Vear Clan Tales: Tell Me a Story

By Charles Vear

“Vear Clan Tales” is a compilation of stories from members of the Vear Family. The “Vear Clan” is made up of members of one family, beginning with Leonard Ray Vear and Helen Gray Vear, the editor’s parents, who were both born just before the end of the 19th Century. The Vear Clan now includes the names of 250 people, (13 of whom have died), who have entered the family by marriage or birth. The tales in these pages have been written by 53 of these members. They are stories of hope, of inspiration, of experiences, of romance, of scary events and of life’s lessons. Some may even make you smile. The stories are as true as the authors’ memories permit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984579782

Charles Vear

Charles “Bud” Vear, the editor, was born in 1926 and is the oldest member of the Vear Clan still alive. He grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, a small Suburb of Chicago, spent two years in the Navy during World War II and returned to earn an undergraduate degree from DePauw University. His dream of becoming a doctor took a while to blossom. He first earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Indiana University and worked for the Chicago Boys Club in the inner city of Chicago, trying to turn troublesome teenage gangs into respectable groups. After a 15 month stint in the hospital with tuberculosis, he taught middle school science and math for seven years before finally pursuing his doctor dream after he and his wife had eight children. After finishing medical school, he became a small town Family Physician in Hillsdale, Michigan for the next 23 years, delivering over 2,000 babies in a town of 8,000. He and his wife, Gloria, ended up with twelve children. At this time, there are 43 grandchildren, 31 Great Children and 1 Great Grandchild. Gloria and Bud are co-authors of “Love, Laughter and Dreams”, the sometimes frolicking story of raising twelve children and pursuing their dreams. Bud also authored a book, “Ask Grandpa”, which shares his old age wisdom. His wife of 68 years passed away in 2019.

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Copyright © 2020 by Charles Bud Vear.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/02/2020

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

SECTION 1: FAMILY HISTORY

A LITTLE HISTORY BEFORE THE MODERN VEAR CLAN (Barb Fisher)

THE ORIGIN OF THE MODERN VEAR CLAN (Bud Vear)

LEONARD AL VEAR (Barb Fisher)

HELEN GRAY VEAR (Barb Fisher)

MODERN GENETICS (Bud Vear)

SECTION 2: IN MEMORY OF

A GRANDCHILD’S TRIBUTE TO HER GRANDMA (Kristen Schultz)

A SPECIAL MEMORY OF "GRAMPA JOHN (Anni Vear)

BROWN TIED TALES (Terry Vear)

DAVID VEAR (Barb Fisher)

DRIVING MISS MARIKA (Lenny Vear)

DUNCAN (Bobby Vear)

EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY (Bud Vear)

GRANDMA AND LEAVES (Brian Vear)

GRANDMA’S CHAIR (Terry Vear)

GRIEF IS A PERSONAL THING (Kelly Vear)

GRIEF, SOLITUDE AND TIME (Mo Vear)

HE GOES BY MANY NAMES (Danny Vear)

HE NAMED ME (Ruslyn Vear)

I BOW DOWN IN REMEMBRANCE (Ruslyn Vear)

I WAS JUST THIRTEEN (Ruslyn Vear)

IN MEMORY OF BILL MCGOWAN (Mo and Andy Vear)

LADY RITA (Lynn Schultz)

MARIKA (Bud Vear)

MEMORIES OF JUDD (Bud Vear)

MY FATHER, BILL MCGOWAN (Nate McGowan)

MY FATHER-IN-LAW (Barb Fisher)

MY GRANDPARENTS (Kristin Schultz)

TABI TIMES: ADVENTURES IN TEXAS (Kristin Schultz)

TABITHA (Taylor Coote)

WHO WAS GLORIA? (Bud Vear)

SECTION 3: FAMILY EPISODES

A FEW MEMORIES (Judy Vear)

A MESSAGE TO CHILDREN (Gloria Vear)

ADVENTURES AT ROSEMARY ACRES (Tim Vear)

ANIMAL MEMORIES (Bud Vear)

BEDTIME STORIES WITH GRANDPA (Amara Vear)

BROTHERS AND WORD GAMES (Bud Vear)

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES (Audrey VanDeusen)

DITCHING COUSINS (Rick Vear)

DR. PEPPER AND CHOCOLATE MALTS (Candi Neal)

FAMILY UNITY (Amara Vear)

FUN TIMES (Don Vear)

