Pat graduated from El Dorado High School in El Dorado, Kansas in May of 1955. She wanted to get right to work and start earning her way in life. The Wichita Business College was offering a 3 month “crash” course during the summer with a guarantee of employment after successful completion of the course. Pat and her friends Charlotte and Susie elected to take the book-keeping and accounting course and get their working lives started. The school was set up so that if you failed, you had to take the course again. The girls had taken some business classes in high school so were able to breeze right through the course.

The Placement Counselor had noticed that Pat and Charlotte were pretty close and one day called them into her office and asked if they would like to work together. They thought it would be great if it were possible. The counselor said she had already spoken to an employer that was looking for two new people and would hire them both.

Upon completion of school, Pat and Charlotte went to work in the Auditing Department at Sears Roebuck and Company and Susie went to work at Macy’s. The girls were sharing an apartment and getting adjusted to living on their own. Transportation to and from work was possible through the city bus system though it ate up a lot of their spare time. In Pat and Charlotte’s case, the morning bus schedule was easy and caused no problems. However, the evening schedule was a drag in that they had to wait an hour to catch their bus. Going home to El Dorado for the weekend was hard because they had to hope that someone they knew was going that way and would also be able to bring them back.

After being on her job for a while and settled into her apartment and the routine of living on her own and paying bills, Pat decided it was time to buy a car. She enlisted the help of her step-dad, Eddie, who was a fair shade-tree mechanic and for a short time had sold used cars. Pat got home on a weekend and she and Eddie headed for a used car lot on south Main, there in El Dorado. Eddie knew one of the men that worked there and explained to the guy that they were looking for a very reliable car that Pat could drive to work without worrying about it. The salesman said he had the perfect car for her and that it was the most reliable car on the lot. He led them to this car that turned out to be a 1947 Studebaker! What? Was this guy nuts? Maybe we should talk about Studebakers for a minute while you get over the shock. There were five Studebaker brothers (and five sisters). Two of the brothers were blacksmiths and foundry men in South Bend, Indiana who started a company in 1852 making the metal parts for freight wagons. Another brother was in Placerville, California making wheelbarrows for the gold rush miners. He did well and saved up $8,000 and returned home to South Bend and helped the other brothers expand their business to the manufacturing of complete wagons. While building wagons for farmers, miners, and the military, they were also building a reputation for quality and reliability.

In 1902, the company produced a car with an electric motor and in 1904, a car with a gasoline engine. The company continued to build cars and trucks until WWII when they concentrated on the war effort, building great numbers of Army trucks and personnel carriers. Coming out of WWII, the company prepared for the post-war automotive sales surge with radical new designs. When the 1947 Studebaker was introduced, people couldn’t believe their eyes. Due to the radical departure from conventional General Motors and Ford styling, it looked more like a space ship out of a Buck Rogers comic book or like some kid’s idea of what futuristic cars should be like. The flat trunk lid looked so much like the engine hood you couldn’t tell if the thing was coming or going.

Back on the Used Car lot, Pat and Eddie looked the car over. It started easily, ran smoothly and quietly and was a solid, well-built car. The interior was spotless and was upholstered with quality fabrics. After a test drive, Pat and Eddie were convinced they had found a good car. So, now we have a 17-year-old girl that came in looking for a chic set of wheels, picking a

gray Studebaker. Who would have thought?

Pat was able to purchase the car on easy terms. The total price was $150.00. She put $30.00 down and payed it off at $15.00 per month. This was a little tight as she only made $45.00 a week and had to cover all of her living expenses out of what she was earning. One of the good things, at the time, was that gasoline was only $.17 per gallon.

Over the next few weeks the girls all had their 18^th birthdays. Pat wanted to take a trip in her “new” car and, being all grown up now, the girls decided to go to Kansas City and dine at the well- known Italian Gardens Restaurant. The ladies wanted to avoid the embarrassment of showing ID so were decked out in their most mature-looking outfits and had applied make-up to match. The trip to Kansas City was uneventful and they had no trouble finding the Italian Gardens. Once in the restaurant, they were seated, examined the menu, and were ready to order when the waiter returned. They gave their orders and the waiter asked if they would enjoy a glass of wine. They all agreed that would be nice and then, the waiter asked if they would like a carafe. Having no idea what a carafe was but wanting to appear cool, they all said “Each, please”. Well, after eating their lunches and drinking their carafe of wine, they got up to leave. For some reason, they found that standing was a very difficult task. Pat realized that she was in no condition to drive. They talked it over and decided that the smartest thing they could do would be to take in a movie and sober up before heading for home.

There you have it…a first car and a first grown-up trip. Pat was ready to be on her own and took seriously the responsibilities of an adult and car owner. And, now that she knew what a carafe was, never had that problem again. The Studebaker was great and never failed her once.

Dave and Pat Thomas
September 2, 2016

Last season NBC started airing a new show called “Who Do You Think You Are?” It’s sponsored by the genealogy-based website, Ancestry.com, and they take a celebrity and trace that person’s ancestors back as far as they can. They visit locations in the U.S. and even go back to Europe or Africa or wherever the quest takes them.

