My Aunt Jo's birthday. Standing with Uncle Fred in front of their house. I still miss her after 44 years. They lived a few blocks from us while I was growing up.
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| Jo and Fred Harvey in front of their house Albuquerque, NM abt 1968 |
Larry:
Fred Harvey met Joan Williamson during WWII working in a plant in Los Angeles, Ca. Jo was working with Katie at a newspaper printing company.
(there was a story about Jo falling on the sidewalk and nobody helping her up. but I don't remember any more.
Katie talked about the hats they folded out of the newspaper to keep the ink out of their hair. She forgot how to fold them and always wished she could remember.)
They were married there. After the war ended they moved to Portales where Fred rented an Irrigated farm NW of town. I remember he had a lot of trouble with the irrigation pumps. The farming was not much success.
He also worked at Price's Creamery. We used to go by the back door to see him when we were in town. (Probably when we still lived at Lingo, cause I remember going to the laundry too.~1955) He always had "damaged" ice cream sandwiches to give us. I loved ice cream then.
About 1957 Jo and Fred gave up farming in Portales and moved to Albuquerque,NM. They got an apartment on Broadway down town. Fred got a job sorting mail at the Post Office. Katie and Bud moved to Albuquerque in 1958 and rented a duplex off N 2th ST.
Shortly Fred bought a house way out on the east side of town in Princess Jean Park. Within a few months Bud bought one there too, only a few blocks away.
Fred retired with disability from the Post Office, then decided he needed something to do. So he took every art class available at UNM then at the Senior Centers.
He once wrote a short story about a Stetson hat. They liked it so much that they sent him a top of the line gray Stetson! He kept it in a box in the bedroom closet.
The last 5 years Jo was confined to a hospital bed in the living room. This was caused by a cyst growing in her spinal column. It had been there since she was in high school. Katie took part of a year off school to sit with Jo because she was not expected to live out the year. ( abt 1935) She passed away Mar 28, 1975, Wyndi's birthday, but 3 years before.
I never heard her complain about anything, but Fred teasing us. Which he did continuously. She always kept candy in a dish for the kids that came. She smoked a lot. She rolled her own filtered cigarettes with Prince Albert in the blue can. I don't remember a tobacco smell in the house like we notice these days though.
Fred's father was a hobo. He traveled around hopping trains. When he would get to a new town, he would drop Fred off at the library. He often found work or other interests and came back after a few days to get Fred and move on. The last time, when Fred was just over 6 years old, was in Searchlight, NV. He didn't come back. A family (used to know the name) there took Fred in and raised him into his teens.
Later he inherited 10 acres between downtown Las Vegas and the airport. Jo always referred to it as their nest egg. Howard Hughes offered to buy it several times, but they held out thinking they might need the money later. As Las Vegas grew toward the property, the land tax also increased. They had to sell 1 acre just to pay the tax, but by then Hughes was no longer interested.
In 1964 Uncle Jack and Aunt Blanche toured Europe. They flew in, bought 3 VWs, drove theirs around Europe for a month. And then loaded them on a ship to Galveston, TX. A squareback each for us and Fred and a bug for Jack. We flew to Galveston and drove them back to NM.
Fred would load up his VW squareback with paintings, postcards and bolo ties and drive off somewhere around NM and just setup beside the road to try to sell his art.