HIDEAWAY LANE WITH COUSINS (Taylor Coote)

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (Bud Vear)

IT’S A SMALL WORLD (Jim Vear)

LET’S GO ON A BEAR HUNT (Bud Vear)

LOOKING OUT FOR YOUNGER BROTHER (Bud Vear)

MEMORIES OF AN ADAPTABLE AND WELCOMING HOME (Terry Vear)

MEMORIES OF MY DAD (Amara Vear)

MORNING WITH 12 (Bud Vear)

MY NEW IN-LAWS (Barb Fisher)

ROSEMARY ACRES (Lynn Schultz)

SCORES (Gloria Vear)

SIBLING RIVALRY AND PARENTING (Bud Vear)

SUMMER OF ’66 AND GINGER SNAPS (Candi Neal)

SWIMMING LESSONS AND SCARY GAMES (Amara Vear)

THE FAVORITE (Bobby Vear)

THE HOLE IN THE WALL (Michael Vear)

THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES OF A SIMPLER TIME (Bobby Vear)

UNFORGETTABLES

TOP TEN VEARFEST MEMORIES

VACATION MEMORIES (Bud Vear)

VEAR CLAN MEMORIES (Ray Vear)

WEEPING WILLOW (Terry Vear)

YOUNGEST CHILD PERSPECTIVE (Kevin Vear)

YOU’RE MY COUSIN! (Amara Vear)

SECTION 4: LIFE LESSONS

A HUMBLING EXPERIENCE (Bud Vear)

ADVICE FROM A COUSIN (Amara Vear)

BEACH TIME (Jake Godfrey)

BLACK AND WHITE (Joe Vear)

BUILDING TRUST WITH OUR CHILDREN (Rick Vear)

CAN I SURVIVE? (Bud Vear)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP (Gay Godfrey)

FIGHTING THE ESTABLISHMENT (Bud Vear)

FOSSIL HUNTING (Casey Vear)

IMPACTS ON MY LIFE (Kevin Vear)

MY PATH TO THE MICHIGAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (Steve Vear)

OVERCOMING FEAR WITH GRANDPA DOC (Kristin Schultz)

PARENTING CHALLENGES (Bud Vear)

PLANET OF THE APES (Casey Vear)

POLLYANNA (Gloria Vear)

POOPING (Casey Vear)

PREJUDICE AND TOLERANCE (Bud Vear)

RITA VEAR’S SURPRISE PARY STRATEGIES (Jim Vear)

THANKFUL FOR GOD’S FORGIVENESS (Pam Hannel)

THE GREATEST GENERATION (Bud Vear)

THOUGHTS TO PONDER (Gloria Vear)

WHAT TO DO DURING A PANDEMIC (Wesley Vear)

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? (Rick Vear)

YOU WANTED TWELVE! (Bud Vear)

SECTION 5: ROMANCE

BRIAN IS THE ONE! (Katie)

HOW I MET LYNN VEAR (Dale Schultz)

MY INTRODUCTION TO THE VEARS (Bill Neal)

PARATROOPER’S WIFE (Kristen Schultz)

ROMANCE SOMETIMES TAKES A WHILE TO BLOSSOM (Bud Vear)

WEDDING PROPOSAL (Joe Vear)

SECTION 6: HUMOR

A DISH (Lynn Schultz)

GOING TO THE DOGS (OR MAYBE NOT!) (Ruslyn Vear)

INCIDENT ON THE AU SABLE RIVER (Tony Vear)

MY FIRST SHOW (Charlie Vear)

POETRY AND SANTA CLAUS (Bud Vear)

WHAT NOT TO CALL THE SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE (Mo Vear)

SECTION 7: SCARY TIMES

A NIGHT IN THE WOODS (Alex Vear)

COLLEGE CAPERS (Bud Vear)

DRAMA AT THE SWIMMING POOL (Kelly Cool)

LAW ENFORCEMENT CHALLENGES (Richard Bates)

MEMOIRS FROM DUSTIN (Dustin Hannel)

MY CHEVY CHEVETTE SAGA (Lisa Bates)

PARENTAL ANXIETY (Bud Vear)

SHARK! (Bud Vear)

SURVIVAL EVENTS (Bud Vear)

THUMBING HOME (Brad Vear)

TRAIN RIDE FROM HELL (Matthew Neal)

WRONG ADDRESS JEOPARDY (Kelly Cool)

