grandpa Bear. That being said, here are some of my memories and impressions of Grandpa Bear.

The main thing that stands out about Grandpa was that he was a pretty quiet man. I don't think I ever heard him yell, shout or raise his voice. He would enter a room with a slow relaxed walk. Sometimes it was accompanied by a slight smile that came mainly by raising his eyebrows, Groucho Marx style. He liked to watch sports on TV, smoke cigars, go fishing and take home movies. I remember Grandpa getting out his projector and screen on several occassions to show his home movies. Set up in the dining room he would run the 8mm projector forward and then, unknown to us, run the movie in reverse. It's easy to go down a slide but HOW did we go up the slide? It was a mystery to me and always great fun to watch.


The pictures show my cousin Mike and I on the swing set/slide and also show us as toddlers with Grandpa. Being the same age and living in Springfield we spent a lot of time together. When our Moms were working we would stay with Grandma Bear. When Mom took me there in the mornings I would cry when she left. Grandma Bear would send me to her closet to cry so the neighbors wouldn't think she was beating me. It wasn't long before I learned to come in to Grandma's house, run to the closet and then start crying. In the afternoon when Grandpa came home from work we would be watching the Mickey Mouse Club. Grandpa would sing along at the end and say "Mickey Rat". If we were at Grandparents on saturday afternoon you could find Grandpa watching "The Game of the Week" hosted by Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese.
Eventually Grandpa & Grandma saved and bought some camping equipment and a boat, motor and trailer. Trips to Table Rock Lake on weekends became more frequent. When our family lived in Illinois my brother Gregg and I came to Missouri and spent some time with both sets of Grandparents. While with Grandpa and Grandma we went to Table Rock Lake with them and some of their friends, the Luttrells and the Boatwrights. It was on this trip Gregg called Grandpa "Fritz-to". We swam, fished, slept, usual camping stuff, nothing real outstanding but it was fun to be with them for several days like that.
Grandpa and Grandma did visit us in Illinois and I can remember going to a K-mart type store that had a small carnival. (few rides, an elephant, etc) I said, "Come on Grandpa, lets go see the circus". I remember him quietly saying there were no real circuses left. Years later when I read Aunt Veda's article it struck me why he had said that, since he had been in a circus as a young man.
In the summer of 1964 our family moved from Illinois back to Missouri. Before we moved into our Lebanon house we stayed a few weeks in Springfield or Strafford with grandparents. We had moved away from Springfield when I was five and had only vacationed back in Missouri on occassions. Gregg, Gary, Scott and Mark were all born while we lived away from Springfield. In fact Mark was born in June of 1964. We had only lived in Lebanon for about 2 months when Grandpa died at age 71 in October. Except for Gregg coming with me for the summer trip my other brothers really didn't get to be around Grandpa very much. Again, I don't know that much about Grandpa Bear except memories and what I've read and heard from Grandma, Mom,Aunts and cousins. As a young man Grandpa was active playing in and directing town bands in the places his family lived. That's probably why Grandma Bear was so encouraging to me in my music studies.
I guess Grandpa Bear must have made some kind of impression on me. My Mom wrote in a letter from Sept. 1963 to Grandpa and Grandma...
" You'll think I'm making this up but I'm not- Jimbo ask me how old I'd like to be - and I told him - then ask him the same question in return - he said 50 or 60. I ask him why - He said so he could be a grandpa and be nice to his grandchildren - so I say he was very pleased to have grandparents."
-30-

Grandpa Bear: aka "Fritz-toe"

This past weekend LaDonna and I took opportunity for a get-away to Springfield, to see a minor league baseball game and visit Mom, Matt & Brandy. We also took a brief side trip to Hartville, MO. It was my plan to visit some gravesites of family members from the Bear side of my heritage. Sites in particular we were looking for included Grandpa Bears parents, Samuel & Sabrina Bear, his first wife Lula Belle, who died in childbirth, and a sister of Mom's, Mary Coleen Bear who died from a ruptured appendix. (so I was told). It was an interesting trip. We found all the gravesites except for Sabrina Bear. Stumbling around in the cemetery we came upon several graves of men who had fought in the Civil War and lived. There was also a memorial for CSA (confederate states of America) soldiers who had fought and died in the Battle of Hartville. (Jan 1863)
With all of this as "prelude" I would like to share with you some background about Fritz Earnest Bear, my Grandpa. He was born November 16, 1892 in Garden City, Kansas and died October 6, 1964. The information I share with you comes from an article written by Veda Rowe, his daughter, my Aunt, contained in a genealogical packet of information I received from my Mom.


