Holcomb Siblings...

So now on to the brothers and sisters and what I know about each...

Ethel was the oldest daughter. She was a good deal older than my father. She was already a young woman when he was born. Ethel was married to Otis Vanderford. They had three daughters, and two sons (Louis - very nice, Dewey - don't know very well, Rosa Bell - a redhaired lady who made me think of a picture in an Alice in Wonderland book I used to have of a woman holding a baby who turned into a pig :), Shirley - very nice, and Louise - very nice) . My first memory of them they lived in an old white farm house on a dirt road in Gwinnett County (which is now paved with houses, subdivisions, etc everywhere). Later they moved into their daughter Louise's basement terrace apartment nearby. (Louise always treated me as if I weren't a child. She is married to Roy Wells, whose sister Parlee was married to my uncle Kelly.) We used to visit fairly often. I remember her as a woman who was a little on the heavy side with white hair, who was always cheerful. Otis was a nice tall man with red hair. Both have been dead for quite a few years. I remember her giving me old jewelry, and making biscuits in a wooden bowl...

Floyd was married to a lady named Ophelia. They lived on a farm. I remember when they had a bathroom installed in the old farm house they lived in. They had cows, and really good horse apples. They lived on New Hope Road at the end of a long dirt drive, and one of their sons lived next door. I know they had two sons and a daughter (Troy - lived next door & now lives in the mountains - had sons, one of whom died in an auto accident, Ed - a Baptist preacher - died of a heart attack and Alene who died of cancer - she was daddy's age, and an infant daughter who died). I'm not sure other than those. I remember eating with them and having REAL butter that my aunt made herself. She was called "Feelie" - not sure of the spelling - but that conveys the pronunciation. Floyd had nicknames for all the children. I was always "Froggy". Ophelia exaggerated. Once when my momma had bursitis and they were describing her exercises (walking up the wall with her fingertips), it was repeated that daddy was having a hard time with momma, that she was "climbing the walls", and other times when folks had colds, they were dying of pneumonia. But she was a sweet lady - it wasn't done to hurt, she just always saw things a little differently :).

Minor was married to Eunice. They had four sons and two daughters (Carson - don't know much about, Coy & Carol - both died alcoholics, Lonnie - seems nice, Connie - battled prescription drug addiction and bitterness, Helen - battled alcoholism). Eunice's brother was married to aunt Annie. Minor was bad to drink for years. He used to be mean to his wife and kids when he was drinking. They used to hide from him. He straightened out later in life, but it was too late for some of them. He was a nice man when he was sober.

Kelly was married to Parlee. They had three daughters and five sons, all of whom seem very nice (Evelyn, Larry, Linda, Ronnie, Mike, Fay, Butch, Terry - the youngest grandchild besides me, he's one year older than I am). Daddy used to say that Kelly was lazy. Even though he had the biggest house and the most children. I think he was a little envious of him sometimes. But he did tell a story about a time when they were young and Kelly was supposed to be plowing with a mule. Apparently he decided to take a break in the shade and leaned over on the plow and went to sleep. They came along and spooked the mule. Daddy seemed to think it served him right for sleeping while he was supposed to be plowing. But I always thought he was a little bitter because Kelly was one of the primary ones who signed him into Central State (more on that later).

Warren Joseph, W.J. or just Jay - I would say he was daddy's favorite brother. He was the scalawag, the one who was always up to something, who sang and played the banjo, went hunting, had pet raccoons and hunting dogs. Who said things that weren't so nice to his wife, but she loved him anyway. Who borrowed money from daddy and never paid it back. Who didn't want to go to church, but whose children did (due to their momma's influence). We went here the most, and I have a lot of memories of him. He died of lung cancer, but his wife Inus is still alive (very old). She's one of my favorite aunts even though she's not blood related. She was always very close to my mother, and the last time I saw her was at the funeral home when momma died. They had two daughters and three sons who are all very nice (Wylene, Wendell, Wayne, Sara Jane and Barry). When Jay was in the hospital when they found the cancer I visited with a "some bunny loves you" balloon. When he went home and the balloon lost it's air he put it on a wooden board....

Annie married Leland Everett. They had two sons and three daughters (Billy - died in an accident on a motorcycle, Roy - died of a heart attack and his wife Jackie died of cancer leaving their children alone to raise themselves with the help of an older brother, Barbara, Frances and Cheryl). Annie is what is known as a "character". I believe she may have alzheimers. She doesn't appear to remember a lot, but then she is very old. We visited her once in the hospital and she kept taking off her oxygen to talk and getting in trouble. So finally she'd talk and then slap it back on before her daughter could get onto her. A story that daddy told about her once was that he asked the teacher for some cans and carried them home. Annie told their parents that he stole them and he was spanked. So later he did something bad, and told them that she did it so that she'd get a spanking. They were the two younger siblings. Leland died and she remarried a man named Jim Steele, he is also still alive.

There was a sister named Lindy who died as an infant, and daddy's twin brother Elmer who died when he was 13 months old. He was healthier when he was born than daddy. They said he died cutting teeth. Apparently an abcess formed and burst, choking him. I'm not sure if there was more to it or not, he died in 1921.

Those are all daddy's siblings.