Pat and I were watching an episode last night featuring country singer, Tim McGraw. The story told how Tim thought his last name was “Smith” until he was 11 years old and found his birth certificate and learned that his name was really “McGraw” and that led him to the fact that he was the son of Tug McGraw the baseball player.

As they dug into his story, Tim learned that he was part of a pioneer family in Missouri named Chrisman. The Chrismans were tracked back to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the 1700’s. The story told how the Palatines fled religious persecution in Germany and traveled to England and then were recruited to travel to America. Upon arrival in America the people became indentured servants as the British forced them to work off the cost of their passage. The next revelation was that an earlier ancestor was named “Yost Heyd”. Yost Heyd was apparently an enterprising man and went from being an indentured servant in 1710 to being the largest private land owner in Virginia and was known as “The Baron of Shenandoah”. A young surveyor who was surveying the state recorded Yost Heyd’s name in his journal and probably knew him well. That young surveyor was George Washington.

While Pat and I watched the program, I began to perk up as I heard words like Palatine, Shenandoah, and then “Yost Heyd”. I remembered those names from several years ago when I was posting information and names to my Family Tree Maker database. After watching the program, I went to the computer, opened Family Tree Maker, and did a search on “Yost Heyd”. Sure enough, he popped up and the program said he is my 7th great grandfather! So, Guys…Tim McGraw is your cousin! I know that all of you guys would like to say hello to Tim and would certainly enjoy meeting up with his wife, Faith Hill.

Dave Thomas 11/12/2012

Tim McGraw and wife, Faith Hill. 

When I was talking with Doug the other day he mentioned that Penny had purchased some indoor-outdoor carpet for the larger palapa in their back yard. (For any of you not familiar with them, a palapa is an open-sided beach hut with a thatched roof.) This got me to thinking that Pat and I once saw a palapa in Yelapa. I’ll try to clear this up for you. Yelapa is a settlement in Mexico that is located on a beach that is a couple hours boat ride south of Puerto Vallarta. You take an excursion boat that has nice bench seats and a canopy to protect you from the sun. It’s a beautiful boat ride on a blue ocean with varying shades of green in the jungle on shore. Your boat pulls up to a dock and as you get off you can see dozens of palapas scattered along the beach. Many of the palapas contained people selling trinkets and tourist stuff. However, the specialty of the place was pie! They offered coconut, chocolate and lemon meringue that was “to die for”. Another special activity was para-sailing. As you were lifted above the height of the tallest trees in the jungle you could see a beautiful waterfall. So, along with all the sights, thrills, and pies you also got to enjoy the sight of a palapa in Yelapa.

Dave Thomas
June 20, 2011

It was early 1999 and Pat and I had been living in Avocado Estates for eleven years. Avocado Estates was a gated community of 110 homes in the hills on the south side of El Cajon. The common areas included three avocado groves, a pond, tennis courts, an Olympic-size pool, and a hiking trail. The streets all curved around the hills and gave the development a charming rural look. It was a beautiful place to live and we had thoroughly enjoyed being there. We were getting restless though and were ready to try something different. Pat had taken early retirement and I was just two years away from retiring at 65.

We owned a 3 bedroom condo in University City that we had been renting out for 10 years. We decided that when the current tenant moved out, we would sell our home in Avocado Estates and move into the condo until we decided what we were going to do. By mid year we had received notice from our tenant and we were able to close a deal on the Avocado house. We had the interior of the condo painted, installed new carpet in the bedrooms, replaced the downstairs carpet with wood flooring, and then, Pat remodeled the kitchen. It was a tiny, galley-type kitchen but she designed the cabinets to maximize storage space and bought all new appliances. The kitchen and the rest of the home looked great and you kids were generous with your time in helping us move in. Remember, we had to put a lot of our stuff in storage since we were downsizing considerably.

We enjoyed living in the condo with its proximity to downtown, Old Town San Diego, and the coast. As the crow flies, we were only about 5 miles from the beach and the Pacific. Still, we weren’t quite satisfied with our circumstances and were thinking about a beach house with a view of the water. Since we had just renovated the condo and moved in, it wasn’t practical to just pack up and go somewhere else. After a lot of back and forth conversations, Pat suggested that a large picture or a mural might give us what we were looking for. We decided that a mural would be just the thing and the kitchen was the only place downstairs that would be suitable. The next consideration was that hiring an artist would cost us some big bucks. Pat suggested that we do the job ourselves. Neither of us had ever shown any artistic ability but what the heck…? A coat of paint would cover anything that was too ugly for humans to view.

We bought some paint and got started. Pat and I enjoyed working on it and Jeff got involved for a while. Terri stopped to see us one day and we convinced her to add a few strokes. When we got done it kind of looked as if you were stepping out the kitchen door onto a porch and then a sandy beach. Maybe you could call it “hokey” or even “tacky” but it was fun to do and we enjoyed it all the time we were there.

We only stayed in the condo for 2 years. Pat and I continued searching the Multiple Listings online for the Fort Worth, Texas area. We had some friends down there we had been talking to and ended up buying a new 4 bedroom, brick home in Keller. So much for downsizing but I guess we satisfied our itch for something different.

Dave Thomas
February 12, 2015