Fritz Earnest Bear moved to Hartville in 1907 with his parents, Samuel and Sabrina Glasscock Bear, one brother Frank and two sisters Mable and Blanche. He played on the high school basketball team in Hartville. At one time he was a catcher on the flying trapeze for a circus.
He was a member and director of the Hartville Concert band playing the trumpet and trombone. On Saturday nights they would perform in concerts around the courthouse. In 1916 he married Lou Champion. They had a son Richard, a daughter Kathleen, another son Sammie Paul who died at two years of age and a fourth child who died with mother Lou at childbirth. In 1927 he met and married Bertha Stephens. He was Editor of the Hartville Democrat from the late 20's to the early 30's. He then spent several years in the newspaper business in Mansfield, Marshfield, Lockwood, Golden City, Branson and Crane. The family, then consisting of six new additions; Betty, Rita, Anita, Fritz Jr. and Veda (Mary Coleen died in Hartville 1938) moved to Springfield in the early 1940's, where Fritz worked as a printer for Elkin-Sawyers for 21 years.
He passed away at the age of 72 in October 1964. He loved fishing, camping, listening to marching band music, playing card games, cribbage, smoking cigars, playing jokes on people and his children and was very witty. He also made up his own crossword dictionary.
In future blog posts I'll try to share more with you about Grandpa Bear and the Bear family. Oh yeah, the name "Fritz-toe" comes from my brother Gregg. On a trip to Missouri Grandpa's friends were calling him Fritz. Gregg thought it sounded a lot like Frito corn chips so started calling Grandpa, "Fritz-toe". -30-

ERNIE: A Toy Story

The movie "Toy Story 3" is a current box office hit. As a sequel to "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" this latest version in the Toy Story saga ponders the idea of what happens to toys when kids grow up. From childhood to adulthood toys get lost, destroyed, broken, given away and in some very rare cases; survive. Survival can be a rare thing, even favorite or special toys may not survive very long. Ernie, a stuffed dog, is a survivor and a favorite. His survivability is due in part to my Mom who put him away many years ago and brought it out and to my attention some years later. However, maybe I should introduce you to Ernie, tell you who he is and why he is special.
The b & w picture shows me and my stuffed dog, Scottie. I was about 3 years old when I got Scottie as a present, not sure how or when. All I remember is that I took him to bed with me for many years. The plaid material on his back wore thin and was replaced by my Mom. Before Scottie "faded away" he was joined by Ernie and here's where the story of Ernie begins.
In the early 1960's our family lived in Hutchinson, Kansas. Just like any normal 1st or 2nd grader watching saturday morning television was a favorite pastime. One show in particular to watch was a local "kid's auction" show. Sorry, the name escapes me. It was hosted by Ernie Dade who, we later found out, was the son of a second grade teacher, Mrs. Dade, at Roosevelt Elementary school. Roosevelt was the school I attended. The show was sponsored by Kitty Clover potato chips and originated from a studio in Wichita, about 60 miles away. Children would collect and save points from Kitty Clover potato chip bags and use them to bid on items/toys presented on the show. My friend Walter found out that the show was coming to Hutchinson for a special showing. His parents and mine went through the proper channels to secure invitations for us to be part of the "live" broadcast. Potato chips points were saved and the saturday morning of the show came.
We arrived at the show, points were cashed in, parents went to the viewing room and kids went to the studio set. Lights, camera, action....we were on TV and the show began. Ernie Dade came out, told about the toys/prizes, and the bidding began for the first item, a stuffed gray dog, with a big black nose and two floppy ears. Kids were raising their hands bidding on the dog and my hand went up also, even though I had no idea what I was doing. Soon the bidding stopped..... sold to the young man in the black sweater. That was me?!! I had won!?? Down to the front, give my name and over to the "winners" seats I went for the rest of the show. The auction continued and finally the show was over. Mom & Dad came out to the studio and were saying I had bid more points than I actually had. Should we give the dog back? What were we to do? "No, it's not the first time this has happened. All you need to do is keep eating Kitty Clover potato chips, save the points and send them to us until it's paid for."
So, I had a new gray dog with a big black nose and two floppy ears. What was I going to name him? Ernie, after Ernie Dade of course. Ernie joined Scottie and I in bed at night when I went to sleep. Scottie finally wore out and Ernie hung around for many more years as fur rubbed off, eyes wore out, ears came off and were sewn back on. Obviously Ernie didn't go with me to college and Mom put him away with some boxes of things still left at home.
Years later, when I had three kids of my own, Mom gave me the box of things that contained Ernie. Matthew was still in elementary school and took Ernie to bed with him for a few years. A rip had developed in his side, old stuffing had fallen out to be replaced with new, one ear was gone, eyes and mouth long gone and a lot of fur rubbed off. In some places the material was almost threadbare.


