He lived about a week and we all took turns
sitting in the waiting room, but were never allowed to see him for
more than a minute at a time. The doctor told us he had suffered a
massive heart attack and knew he wouldn't live. I never forgave the
doctor because if he knew he wasn't going to live I think we should
have been allowed to spend more time with him.
This occurred in October when Dad was 74 years old. He was only a
couple of weeks away from his 75th birthday in November and had
planned on retiring and taking a trip to Florida. I made up my mind
to retire before my health would prohibit me from enjoying a few
years of retirement. I have always considered myself lucky to have
had the chance to work with my father for so many years and get to
know him. He once told me that it gave him great satisfaction to have
raised nine children nobody getting into serious trouble even though
none were a great success.
I continued working with Clarence until 1959 when I was offered a job
as a painter in the maintenance department at the hospital. It took
me almost a year to make up my mind because I didn't want to leave
Clarence working alone. It was one of the hardest decisions to make,
but I know the advantages of steady work even though I had to start
with a cut in wages. The first few years I tried to help Clarence
with some of his work on weekends when I could. I have never
regretted the move because I would have ended up working alone when
Clarence retired.
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