Sept. 3, 2015

Hi, Tiffany, I am finally getting to this fun list. Not sure whether you know it or not but I LOVE history. I even taught it in junior high and high school. Grandpa loves it, too. I have some answers from him as well. Hope this works for you.

1. Grandpa’s dad, Orville Thomas Sanders, taught Grandpa the value of working hard. When he and Reah Wardle got married, they really had nothing. Both lived with their parents who were very poor and worked to help them. Great Grandpa Sanders worked two jobs and was able to buy a little property on which he built a tiny home in Boise, ID, near their families. When their first son, Tom, was born, they all slept in one little room. When Grandpa Dick was born Great Grandpa Sanders added a room for the boys which was also for other things like storage and cleaning supplies. Nothing fancy. Great Grandpa then got called to drafted as a Marine to fight in WWII. When he came home he started a business and moved to Caldwell, ID. Great Grandpa worked very hard, built a good business and a home for now 4 children. He never was able to go to college.When he was in his late 50’s he went to college and graduated with a business degree. (That small business was sold before he went and as a veteran of WWII he his schooling was paid for.) He bought property in Boise, developed it, rented buildings he had built on it,and when he retired, he was a millionaire. His example was that he was willing to do hard work, serve his country, and care for his family. He also valued learning, going to college at an age when most are retiring. He taught Grandpa Dick how to work who has then taught his children how to work and serve others.

My Grandfather, Joseph Fernyak, was born in Slovakia, in the 1800’s when Austria-Hungary controlled it. He and his parents and three siblings lived in a little village called Porubka. They were Protestants and most Slovakians were Catholic. The government favored the desires of the Catholic Church so my Grandfather had to be an altar boy in that church even though he was not a member. He was young and could do nothing about it at the time. Then, when he was nearing 19, he was told he would be drafted into the Austria=Hungary army to serve in their conquests of Europe. He decided he had had enough of a government imposing their religious beliefs and their military conquests on him. He came to America! He came all alone. His father had died just before or just after he left. He settled in Mansfield, OH met Bertha Ischy, my Grandmother, who was of the same Protestant church, and they married. Grandfather started a machine shop along with his younger brother, who followed him to America as did his sisters and mother. He was very successful. His example to me was his determination to go to a country whose principles supported freedom of choice (religious) and whose principles he could defend if he was drafted to fight in its military. He died before I was born but I appreciate his example.

2. Among many historical figures whom I value, Abraham Lincoln is my favorite.. I love reading about him and reading his writings. He came from a very poor family,worked so hard, learned to read and treasured every book he could find to read. He watched people, learned from them, choosing traits he wanted to emulate. He became a lawyer on his own as many did at that time. It provided opportunities for a living and for more learning. He had a sense of humor. He found himself in politics because he had, through watching men govern, learned the good and the bad. He ran for office. He won and he lost. He married and had four beloved sons. He was a great father. He was unbelievably elected President of the United States. He had vision, knowing this was a great country, founded on great principles, struggling to live up to those principles with the terrible guilt of slavery. He saw his way to emancipation, He was reelected unbelievably. And he was assassinated for doing what was right.

3. We come to understand people and events today because we see them in their places and atmosphere. I just read a book about the Islam, its origin, and its influence on the people of the “middle world” as the author called the middle east. I see more clearly the problems facing us and our country as we deal with the problems in the middle east. I have, therefore, benefited from reading history. Because I know more now about that part of the world, I can see individuals in locations there, with interest, sometimes sympathy, sometimes horror, but I know them a little. Before, they were a mass, unknown and unappreciated and unprepared for.

Tiffany, I am out of time. I will add more to #3 and answer #4 later. I hope I am getting this to you in time. THANK YOU, for asking us to do so. Grandpa is also hoping to add to this.

We love you. Grandma Sanders