February 23

 Lawrence Alfred Kessler was born 23 February 1927

These are the only two pictures I have of Larry Kessler (my father-in-law).

Elvin Reed was born 23 February1913

Elvin Reed was the husband of Wilma Arnold

John Edward Garrett was born 23 February 1920

Ed Garrett was the husband of Verlie Arnold (sister to Wilma Arnold)

February 22

 Ulysses Fillmore Hicks married Bertha Ann Arnold 22 February 1910

This picture was taken in 1910

Photo: Ulys and Annie with Ruby

Ruby was born in May 1912

Their first baby was stillborn in April 1911

Photo: Annie with Ruby, Irene, and Cleffie

Cleffie was born in August 1917

Annie and Ulys had nine living children - Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee, Vernell, Olan, Bernice, and Lowell.

This picture was taken in February 1960 on the occasion of Ulys and Annie's 50th wedding anniversary.

February 21

 Jennie Odelcie Hicks Williams died 21 February 2003

Photo: Jennie Odelcie Hicks

Odelcie was the daughter of Felix Hicks and Ida Lenora Sandefur.

Felix was a brother of my great-grandfather Ulysses Hicks.

Photo: Felix and Ida Hicks with their first 2 children, Rosie and Odice.

Photo: Rosie, Odice, and Odelcie Hicks - children of Felix and Ida Hicks.

Odelcie married Everett Williams

Photo: Everett and Odelcie Hicks Williams, 1976

February 20

 Ralph Edgar Till died 20 February 2017

Ralph was my dad's cousin. He was the son of Leonard and Madge Treat Till.

Madge was a sister of my grandmother Christie Treat Thomas.

Ralph and my dad were very close growing up. Here is a story my dad wrote in his memoirs about Ralph:

OUT OF GAS    

  I don’t remember how old I was when this picture was taken but it reminded me of the time that my cousin Ralph Till and I were coming home one night in the winter time and we ran out of gas about one mile from his house.  I said to Ralph, I guess we are going to walk from here, and Ralph said no, we are going to ride. As he was removing the gasoline cap, I said how do you figure that? Ralph said get up here and pee in this gasoline tank.  Ralph had a 1929 model A Ford. The gasoline tank was above the engine and the gasoline was gravity feed.   Did you know that gasoline is lighter than water? Well it is. Anyway, in the bottom of the gas tank (all gas tanks back then) is a tube that sticks up about 1/4 inch or more, so we knew that we still had some gasoline in the tank.  So... when we peed in the gasoline tank, the gas floated up to the top and the car started and we drove home.  The next day we removed the gasoline line from the bottom of the tank and drained out the water and gasoline and put in new gasoline.   

  I remember having a lot of fun in this Model A, going to South Haven and parking on Main Street in front of the drug store, or as close as we could, and watching the girls go by.  Going down to the beach to go swimming after the movies.  One time when we were swimming off the south pier with Lester Schrantz and Louie Koslink, Louie got caught in the undertow and was sucked into a hole in the side of the pier. Ralph and Lester had to go down and get him. It’s a wonder they found him, let alone get him out.  He had swallowed some water but was all right. We were all scared so we went home, and as far as I know none of us ever told anyone about it. 

Photo L-R: Louie Koslink, Ralph Till, Lester Schrantz, Richard Thomas (my dad)

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This story and others from my dad's memoirs are included in my book Secret and Resolute, available on Amazon.

February 19

 George Woodson Sandefur was born 19 February 1871

He was the husband of Nancy Ellen Hicks.

Nancy (called 'Nannie') was a sister of my great-grandfather Ulysses Hicks.

Photo: Annie Hicks (my great-grandmother), Nannie Hicks Sandefur, Ulysses Hicks.

These pictures are George and Nannie with their granddaughter Nora (curly hair) and ... I don't know who the other children are.

February 18

 Gary Keith Carrigan was born 18 February 1954May 1977

He is the father of my two sons.

Christopher, May 1980

Casey, November 1982

(For the record: He's no longer my husband, but he is still their father.)

February 17

 Ronald Gene Burford married Bethley Ann Purchase 17 February 1972

Ron was my mother's brother.

Beth had two sons, Jamie and Sean, whom Ron adopted. Ron and Beth had a son, Ronald Gene Burford, Jr. 

Ron Burford Jr. married Jodi Korf, and they have a daughter, Ronin.

February 16 & 17

Marvin Ted Burford was born 17 February 1942. 

I don't have any pictures of Ted as an adult. In this picture he is on the left. The boy on the right is a cousin, Larry Slocum.

Ted was the son of Killough Burford, a brother of my grandfather Lester Burford. I don't have any pictures of Killough as an adult. Ted's mother was Louise Lyon Burford.

This is the only picture I have of Louise.

Ted's son Michael Ted Burford was born 16 February 1972. Ted's wife, Dorothy, was born 06 February 1946. I don't have any pictures of them. All three of them died 07 February 1973 when a Navy jet crashed into their apartment building in Alameda, California. 

Here are some newspaper photos about the crash.

February 15

Tsurumi Okatani 'Mariko' Kessler was born 15 February 1931

Mariko was my mother-in-law, the mother of Alan Kessler.

She married Larry Kessler, an American GI stationed in Japan. 

Alan was born in Japan in 1954. When he was still a baby they relocated to the United States.

Alan's passport.

This is the only other picture I have of Alan's father Larry Kessler.

Larry Kessler died 07 June 1988 at age 61.

Tsurumi Kessler died 25 March 2022 at age 91.

New Book

 

The photo on the cover of the Kindle version is my great-great-grandmother Adaline ("Ma") Arnold. She didn't want to have her picture taken. She agreed to it only if she could be pictured reading the Bible. The photographer was her son-in-law Ulysses Hicks, my great-grandfather.

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It's just a little collection of Bible verses for troubled times. The book is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. (I recommend Kindle -- it's in color. And you can screenshot the pages if you want. The paperback is overpriced, in my opinion -- Amazon sets a minimum printing price.)