SECTION 8: SPORTS

A SPORTS RIVALRY (Jim Vear)

BOXING IS A DUMB SPORT (Bud Vear)

HORSES (Bud Vear)

OLYMPIC DREAMS AND THE CORONA PANDEMIC (Wesley Vear)

TOUCH FOOTBALL (Casey Vear)

TRAINING RULES (Gloria Vear)

UNEXPECTED VICTORY (Bud Vear)

SECTION 9: INSPIRATION

A BLISSFUL MEMORY (Patti Taylor)

A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE (Rick Vear)

A TIME WHEN CURIOSITY REIGNED (Ruslyn Vear)

AND THEN IT’S WINTER (Bud Vear)

BILLY’S 15 MINUTES OF FAME (Billy Vear)

IN PURSUIT OF A DREAM (Bud Vear)

LIFE CAN BUMP YOU OFF YOUR PATH (Allison Kessler Vear)

MY LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE IN WASHINGTON, D.C (Mary Vear)

MY LITTLE BROTHER (Danny Vear)

OH MOTHER, DEAR MOTHER, I REMEMBER YOU (Ruslyn Vear)

PASSING THE TORCH OF WOMANHOOD (Reagan Cool)

SANCTITY OF LIFE (Lara Baker)

STUBBORN GLADNESS (Ruslyn Vear)

TO BUILD A CHAPEL (Reagan Cool)

SECTION 10: HOLIDAYS

A SLIVER OF TIME (Bud Vear)

CHRISTMAS TREE ADVENTURE (Lisa Bates)

GUARDING CHRISTMAS SURPRISES (Gay Godfrey)

IMPRESSING A GRANDCHILD (Terry Vear)

JOHN AND THE CHRISTMAS TREE (Judy Vear)

MEMORIAL DAY (Sherie McGowan)

THE CHRISTMAS STOCKING (Lisa Bates)

FINALE (Terry Vear)

DEDICATION

THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED

TO THE MODERN VEAR CLAN MEMBERS

WHO HAVE GRADUATED INTO LIFE ETERNAL.

OUR STORIES WILL HELP KEEP THEIR MEMORIES ALIVE,

AND THEIR MEMORIES WILL CONTINUE TO ENRICH US.

Rosemary Vear

6/20/1925 – 12/?/1925

Helen Gray Vear

12/26/1897 – 9/29/1959

Peter Russell Vear

9/23/1980 – 9/23/1980

Leonard Ray Vear

2/23/1896 – 3/26/1987

Marika Bartos Vear

9/11/1912 – 3/12/2000

Judd Gray Vear

8/23/1923 – 7/5/2006

David Leonard Vear

11/6/1931 – 8/17/2006

Rita Sullivan Vear

5/17/1925 – 8/29/2011

Tabitha Lynn Vear

1/18/1988 – 7/27/2016

John Edward Vear

6/13/1936 – 11/12/2016

Duncan Fisher

7/7/1925 – 2/27/2017

William Charles McGowan

10/20/1953 – 8/19/2017

Gloria Henderson Vear

1/27/1931 – 8/26/2019

INTRODUCTION

WHY STORIES?

When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains?

The stories.

We enjoy books because of the stories they tell. This book is for you to enjoy, but it is also our connection with generations yet to come. By recording these stories, we are preserving a bit of family history. Our stories help to define who we are. This book is part of the legacy we will leave for future generations.

This collection of tales is a compilation of stories from 53 novice authors, all members of the Vear Clan. It is a collection of true stories (as true, at least, as the authors’ memories permit!) In these pages are the reflections of many family members about events in their lives - or about life itself.

I am grateful to all of you who have authored these stories, and I have been overwhelmed by the quality of your writings and moved by the memories and thoughts you have shared. Putting this together has been an absolute joy, and I cherished every story I received.

Some of the stories will amuse you, some may make you shed a tear, some may inspire you, some will amaze you and some will simply bring back pleasant memories. Enjoy them all.

With much love,

Bud

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS

No book is published without the help of others, but this book is especially unique because it contains so many different authors. The stories in these pages were written by members of the Modern Vear Clan, dating back to 1896, which now includes 250 names and, remarkably, all but 13 of these people are still alive.

Two people have been especially helpful in the creation of this book. My granddaughter, Gracie Cool, utilized her artistic talent to design the beautiful and very appropriate cover (Campfires are for storytelling.), and Amara Vear, another granddaughter, has provided valuable input to help me design and edit the book.

