What did YOUR grandfather do?

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Both Grandfathers served in WWII; maternal was a Navigator in the Army Air Corps (what the Air Force was called before it was the Air Force) and was shot down over Belgium. He put himself through school as a bookkeeper for a local bank, and after nearly forty years at the same bank he was the Senior Vice President that ran the place. He just passed away last June. Paternal was a Seabee that fought with the Marines at Iwo Jima. Mostly spent time as a police officer in a few small towns in western PA. He turns 90 in May.
 
My maternal grandpa was known as a fun-loving (read: drunken) Irish rogue (Sullivan) who married into a Maine Yankee family with (to my great-grandparents horror) and ended up in Boston to raise a family.

He went to work for the Commonwealth in the prison system and although I cannot confirm it 100% (My mother absolutely refused to discuss it) family rumors from several sources indicated that it was he who was ordered to pull the switch on Old Sparky to fry italian immigrants Sacco and Vanzetti in a controversial case where many questions were raised over their guilt and whether their trial was legit. Probably one of the more famous executions in US history.

I can't tell you how blown away I was to hear that I was the grandson of an executioner, which didn't happen until I was in my late 20's. I had no idea. I never met him-- he died before I was born but his photos bear a startling resemblance to one of my brothers.

A few years later when I started dating my wife we would often visit her Grandparents who both emigrated to the US from Italy. He was an interesting dude that loved to shoot the breeze with me over Italian coffee and one day he asks me: "Did you ever hear the story about Sacco and Vanzetti?"

I didn't have the balls to tell him the deal. The guy had thumbnails the size of a silver dollar.

Since there are a few stories in this thread about the hardscrabble existence of our forebears, I will also mention that during one tough year when my Mother was very young they had no money to buy food for Thanksgiving and Grandma packed her kids up and took them to Boston City Hall where they guilted the pols on duty into passing the hat so they could have something to eat, an episode that haunted her for her entire life.

And I bitch that gas is 3 bucks a gallon.
 
My Paternal Grandfather was Quebec French Canadian and my Maternal Grandfather was Irish whose family emigrated from The Olde Sod to The Maritimes

PG immigrated to the USA by working the large woolen mills of New Hampshire settling to raise his family in a tiny mill town in the Southwestern part of the state before finally moving to the Lowell-Lawrence area

MG immigrated from Nova Scotia to the USA settling in Boston where he started his family working in various fields including establishing one of the few working independent dairies within the City Limits

PG sired 12 children and was a raging alcoholic

MG sired 1 child and was a tee-totaler

some could say that between my French-Canadian PG working the bottle, the mills and working out the Mrs. PG and my Irish MG not getting much besides handling of cow's udders would go a long way to understanding how the RG has developed a taste for the booze and the women but must settle for the RealDolls

[edit: ROFL changed FG (Fraternal) to corrected PG (Paternal).....PG while accurate is actually more funny considering the RG is far from a PG rating himself]
 
Great stories here...

Annihilus's paternal grandparents were farmers in Iowa, who relocated to Montana at a young age (well, gramps was the farmer and grams raised the 9 kids). After moving to MT, gramps had a junkyard (heaven to a kid growing up) and spent his time cutting cars and trucks in half and then welding them together in different configurations. He wanted an El Camino, so he made one because he couldn't afford to buy one. He invented some machines that were pretty damn useful, the best one was an hydraulic wood splitter (their house was 100% wood heated).

The maternals hailed from Connecticut where gramps was a roofer and grandma worked with the Salvation army (in addition to raising 8 kids). Not sure why they moved to MT.

Both grandma's outlived their husbands, one by 26 years and the other by 13 years. Annihilus doesn't hold out much hope of outliving Ms. Annihilus.

None of the grandparents were in any wars, but Crazy Uncle Norman was in the trenches in WWI and experienced shell shock, which he kind of recovered from, but never entirely. Grandma threw him out of the house several times because of his foul mouth. His hearing aid would often feedback and sounded like an air raid siren when she was bitching him out for using 'the language'.
 
My paternal grandfather served in World War I and was an engineer. (my father served in WWII)

My maternal grandfather was a butcher and died from alcoholism before I was born.
 
On mother's side, he was a drunk and got killed walking across the street in Boston. Actually he was a coal miner or so I hear since I never knew him. He was of Penn Dutch descent. I have no knowledge of prior military service.

