FAMILY HISTORY:
My great-great-grandparents (my maternal grandmother's maternal grandparents) about 1900. In 1879, they homesteaded 160 acres (NW Quarter, Section 30, Battleplain Township) in Rock County, Minnesota. Such hardy stock...!
Damaged tintype of my great-grandparents (my maternal grandmother's parents) about 1880.
My maternal grandmother and her self-assured big brother about 1885. I met him just once when he was old.
My maternal grandmother with three of her little sisters about 1894. Check out the "high button" shoes.
My maternal grandmother (second from viewer's right) with her little sisters about 1910. Another sister died in infancy, and they also had three brothers, one of whom served in the Army and one in the Navy during the First World War. I met at least one of my grand-aunts when they were old but I don't remember which one.
My grand-uncle and great-grandfather (my mom's paternal uncle and paternal grandfather) about 1910. Check out the sleeve garters.
My maternal grandfather and his two sisters about 1900.
My maternal grandparents on their wedding day, probably 1907. Such a beautiful bride...!
My mom with her parents and her big brother about 1914. Check out the "page-boy" haircut.
My mom and her big brother with their mom about 1915. Real candles on tree.
My mom during WWII with the youngest of her two little brothers. She often diapered him when he was a baby, and she still called him "Sweetie" when they were old. They died just a few months apart (she at age 100) about 67 years after this photo was taken.
My great-grandmother (my father's maternal grandmother) with her 10 sisters about the time of the War Between the States. They also had one brother. She's second from viewer's right, front row. The youngest of her many children was born after the birth of her oldest grandchild (my father).
My great-grandfather (my father's maternal grandfather) a Civil War vet who died just two years before I was born. His father was a Civil War KIA.
The gravestone of my paternal grandparents and one of my paternal aunts in Mount Pleasant, Mississippi (Jewel actually died in 1910 when Haley's Comet was visible). All three died young of consumption (tuberculosis) and all photos of them were subsequently lost in a house fire.
My father in 1911 peeling potatoes at age 16 in a Louisiana lumber camp. Check out the knickerbockers.
My father at age 16 wearing his first suit and probably his first long pants.
My father, the well-armed 17-year-old cowboy in 1912 Arizona. He was remarkably accomplished for his age by then.
My parents as I remember them when I was a boy during the 1950's. Their exciting, interesting story began in the Nineteenth Century and ended in the Twenty-First. How lucky I was to be their son.
My little brother (avec moi) about 1951 in front of the home built for us by our father in Sausalito, California.
My little brother (the one wearing shoes) and his dog, both age four, in 1953.
My pompadour at age sixteen.
Moi (dark shirt) doing Australia where I was the "Yank".
Moi with another "stringer" in Nam.
Moi doing Japan where I was "Wooley-San" and sometimes "Alva-Chan".
My last Army mug shot.
The Gustafson-Wooley family reunion in 1993. Such a happy memory, in spite of very difficult family tragedies both before and since.
One of my next-door neighbors the gators in South Carolina. This one's at least ten feet long...
Moi, 82nd Birthday, 06/26/2023, Still kicking....!!!
My maternal grandfather and his two sisters about 1900.
My mom and her big brother with their mom about 1915. Real candles on tree.
My father in 1911 peeling potatoes at age 16 in a Louisiana lumber camp. Check out the knickerbockers.
My father at age 16 wearing his first suit and probably his first long pants.
My father, the well-armed 17-year-old cowboy in 1912 Arizona. He was remarkably accomplished for his age by then.
My parents as I remember them when I was a boy during the 1950's. Their exciting, interesting story began in the Nineteenth Century and ended in the Twenty-First. How lucky I was to be their son.
My little brother (avec moi) about 1951 in front of the home built for us by our father in Sausalito, California.
My little brother (the one wearing shoes) and his dog, both age four, in 1953.
My pompadour at age sixteen.
Moi (dark shirt) doing Australia where I was the "Yank".
Moi with another "stringer" in Nam.
Moi doing Japan where I was "Wooley-San" and sometimes "Alva-Chan".
My last Army mug shot.
The Gustafson-Wooley family reunion in 1993. Such a happy memory, in spite of very difficult family tragedies both before and since.
One of my next-door neighbors the gators in South Carolina. This one's at least ten feet long...
Moi, 82nd Birthday, 06/26/2023, Still kicking....!!!