I am also grateful to the people from Xlibris, who have carefully guided me along the way, so that we could end up with a quality finished product.

But, most importantly, I want to thank the authors who have made this book possible. Without your participation, this book could not exist.

THANK YOU

Bud

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

Alex Vear

Allison Vear

Amara Vear

Andy Vear

Anni Vear

Audrey VanDeusen

Barb Fisher

Bill Neal

Billy Vear

Bobby Vear

Brad Vear

Brian Vear

Bud Vear

Candi Neal

Casey Vear

Charlie Vear

Dale Schultz

Danny Vear

Don Vear

Dustin Hannel

Gay Godfrey

Gloria Vear

Jake Godfrey

Jim Vear

Joe Vear

Judy Vear

Katie Vear

Kelly Cool

Kevin Vear

Kristin Schultz

Lara Baker

Lenny Vear

Lisa Bates

Lynn Schultz

Mary Vear

Matthew Neal

Michael Vear

Mo Vear

Nate McGowan

Pam Hannel

Patti Taylor

Ray Vear

Reagan Cool

Richard Bates

Rick Vear

Ruslyn Vear

Sherie McGowan

Steve Vear

Taylor Coote

Terry Vear

Tim Vear

Tony Vear

Wesley Vear

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SECTION 1

FAMILY HISTORY

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A LITTLE HISTORY BEFORE

THE MODERN VEAR CLAN

BY BARB FISHER

Ancestors do have an influence on our own lives. Heredity is a factor we cannot change; the genes influence our body structure, and our home environment influences our thoughts and actions. The world our ancestors inhabited seemed much larger than ours, for their communication and travel were slow, and we’ll never know how involved they were in what was happening around them. Let me share what my research has uncovered about our forebearers.

In the 1890’s the four families (VEAR, SMITH, FITZPATRICK & GRAY) that produced AL and HELEN were all living in Chicago, and, in addition to producing the beginning of the Modern Vear Clan, it was a momentous decade for that city. The elevated tracks were underway, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was established, the University of Chicago was founded, the Columbian Exposition World’s Fair took place boasting Mr. Ferris’s new Ferris Wheel, holding 2000 people at one time and the Field Museum of Natural History opened its doors. But the most momentous event was the changing of the direction of the Chicago River to address the Typhoid Fever epidemic caused, it was felt, by contaminated Chicago sewage flowing into Lake Michigan from the River. The River’s entrance to the lake was closed and the River water was pumped back through a new drainage canal. It was touted by some as the 8th wonder of the world and more land was excavated than in the building of the Panama Canal. It took more than a decade and was completed in 1900.

AL’S ANCESTORS

JAMES VERE and MARTHA CHAUT were married in 1686 in England about the same time that William and Mary were proclaimed King and Queen of England, Louis XIV of France declared war on Great Britain and Peter the Great became Czar of Russia. In 1693 the population of England was around 5 million, and the College of William and Mary was founded in Williamsburg, Virginia.

When JAMES VERE (Probably referred to as JAMES, JR.) was born in 1688 to JAMES & MARTHA it was when Daniel Defoe was writing Robinson Crusoe, Handel was the director of the Royal Academy of Music in London and Bach wrote The Brandenburg Concertos. JAMES, JR.’s wife name was Mary.

JAMES VERE, (The third?) and his future wife, ELIZABETH COTTON were both born around 1719, the same year as Dewitt Clinton. Clinton became governor of New York and was instrumental in building the Erie Canal. Very likely, ancestor DEWITT CLINTON GRAY, born in 1836, was named after him.

In 1769 a fourth JAMES VERE was born to JAMES and ELIZABETH. The Boston massacre occurred when the British refused to repeal duties on tea, providing an impetus for the Revolutionary War of Independence. Also in 1770, Beethoven was born and Handel’s Messiah opened in New York. This JAMES VERE married MEHETABEL WILKINSON, and finally in 1811 a son was born and not named James. In fact, not only did he have a different first name, but the spelling of the last name changed and he became GEORGE VEAR. He was born in Horncastle, England and married SARAH BALDWIN in 1839.

