Golden Memories of My Life With Ruth & Sam: My Wonderful "Grand" Parents

Heaven.

Chapter One

JOHN EDWARD GARRETSON - A MIGHTY MAN OF FAITH

Growing up I was so blessed by God. My young parents divorced when I was but a year old. As I said earlier, neither one wanted to be held down by a baby. So my grandparents on my mother’s side took on the responsibility of raising me. They became my legal guardians. Later, when I was around six or seven they adopted me.

At that point in time John E. (Edward) Garretson and his wife Ruth became my official mother and father. At my grandmother’s insistence, I was allowed to retain my name given at birth. So I remained Joseph Callihan. This decision proved to be very wise. Not long after my adoption, my name helped make me aware of a kidnapping attempt.

I was in the second grade, attending parochial school in Ironton, Ohio. Ironton was just across the Ohio River from Russell, Kentucky where we lived. After school I would go down to the bus station and catch a bus back to Russell. (Evil people were around in those days - just not as many as today).

One day as I came to the bus station, a man in a car parked near the curb called out to me. Are you Joey Garretson? Before I could answer, he went on to say, your grandfather sent me over to give you a ride home. Then opening the car door on the passenger side he said, Come on, hop in!

I knew immediately he was lying about having talked with my grandfather. Sam (my nick name for my grandfather) would have told him my name was Joe Callihan. I hesitated and stalled for time. Don’t you believe me, he asked. Then holding in his hand a dime he said, Here’s a dime, you can call him if you don’t believe he sent me. No thank you, I calmly replied, I have my own dime. Opening a box of candy, reaching to the passenger side and opening the door, the man said, I brought you some candy. I thought you might like some. Hop in so we can go.

This nailed the lid on his coffin. We had been warned in school to watch out for any stranger offering candy. Having watched and waited as the traffic light turned red, I ran across the street in the opposite direction from which he was parked. I heard him slam the passenger door shut. As he started his car I heard him shout, Come back here and get in this car you damn kid!

I ran up the street and turned into a neighborhood, going up the porch stairs to the front door of the first house I came to. I began ringing the doorbell and banging on the door, but to no avail. It appeared there was no one home. Then, looking down the street, I could see his car turning to slowly drive down toward where I was. As he got nearer I knew he could see me, as the porch had open slats on the banister. So I quickly leaped over the banister and hid behind a growth of shrub.

I got away by hiding in that shrub for over two hours, during which time he circled the neighborhood three times. I then went to the nearest store and asked to use their phone. When I described my ordeal to the store manager, he led me to the office phone. The sheriff of Russell came to pick me up. From the good description I gave of both the man and his car, the police were able to quickly discover who the man was.

As it turned out, my grandfather had fired this man earlier that day. My grandfather had repeatedly warned him about reporting to work drunk, and had warned the next time would be his last, as it would cost his job. Unfortunately alcohol, as with far too many, was the master over this man’s brain. The police caught up to him as he was driving his car near the state border, attempting to escape capture. He was charged with attempted kidnapping, and went bye- bye for a long time.

But let’s get on with telling you about the man this chapter is dedicated to: John E. Garretson. My grandfather was a mighty man of faith. Sam came from a large family, having several brothers and sisters. Standing only five foot six inches tall, he was on the short side in height, but a GIANT in courage. In his lengthy career with the C&O railroad, Sam started as a water boy, later he became a master mechanic.

As with many a young boy in his day, Sam quit school early, taking a job as water boy on the C&O to earn money to help support his widowed mother and younger sisters and brothers. A water boy was one who brought buckets of water to the men who were laying track all day. The pay was extremely low, but every penny helped his family get by. He became known as a hard and reliable worker, often willing to go out of his way in helping other workers. Although just a boy, Sam would often take over and lay track, to give an exhausted worker a break. The men were always appreciative of this gesture of good will. Well respected for his kindness, Sam developed many adult friends who would look out for him.

Having a hunger for knowledge, Sam was self taught. He would spend many hours at night reading and studying books about subjects children in high school and college would be learning. He discovered he had a brilliant mechanical mind. Others discovered this fact as well, and through the years he earned many promotions at the C&O. He developed a reputation of being dedicated to both his company and its employees. He was feared by many for his fierce temper, and loved by all for his honesty, fairness and sincere concern for every employee.

Me grandfather developed the first refrigerated railroad car. Excitedly, he presented his invention to higher ups. As the result, he never was paid a cent for his invention. They stole it out from under him, since he had failed to first get a patent. When he sought a form of payment, Railroad lawyers pronounced he had worked on development on their time. That was only partially true. Most of the time was his own, as he worked on it in his garage on his own time. In compromise, the railroad named it the Garretson Icebox.

My grandfather remained loyal to the C&O, and did rise up the line in promotions. Before he retired in 1955, he held the position of Senior Master Mechanic. He was making over $500.00 a week (good money in the mid 1950’s). But, much to my grandmothers’ dislike, Sam was an easy hit for his many ne’er-do-well brothers. They were constantly hitting their big brother for loans. I’m not talking about small loans, but loans in the thousands of dollars range.

Sam made the mistake of loaning the money to his brothers time and again, always offering the same feeble stipulation to pay it back when you can. Sam’s brothers lacked the kind of integrity Ruth’s brothers were brought up to possess. To them, the words when you can meant don’t bother ever paying it back. Ruth once told me she estimated they had robbed their older brother of well over $100,000.00 through the years. Once Sam had retired, she saw to it that their cash cow stopped giving. The retirement savings Ruth had tried to accumulate had been wasted on the brothers. She discovered many times Sam had tapped into their savings to give money to one of his brothers. Sadly, an incident I had in school, also helped deplete their savings.

In 1949, an exciting offer came my grandfather’s way. Some men from South Africa came to the house and paid Sam a business visit. They came to make him a fantastic offer. They were planning on building a railroad in South Africa, and wanted to hire Sam to head up the project. His reputation made them believe he was the one they were looking for. A very serious offer was then made. We presently have in New York, a bank account in your name with $100,000.00 in it. We will arrange for air and ship tickets for you and your family to come to Johannesburg, South Africa. Once you arrive, another $100,000.00 will be waiting. Your annual salary will also be $100,000.00.

Ruth begged Sam to take this more than generous offer, but he declined. He said he felt too loyal to the C&O to leave them. Having grown up working for the same company since a boy, he felt as if they were family. You don’t desert your family. Not for any amount of money, he proclaimed. Besides, he said, he was due to retire in just six more years, He said he wanted to enjoy his retirement. The men making the offer told him he could indeed retire in six years, as under his leadership, they believe their line would be built in less time than that. But much to Ruth’s dismay, Sam still said no to this offer.

It was early in 1950 when Sam officially became my father through adoption. He was getting up in years, and as I pointed out, he held the position of Master Mechanic at the Roundhouse in Russell, where he had over five thousand men and women working under his supervision. I used to go visit him at work on a regular basis. In those days, as I look back now as a man, he was a lot like General Patton, at least at work he was. At home with my grandmother in charge, he would become a gentle Teddy Bear.

I reference General Patton for one reason – his fierce and fearless abandon when dealing with others. On one of my visits I secretly observed him in action. I watched as with a fiery temper, this