Paul Millard Ford (By Dee Dee)

My Daddy’s name was Paul Millard Ford.  He was born on May 24, 1909, in Protem, Missouri.  His father was Janet W. Ford (I never really got it -- what a weird name for a man).  His mother was Ollie Vada Woods Ford.  He was one of eight children born to them.  I don’t know if they lived in Missouri or Arkansas first, but I do know they lived in both of those states before moving to Dodson, Texas, when my dad was a young boy.

Pictures of my father with Lori:

It is very hard for me to write about my Daddy because of the mixed feelings I have.  He was one of the hardest working, most generous persons that ever was.  He was good to his kids and worked awfully hard to feed and support us.  He worked in the combining business – he cut wheat and maize in the summer, and hauled bales of cotton and cotton seed in the fall and winter.

He worked for others when I was a little girl, and we were poor (I do mean poor).  We lived in a four-room shack with no running water inside, nor bathroom, but as Daddy worked harder he started buying his own equipment.  At one time he had 5 trucks and 5 combines (he converted an old school bus for a travel trailer for him and his crew to sleep in).  They would cut the wheat in Texas and Oklahoma and move on to Kansas, Nebraska, and both the Dakotas right up to the Canadian border.  It was a terrible way to make a living, cutting wheat in that Texas and Oklahoma heat.  He would come in sunburned and covered in wheat shaft.  The year I was 11 years old, they had bumper crops and Daddy came back with enough money  that he paid up-front for a house that had just been built a year or two before by a family that had moved to town and decided they didn’t want to stay.  It was 3 bedrooms, a living room, a huge kitchen,  and (wah-hoo!) a bathroom.  The kitchen had really pretty cabinets and a double sink.  My little Mama no longer had to heat water for dishes, baths, etc.  It was so wonderful!  Daddy bought her a Formica dinette set; it was salmon color with little gray flecks.  Mama would polish it every day.  Also, for the first time we had an electric refrigerator.  We were really happy.

Lori and Lara (with Kandi’s dog, Lu-Lu) in front of the family house:

 Lori and Mama coming in the back door, through the kitchen:

My sister-in-law, Pat (Ronnie’s 1st wife), and me doing a little kitchen clean-up in the kitchen (and yes, this is the dinette set that I described):

Sadly, when we went by the old homestead a few years ago, all that was left where the house once stood is three trees that we planted when we first moved in and our old mail box:

As I said before, my Daddy was one of the hardest working men I know.  He helped all of us all that he could as we got older and married, and he often would take groceries and things to some of his crew members that were having it hard.

He was also a very smart man.  He had only a 6^th or 7^th grade education, but was a whiz in math and read very well.  He was also a very handsome man.  Many thought he looked like Roy Rogers, and even one time some kid thought that he was.  The hard part to write about is the big flaw that he had, but since I’m trying to leave an accurate record I cannot ignore it or sugarcoat it.  Daddy just could not, or would not, be faithful to my dear little Mama.  As far back as I can remember he had girlfriends.  My Mama would cry so very much.  They never divorced, but Daddy moved in with another woman and that is where he died.  He did September 11, 1968.  I know he loved us and many times when I’ve had trouble through the years, I have had dreams and he would always tell me things will be all right.  The one thing I pray for is that somehow,  some way he and my Mama can be at peace with each other.  They both loved their kids and both worked so hard to raise us.  I think they did a pretty darn good job.

Additional Story from Lori:

I don’t remember “Pa Pa” as much as I wish I did, but I do remember a few things.  He drove a pickup truck and when I was a little girl he would let me sit on his lap, and while he operated the gas and the brake, I would get to “drive” with the steering wheel.  (When you live in a little town surrounded by country roads you can do this.)

I remember going to the cotton gin located on the main street running through Dodson and he showed me off to some of his friends and bought me a soda out of the soda machine there (quite a treat back in the day!).  My cousin, Kandi Ford, and I had a blast climbing and playing in the huge mountain of cotton seed that had been separated from the cotton.

Picture of the cotton gin in Dodson, Texas, taken just a few years ago.  The little house to the left of the building belonged to my father's brother, Lex Ford and Lex' wife, Ethel:

I also remember a time when I thought he had to be the king of the world.  We would often go live with “Ma” whenever my father had an overseas military assignment.  I guess Pa Pa was living “elsewhere” at the time (because he wasn’t with us), and we were in need of groceries.  He showed up with several bags of groceries.  Here is the hero part:  in those bags of groceries, among the meat and produce, etc., was the biggest bag of M&M’s I had ever seen!  This was back in the day when most people bought the little individual bags and I was absolutely thrilled.  I guess I’ve always had a love affair with chocolate!