TAYLOR VEAR was born in England, the 8th child of 11 born to GEORGE and SARAH. These were farm people, and in England the oldest child would inherit all the family land. Four of the Vear brothers, TAYLOR, William, George and Robert, came to the U.S. likely because they had no future in England. TAYLOR arrived in the U.S. in 1875 and was naturalized on Oct. 28, 1880. TAYLOR and William had a small grocery store somewhere in Chicago before the 1871 Chicago Fire and then opened a store in Washington Heights after the fire. TAYLOR worked for his older brother, a typical English sibling arrangement.

TAYLOR married Ida Paynton in 1887. They had one son, Charles, in 1888 who became Western Manager for Collier Advertising and lived in Milwaukee. He had no children.

After Ida’s death, TAYLOR married ROSA SMITH in Chicago around 1895 at the age of 38. ROSA’S father, HENRY SMITH, probably immigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1850’s and changed the spelling of his last name from SCMIDT to SMITH. (Probably didn’t want a German name in Canada.) HENRY’S mother was a Countess, and her maiden name was BRIGHTENSTEIN, so there is some German Royalty in our family tree. In Canada, Henry met and married CATHERINE SKINNER, and ROSA was born to them in 1866.

TAYLOR and ROSA had two children. LEONARD AL was born in 1896 and Elizabeth Babe was born in 1900.

HELEN’S ANCESTORS

JOHN ORAM was born in Ohio in 1819 and married MARGARET CARSON (or CAISON), who was born the same year. Their daughter, HENRIETTA (HATTIE) ORAM was born in 1843 in St. Louis and in 1868 she married DEWITT CLINTON GRAY, who was born in Hague, New York in 1836. They produced CHARLES WELLINGTON GRAY in 1874

PATRICK FITZPATRICK was born in Ireland in 1835 and married MARY JUDD, also from Ireland, in 1863 (yes, this is where JUDD VEAR’S name came from.) Their daughter, MARY (MAE) was born in 1872. PATRICK, who is responsible for our partial Irish heritage, died in 1895 in an accident while riding on a streetcar at the age of 60

CHARLES WELLINGTON and MAE were married in 1894 and had three children, Charles Duke, who became a Commodore in the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Robert and HELEN, born in 1897, who married AL in 1922. And then from these two our Modern Vear Clan began.

THE ORIGIN OF THE MODERN VEAR CLAN

BY BUD VEAR

In 1993, Barb produced a marvelous publication of THE VEAR ANCESTORS, A GENEALOGICAL JIGSAW which was the result of much research she did on the Vear family heritage. It was a labor of love, and, whenever I get it out, I feel the need to thank her again for all the work she put into it. She was even able to get Dad to share some about his life. What follows are short biographies of Leonard and Helen Vear composed, by Barb. They are, after all, the first two members of our Vear Clan listing. If you want to trace the family further back, I encourage you to look at Barb’s work. I think she sent copies to all of Al & Helen’s four children and thirty grandchildren.

LEONARD AL VEAR

BY BARB FISHER (WITH NOTES FROM BUD VEAR)

Bud: Dad was a very private person (at least with me), and he seldom talked about his life, so I knew very little about his early years, his army service or his work. Our conversations focused on his favorite topics, sports and theater but he told me very little about his personal life. Gloria, Barb and I attended Dad’s 91st (and last) birthday in Sun City, Arizona, and Marika suggested that Dad and I be left alone to talk. This resulted in two hours of the most meaningful conversation I ever had with my father. We talked about his work, his friends and the things he remembered most about his life. We didn’t mention sports or theater once! I lament that I didn’t record our conversation.

Barb: Al remembered working in his Uncle William’s grocery store at around 10 years of age. The manager, a German man, would give him a bag to fill with candy at the end of the day while watching to see that Uncle William didn’t notice. He remembered riding on the back of the horse-drawn grocery delivery wagon, driven by one of the older employees. One time the wagon was struck by a train at a railroad crossing. Al jumped off the wagon just before the train arrived and ran back to the store and burst in, yelling that the horse was dead. Fortunately, except for the horse, no one was hurt.

He told another story about Mrs. Horton, a very good customer who lived a block from the store in a castle (a beautiful building in that area). It angered him that his uncle would reward his good charge customers, like her, with a box of candy each month, while the regular cash customers received nothing.

At about age 10, Al would go to the Chicago White Sox baseball game on Sunday afternoon – only after he had attended the nearby Bethany Union Church with his mother and had grabbed a bite of lunch. He went to the game on a streetcar and had to negotiate at least one transfer to reach Comiskey Park. Admission to the game cost 50 cents, and he spent 15 cents on food. He vividly remembered attending the World Series in 1906 when both Chicago teams (White Sox and Cubs) played against each other.