Today Ernie still survives in a special place in my closet. He's been out a few times to be introduced to Julia, Molly, JC and Jetta. I've heard of the book "A Velveteen Rabbit" but not read it. It explores some of the same issues as "Toy Story 3", What happens to old favorite toys when their "kids" grow up? Ernie has been around for almost 50 years. Priceless? You bet. How much longer will he be around? Who knows, but he has served as "man's best friend" for a great many years. -30-

California, there I was

The beautiful buildings comprising the U.S. Naval Hospital are located in Balboa Park. They were constructed at a cost of over two million dollars to provide for the sick and injured officers and men of the U.S. Fleet.

Mom/Grandma Rita enjoys hearing the stories I put out on my blog. I will read a new blog to her and ask if she has any thing to add. On one occassion she asked if I would write a blog about San Diego. Kind of a hard challange. I was born in San Diego but my only memories are from what I've seen in pictures or what Mom has told me. So, I'll give a try at this.

The picture at the top of the blog is on a postcard that Mom sent to Grandma & Grandpa Bear, dated Aug. 22, 1953. It cost 2 cents to send. "Dear Folks, How are you all? Hope fine. Saw this card last night. Thought you might like to see the hospital I go to and some day will spend three or four days. Went to Sally's last night and bought bassinet. Are really proud of it. Really like our apartment too- Loads of love to you all. Jim & Rita."


I've shared with you before that Dad was in the Marine Corps in San Diego. The apartment Mom mentions was 3312 Convair Street and part of the base housing. Mom wrote in my baby book that Dr. Brink was in attendance on Nov. 30, 1953 when I was born at 8:33 pm. I weighed 6 lbs, 91/2 oz. It is interesting to note that Mom mentions spending 3 to 4 days in the hospital. Now days a 2 day hospital stay is considered long. At Mark's birth Mom mentioned that she asked to stay awake when Mark was born. I guess before that women were "asleep" during the delivery process.






Pictures displayed in this blog show our apartment number, 3312, Grandma Bear being there during Mom's recovery, Dad, Mom and I in a family picture, and my first swim. Other pictures I have show some of our neighbors and in the background of one you can see some vintage automobiles. There are also pictures of family trips to Tiajuana, Mexico, (I sat on a zebra) and Knott's Berry Farm. On our move back to Missouri a visit was made to the Grand Canyon.

Dad was in the Marines for at least 2 years. His platoon picture (Platoon 526) shows a date of 1952. A copy of the picture was mailed to his parents Dec. 27, 1952.
I'm not sure when we moved back to Missouri, but I do know my first birthday was celebrated in Springfield with my cousin Mike, born on December 1, 1953 and his mom, Aunt Anita, who's birthday is November 30. Enjoy the pictures and the few memories I was able to share with you. -30-

Happy Mother's Day Mom

In one of my previous blogs I mentioned that my Dad liked to fish. It was a hobby he enjoyed and apparently at one time Mom had enjoyed fishing too. At least that's what Dad indicated on one Mother's Day. I don't remember the year but I was probably in Junior High school. Dad thought my brothers and I were old enough to take care of ourselves on fishing trips so that Mom could fish if she wanted. So, for one Mother's Day, Dad bought Mom a fishing pole, fishing license and tackle box(?) After giving Mom the presents we loaded into our car and headed north to the Lake of the Ozarks. We went to a spot on the south end of the lake that would be near what is called the "Tunnel Dam" area, where the Niangua River begins to form a branch of the Lake.