On father's side, he was a merchant....of pasta. Yes, he owned a pasta factory in NY at one time. Sold it and then owned a groceria. He was a Sicilian immigrant. I have no knowledge of military service and doubt he did but maybe he served under Mussolini?:p
 
Paternal Grandfather worked for the railroad and served in WWI Dad also worked for the railroad and served in WWII

Maternal Grandfather was a farmer in Quebec
 
My Grandfather was an intelligence guy during the Vietnam war in the Army....

My great grandfather was involved in the now famous "Battle of the Bulge" in WWII (he survived but took a piece of shrapnel to the side)

My grandmother worked for the post office and lived in Germany for a while, where she met my grandfather....her father was in the military
 
Maternal grandparents came from Lebanon in about 1914 and settled in Johnstown PA but I don't know what they did for a living since I had no contact with them growing up. When I was re-introduced to my birth Mom years later I was STUNNED to see this fully Lebanese woman with blue blue eyes.

My paternal grandparents came to the US around the same time from Kiev. They too had their consonant heavy last name "Ellis Islandized" and settled in Baltimore where they ran a store. I also didn't see them much growing up but I loved when I asked my grandma about her trip over to come here. I had pictured a harrowing boat ride across the Atlantic but she said it was a great trip where the stopped in Paris and such.:)

It sure would be nice to be able to go to Lebanon someday to see where they came from. I don't think it will be safe in my lifteim though.
 
Believe it or not, my grandfather was a utility player on the Boston Red Sox. He played with Ted Williams and stayed friends with him until my grandfather died in 1989.
 
My Grandfather was a coal miner in Norther Ontario until he joined the war. He made is way up from grunt to Regimental Seagant Major. He was sunk on the way to Italy then rejoined the campaign in Sicily. In Italy he won The Military Medal for bravery under fire as well as a few lesser medals. When he returned he became a cop in Toronto until retirement.

He was a great man and I miss him dearly. My first born son is named after him.
 
Love this thread, especially since there's so much Canadian ancestory involved.

My paternal grandfather did a little of everything, but was a chauffeur for a good part of his life. He made $10 a week when my father was just a kid. Broke his jaw fixing a flat tire. He used to bore us to death with pictures of Nova Scotia when I was a kid - now I'm looking forward to actually visiting there.

My maternal grandfather came down from Canada when he was 13 years old. Didn't speak a word of English. Only had 2 good qualities, really - he didn't allow any derogatory insults of other races and he was a good gardener. Was a miserable, weekend drunk, though. Made family life a horror.
 
Maternal g'dad opened his own gas station/mechanic in Beverly Hills, CA before there was anything special about the place. He then relocated the business to Solvang, CA.

Paternal grandad was an engineer for Johns-Manville in Lompoc, CA.
 
sad to say but my Dad's dad moved this way while in the service.....his family is from Indiana. I found this out a couple Years ago and sad to say I kept it a secret for as long as I could
 
*mikiemo83 on 01-24-2008 at 10:06 AM said:
sad to say but my Dad's dad moved this way while in the service.....his family is from Indiana. I found this out a couple Years ago and sad to say I kept it a secret for as long as I could
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My maternal grandpa fought in WWII over in Europe and got a purple heart(never got too many of the details). He then worked in a paper mill the rest of his life.

My paternal grandpa only spoke french and had a logging business(skidders, logging trucks, etc...). He also owned a convenience store that my grandma ran.
 
How many here could get there GrandFathers to talk about their service time? Neither one wanted to talk about it in my family but put them in a room of Vets and they got all chatty
 
My maternal grandfather was in the Navy during the PTO. Afterwards he was a fireman for the city until he was 62(he took early retirement thinking he wouldnt like long...He is currently 85 and still kicking ass lol...Every damn holiday(easter xmas etc..)for the past 10 years he says I have one foot in the grave he cracks me up.

My paternal grandfather died when I was 4, I dont really know much about his earlier days, but did know he owned a bar in the Bay Area, would drink like a fish lol...
 
*mikiemo83 on 01-24-2008 at 09:26 AM said:
How many here could get there GrandFathers to talk about their service time? Neither one wanted to talk about it in my family but put them in a room of Vets and they got all chatty
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Once I was in the service, they talked to me about WWII. Some pretty amazing stuff.
 
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