He recalled ice skating to school over ice with grass sticking to it. His mother’s brother, Uncle Ernest, was a carpenter and once built him a roller coaster.

Al had a sister, Elizabeth, nicknamed Babe, who was four years younger. She went to Rockford College and was quite a pianist. There was also a half-brother, born of his father’s first wife in 1888, but I don’t think they kept in touch. Al, Babe and their mother moved to 10227 S. Wood St (now Beverly) when Al was in high school to live with Aunt Min, Dad’s mother’s sister. He attended Calumet H.S. by train and worked as a janitor after school. After graduation in 1913, he worked for a year at Swift & Co. in the stockyards. At his mother’s urging, he entered the University of Illinois to study agriculture. He remembers feeling guilty because his mother had bought him a new suit, paid for by stamp payments. It didn’t fit properly, and he wouldn’t wear it, so his mother had a tailor make him a new one, finished just hours before he left for school. The expense was not something his mother could afford. He attended Illinois for 2 ½ years and did a little wrestling while there.

In 1916 he entered the Calvary in World War I. He once missed receiving an army award because he couldn’t get 4 cannons lined up. The cannons were each pulled by 4 horses. In those days, cavalry meant handling horses. He said he had the horses going in circles trying to straighten things out. He laughed at the memory. He did not have to go overseas and was discharged after the armistice was signed.

After service, he set out for Michigan Agricultural College (Now MSU) in East Lansing with $14 in his pocket. He needed $30 to enter the College, but talked the lady comptroller into letting him in. By working in a small restaurant, he finally paid the comptroller back. He remembered tuition at that time being about $125 a semester. He loved playing poker and said he probably evened out. He enjoyed his fraternity, played football and coached wrestling at $1.75/hour. He didn’t know much, but from his few weeks of wrestling at the University of Illinois, he knew more than anyone else. They wrestled in the Big 10 – but never won.

At a new student college mixer he and some other fellows were noticing the girls. He said Helen looked more mature than the others, and he announced that he was going to meet her – which he did. Al and Helen were married while he was still in college. They eloped and later had their real church wedding at St. Jarlath’s on August 23, 1922. They had so little money that Helen recalled she knew the price of one carrot. When her father visited them once, Al went out and bought nice food to impress him. Helen was furious.

Al started his theatrical avocation at Michigan Agricultural College. One production, in which he was involved, traveled to several other towns, including Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. At one time he was in a play with Sydney Blackmere, who later became a Broadway and Hollywood performer.

Bud: I remember him introducing me to Sydney backstage after a production in Chicago that we attended. I was very impressed

Barb: Al directed and acted in many plays with the Wheaton Drama Club and, during World War II, took several of his productions to nearby Great Lakes and Camp Grant to entertain the troops. He wondered what would have happened if he had pursued Theater seriously.

Four sons and one daughter were born between 1923 and 1936; Judd, Rosemary, Charles, David and John. Rosemary died at 6 months of age.

Al graduated in Animal Husbandry in 1922 and began a 5 year football coaching/teaching career in Marino City, MI before moving to Albion, MI High School and finally to Lockport, NY High School where his team won a Conference Championship. Harry Kipke, a famous University of Michigan head football coach was a close friend and in the 30’s Al frequently returned to his love of coaching by helping Kipke for a few weeks at spring practice in Ann Arbor. (My note: Harry Kipke was in charge of the Recruiting Center in Chicago in 1944, when I tried to enlist in the Navy Air Corps, and Dad contacted him to help me get accepted. He didn’t succeed. I flunked the vision test!)

With the Depression starting, Al retuned to Chicago where he worked in the nearby Chicago Bridge & Iron Steel Mill for a while at $24.60 per week. In 1928 he began his Swift & Co. career as a hotel restaurant salesman, which took the family first to Rutland, VT and then to East Orange, NJ where he was the New York Branch Manager. In 1931 Swift transferred him back to the Chicago main office where he eventually became a very successful National Manager of Hotel/Institutional Sales until his 1968 retirement.

Al and his family spent many years living in Wheaton, IL before they moved to a 180 acre dairy farm between Marengo and Harvard, IL. A tenant farmer did the actual farming. Dad also enjoyed thoroughbred horse racing and attended Arlington Park Race Track often. He even owned some race horses, and though none of them were very successful, one did race at Arlington Park. That horse was named Patlynka after three of his grandchildren, Patty, Lynn and Kate.