We found a country store/gas station where we bought a few supplies and headed on down a gravel road to the spot Dad had selected. Parking on the side of the road we noticed one of the tires was beginning to go flat. Dad parked the car with the "leak" side down on the tire to slow it down while we fished. We would change the tire when we returned.

Down the hill, through the woods we went to the fishing spot. We fished, had very little luck and I'm sure Dad was busy with us boys. After a while we returned to the car and found not one flat tire, but two. It seems like the spare may have been flat too, but I'm not sure. Amazing as it may seem to you all, I'm not really sure how Dad took care of the tires or all the details of this day. But I do remember Mom saying she didn't want to go fishing anymore.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. -30-

MEETING THE PRESS

The Box I found a few weeks ago contained other memoribilia besides pictures. Some other things it included were; grade cards, church programs, certificates and newspaper clippings. One such clipping comes from the Thursday May 4, 1972 edition of the Lebanon Daily Record/Rustic-Republican. The writer of the article was Joe Harrell. I thought you might find it interesting to read. I'll put it in this post with few deletions and corrections as needed.



The Jim Campbell family first moved to Lebanon in July of 1964 in order to be near their home in Springfield, MO. Jim's parents are natives of Strafford, MO where he had his early schooling after which he served a two year hitch in the U.S. Marines. His folks still reside at Strafford.
Rita's folks are originally from Hartville in Wright Co. Missouri, where her father, the late Fritz Bear was with the newspaper for some time. Her father, a youth leader, directed a concert band that furnished music in Hartville and other Wright county towns. Rita's mother now resides in Springfield.
Jim Campbell and Rita Bear were married in September, 1951. For eight of their 21 years of married life the Campbells have lived in Lebanon. The family lived in San Diego California for two years, while Jim was in the Marine Corps, where their oldest son, Jim Jr., was born.
Shortly after his Marine service was completed Jim went to work in the Consumer Finance industry with which (he) first worked in Springfield, MO,for two years. He was transferred to Joplin, MO, where he worked for 16 months.
After this he was moved to Hutchinson, Kansas where he worked for two years before being transferred to Springfield, Illinois and a short time later to Decatur, Illinois. From this Decatur assignment he made the move to Lebanon in 1964 to continue working in the field of consumer finance. He had never been to Lebanon more than twice before moving here eight years ago. But he liked the town from the beginning. In fact the whole family likes to live here and finds the people most friendly. However they experienced their darkest hours here in Lebanon in 1967 when they lost their third son, Gary age 7 1/2 years, in an extremely unfortunate accident on North Highway 5 near their home on Keller Drive. At that time they had been here about three years and hadn't realized until then how sympathetic and helpful the people in Lebanon really were.
Jim, Jr. completed the upper elementary grades, the Jr. High and Senior High here graduating from (LHS ) in 1971. He is now a freshman at Southwest Baptist College at Bolivar where he is majoring in Music. He was quite active in Band while in LHS and plans a career in teaching Music. At LHS he was a member of the Key Club, National Honor Society and was elected to Who's Who in the graduating class of 1971.
Gregg, born in Joplin, is an 8th grader at Lebanon Jr. High, having attended all eight grades in the Lebanon School system. He is interested in each of the sports.
Scott, born in Hutchinson, Kansas is a 5th grader at Donnelly Elementary school. He is also interested in sports of all types and plays trumpet in the grade school band.
Mark, born in Springfield, (Illinois) is a 2nd grader at Donnelly. His interests are those of a typical eight year old boy. He is eagerly looking forward to his first season in Little League baseball.
The family attends the First Congregational Church where Rita is a Sunday School Teacher and Jim Jr. is active in Youth work. Jim Sr. has been a Cubmaster of Cub Pack #59 and Rita a den mother. Rita worked on several civic committees and is manager of the Shoe Department at Wal Mart Discount Store, having been employed (there) since October (1969).
Jim Sr, is a member of the Optomist Club having served the club recently as President. He firmly believes in the club motto, "Friend of the Boy". He has been active in Lebanon's Little League since 1967, having not only served as President and Player Agent but also as Manager and Coach of smaller boys teams. He enjoys working with the beginners and watching them in their progress toward success. Jim says, "nothing is more satisfying than to see a small boy, who can't throw or hit as well as some of the more mature ones, develop to where he can perform as well as the better ones."
Jim also points out that the change in the City of Lebanon in recent years has been tremendous. There seems to be, in his (estimation), "no end to the way the community can progress, many new industries having been started, shopping centers springing up, and it's hard to visualize what the town was like when I first saw it."
Quite recently Jim joined the staff at the Central Bank when he had the opportunity. He says that he felt that the opportunity was too great to pass up to join the staff of a bank where the growth in the last eight years had been as great as had Central's. On July 31, 1964 their total assets were $4,593,106.25 and on December 31, 1971 their total assets were $10,847,504.97, more than doubled in just eight years. Jim has found the staff most friendly and helpful in starting his new endeavor.

I hope you find the article interesting. In some ways it serves as a re-cap to some of the ground already covered in my blogs and fills in some gaps as well. I'm glad I could share it with you. We'll see what else the "BOX" turns up in coming blogs. -30-

Family Friends

Moving to a new location involves leaving good friends behind and making new friends in a new place. Certainly our family had that experience several times as we moved in the states of Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. In one of my past blogs you were introduced to the Watkins family. Mom and Dad became good friends with Jack and Donna when we lived in Joplin, Missouri. Dad and Jack worked together in the same office for Public Finance for about two years. Friends like Jack and Donna were not unusual but the way our moves paralleled each other for about 6 years has always intrigued me.
Jack, Donna and their family of Teri and Karen were the first to move from Joplin. I'm not really sure where they moved. However,When our family moved to Hutchinson the Watkins family lived in Wichita. Cool. They would come to visit us or we would go visit them on weekends. It was kind of neat to see some familiar faces. In the blog about Hutchinson I mentioned that Dad took Gregg & Gary to stay with the Watkins while Mom was in the hospital with Scott.
In our move to Illinois, we were the first ones to leave Kansas. It didn't seem very long before the Watkins family followed us to Illinois, moving to Decatur. Jack was now working for Liberty Loan but we still traded weekend visits with them. Decatur was only about 30 miles north of Riverton. Eventually Dad moved to Liberty Loan and trained with Jack Watkins in his Decatur office. I remember one story about Dad and Jack going chasing while in Illinois. Apparently they were close to the University of Illinois campus and decided to go see the NEW basketball arena. As they walked in one of the security guards thought they were members of a visiting basketball team. Jack was pretty tall as the pictures show.
The Watkins family was the first to leave Illinois and again I don't know exactly where they moved to. Eventually they ended up in Denver. Dad completed his training with Liberty Loan at an office in Malden, Missouri for a few weeks before we moved to Lebanon, Missouri.

I came in contact with the Watkins family when our Church youth group made trips to Rocky Mountain National Park in the summers of 1970 and 1971 . One of our day trips was to the museum in Denver. Knowing that Jack & Donna lived in Denver I took the opporunity to see if I could meet up with them. We did get together and visit for a little while and long enough to take a picture of their family which now included two sons along with Teri & Karen. I'm sorry, I don't remember the boys names. In the summer of 1972 our family took a vacation trip to Denver to visit the Watkins family. We stayed with them for almost a week. At that time their two boys were about 5 and 3. Teri and Karen were working during the summer so they weren't able to go on some of our day trips to the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Ampitheatre and Mount Evans.
That trip to Denver was the last contact I have had with the Watkins family. I'm sure Mom/Grandma Rita may have had some contact with them over the years. It was only a span of six years, 1958-1964, but again I have always been intrigued by the way our paths crossed during that time. Truly they were good family friends. -30-