Bud: Al died in Sun City, AZ on March 26, 1987, which happened to be Gloria and my 36th Wedding Anniversary

HELEN GRAY VEAR

BY BARB FISHER

Helen was born in Chicago in 1897. She had two older brothers, Robert and Charles. Her parents, Charley and Mae divorced when she was only 7 but over the years Helen maintained close contact with her father and his six second marriage children.

She attended Michigan State University where she was part of a beauty pageant at one time. She met Al Vear at college and they married there. Her father was not happy about the marriage.

Helen had four boys and one girl, Rosemary, who died as an infant. Babe, Al’s sister, remembered visiting them in Albion, Michigan when Rosemary died at 6 months of age. When Helen’s father, Charley Gray, died in 1927, Helen and Judd were staying temporarily with Babe and her husband, Howard Young, in Chicago. It was on Christmas day when word came of Charley’s fatal accident – a fall from a horse.

When they first returned to Chicago, they lived with Al’s mother, Rosa, while he worked at the nearby steel mill. Helen used to walk to his work and take him his lunch, and she also ran a small nursery school for a little extra money. They lived at 10227 S. Wood St on the south side of Chicago, and this was their address when Judd started kindergarten. Later they lived in Michigan, New York, Vermont and New Jersey before finally settling in Wheaton, Illinois to raise their family. Helen was very active in community affairs, and she became the first woman and the first Catholic to be elected to the Wheaton School Board. She was a member of the Library Board and was active in her church as Grand Regent of the Catholic Daughters. She even joined the Farm Bureau when she and Al moved to the farm in Marengo.

In the 1930’s she drove her boys on camping trips, hauling a pop-up camper long before it was a popular way to travel. Those two month summer trips covered thousands of miles ranging from California in the far west to New England and Washington, D.C. on the east coast, to the Gaspe’ Peninsula in Canada and all points in between. When the older boys were teens, Helen would spend the summers with them at a campgrounds along Lake Michagamme in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and after her boys were grown, Helen would travel with a neighbor, Lucille, and sometimes park the trailer for the summer at Devil’s Lake in Wisconsin and make trips up there to enjoy the outdoors. She was a great camper and loved to swim in lakes or at the pool in Wheaton.

Helen was a pragmatic, down-to-earth, attractive fun-loving woman. She loved life and adored her family but was also not shy about sharing her opinions. She and Al bought a farm near Marengo, Illinois in anticipation of Al’s retirement, but he wouldn’t retire for five more years, and the farm was not a happy place for Helen, away from all the friends she had made in Wheaton. Al did not invite her to join him on his frequent business trips and she was very lonely. Shortly before Al’s retirement, Helen broke her ankle from a fall at home, and, while recovering in the Belvidere Hospital near the farm, she died from an aneurysm, a complication from the injury. She was 61.

MODERN GENETICS

BY BUD VEAR

Vear is not a very common family name in the U.S.. (Although, thanks to the Vear Clan, it is becoming more common!) Our booklet at the last Vear Fest in 2016 had a story of Dad’s search for and the discovery of a Charles Vear who had surfaced in Dad’s life and then in mine and finally in Judd’s when he was Publisher of Good Housekeeping.

There is a whole industry now that offers to help you connect with family relatives by analyzing a sample of your saliva. It is amazing what you can learn from a little spit! This may seem bizarre, but it is really a valid way to find people who have some genetic connection to you. Candy was able to connect with Rick’s daughter, Susan, after many years, using this method, and I was contacted by a second cousin I had never met.

In my case, I had enrolled in 23 and me, thanks to Candy’s gift of the kit, and I received an e-mail from someone who had also enrolled, suggesting that we might be second cousins. The e-mail included several family names that we might share, so I took out Barb’s wonderful booklet on The Vear Ancestors and found two names that matched: Gray and Oram. Gray was my maternal grandmother’s married name (Grandma Gray) and Oram was the maiden name of my Grandfather Gray’s mother. So how were we connected?

Grandma Gray and Grandfather Gray (whom I never met – he died six months after my birth.) had three children, my mother and her two brothers. Then they divorced – somewhat of a rarity in those days – and my Grandfather remarried and had six more children with whom we had no contact except for Judd, who did have some contact with one of them. It