I would like to share some really great memories of my dad with you! I remember how he loved Grandma's home made gramcracker pies! He'd sit and eat a whole pie if she'd let him! He also enjoyed her soup beans. He'd put onion and vinegar in it and I remember thinking what an awful combination until I tried it and didn't think it was too bad. Dad absolutely loved his bread! He would eat 1/2 a loaf at a meal. He liked miracle whip salad dressing too. I can remember how he loved hot peppers right out of the jar and the sweat would bead up on his forehead but he kept right on eating them enjoying every bite. One time when we lived above the pool hall in Burnside he gave Bobby a taste of a pepper and he took off like a house on fire to get a drink immediately and dad thought it was so funny! Ha!Ha! Dad was a very exceptionally strong man. He would arm wrestle other men and nobody could take his arm down. He used to sit at the table and have Bobby try to arm wrestle him and Bobby would try so hard using both hands to take dad's arm down and of course there was no way he could. He was just a little kid and dad would laugh and hold his arm still without flinching. More then one person has told me that my dad was one of the strongest men they'd ever seen. That he could pick up more weight then anyone they'd ever seen. Dad worked in the timber as a lumberjack with my Uncle Don for awhile and he had told Aunt Norma that dad was as strong as an ox. Dad was working in the timber one day and he had one of his feet up on a stave that he was trying to cut and the chainsaw slipped and cut the heck out of the tender soft part of his foot which required several stitches. I remember coming home from school and dad's foot was all bandaged up and he was using crutches to get around. When he saw me he goes, "Punky", look at what happened to me today. It really upset me to see my dad hurt like that. I couldn't even look at him because it scared me. Dad was like "SUPERMAN" to me and I think reality set in that my dad was human like everybody else and could get hurt. I remember seeing his foot after they removed all of his stitches. I can't remember how many he actually had, but I know it left quite a long scar alongside of his foot. The chainsaw went right through his boot. Dad had the worse smelling feet there ever was! When he'd come home from work he'd kick back and pay me to take his smelly old socks off for him. I was the only person that he could get to do it for him! Ha!Ha! I used to scratch his head and back for him too. He'd give me a little bit of money so I could go buy some candy or ice cream. He was always dipping into his pocket giving me & Bobby his change. I used to go to the Bisby's store in Burnside to get him cigarettes all the time. I remember they were .25 a pack back then and it seems so strange to me now that back then it was allowed for kid's to buy cigarettes even without a note from the parents giving permission. I loved to run errands for dad. After my mom died and dad would go out for the evening I can still remember sitting by the dining room window and watching for dad to come home. I could see clear down the road real well from Grandma's house and I knew exactly what his headlights looked like because I watched for him alot. When we lived outside of Tennessee IL. where we lived when he got killed I remember I watched for dad to come home from work every night. Boy, it made me so happy when I'd see his bright orange car come into sight! Ha!Ha! I used to sleep between dad & mom when we lived above the pool hall in Burnside across the street from Grandma & Grandpa. I had a problem with wetting the bed and it'd get pretty cold in that room during the winter because we only had a kerosene floor heater. When I'd wet the bed my dad would hold me up in the air so mom could take my wet clothes off and put dry one's back on me and then dad would stick me right back in between them and we'd go back to sleep. After mom died Bobby & I slept with dad for security and because we missed our mom and felt safe next to dad. He told me that one night I told mom to scoot over and my mom had passed away and that had to have really tore my dad up. When I was alone with dad he told me that I looked so much like mom. When Grandma & Grandpa were living at the switch office and the 4 of us were living across from Fred Hulls store in Grandma's house I'll NEVER forget the time that dad & mom wrapped me & Bobby up in nice warm blanket's covering us from head to toe. Mom took Bobby, and dad tossed me over his shoulder's and I could see his feet as he walked leaving footprints in the deep snow. It's an AWESOME memory that I'll always treasure about both of my parents. Dad used to work in Stronghurst IL. for a man by the name of Junior Smith. I remember when I'd hear dad say "cat" I thought he was talking about a kitten when he was actually talking about operating a catepiller! Ha!Ha! Dad used to watch the Fugitive all the time on T.V. He liked his beer but he went to work come rain or shine and very seldom did he ever miss any work. It had rained real hard and the ditch in front of Grandma's house in Burnside was full of water. I was messing around trying to swim in it and dad told me not too because there was glass in there and I'd get cut. I didn't listen and sure enough I cut the heck out of my left knee and still have the scar to this day. Ha!Ha! That's what I got for not listening to my dad. I had a crush on Scott Morrell when we lived in Grandma's house there in Burnside. Scott & Iris lived about a block away from us in a little white house next to Raymond & Judy Simmons. Scott & I were in the old coal shed in back of Grandma's house talking one day. Next thing I know dad peeks his head inside and giggles at us and close's the door and continue's walking out to the outhouse out back by the railroad tracks. Ha!Ha! He knew that his little girl was boy crazy! Ha!Ha! One time Bobby & I were riding along in the car with dad & Rosemary and dad pulls over and tells me to drive the rest of the way to Burnside. They'd had a little too much to drink and so I got into the driver's seat and off we went. I couldn't have been more then 11 years old at the time and didn't even know how to drive a car. I remember turning into the long drive way that ran alongside of Grandma's house. I did fine up until I hit the gas instead of the break and we started heading towards the coal shed and dad grabs the wheel from me and turns the car to the left almost taking out a tree and the clothes line! Ha!Ha! Rosemary goes, Bob...the neighbors are going to think we're drunk! Ha!Ha! It was absolutely insane, and so darned funny! Another Treasured Memory of dad. Dad had a nickname for everybody pretty much. He called me "PUNKY THE MONKEY", Bobby was "RUBY ANN", Shirley was "MEANIE MARIE", Ed was "EDNA", John was "JOANNE", Janet was "FATS", Aunt Norma was "NOZ" because he thought she was nosy! Ha!Ha! Dad wanted Grandma to name his new baby brother Jake and Grandma didn't think much of that so she named him "RUSSELL EUGENE", but dad still called him "JAKE" and it stuck with him his entire life. Even after dad was killed he was still referred to as "JAKE" and NEVER Russell. Dad called my mom's sister Janette "KNICK KNACK NUT", and I'm sure he had nicknames for other people as well. Grandma told me at the nursing home that dad called my mom "LUKIEOUKA" or something like that. I can't quite remember exactly what it was. But, Grandma sure remembered it. I only remember dad calling mom "LUKIE" or just plain "LUKE". Dad called mom's dad [my Grandpa Land} Ki. I remember dad being called "PUDD". I don't know who or why he got stuck with that nickname. Dad also nicknamed Jake "KID" and I can remember hearing dad call him that alot. Dad referred to Aunt Norma's & Uncle Don's son's Rex & Donnie as "THEM DAMN GIRL'S" Ha!Ha! Dad loved watching wrestling on Saturday's! When we were living in Blandinsville IL. dad was watching his wrestling and Shirley was sitting on the floor playing. I was letting her play with a ring that I had on and all of a sudden she started choking real bad. I told dad that I thought she was choking on my ring and he grabbed her up off the floor and began to shake the daylights out of her trying to get her to cough the ring up. She was crying real hard and it liked to scared us both half to death. Then we noticed that she had been sitting on the ring and hadn't swallowed it at all and boy did dad ever chew me out! Ha!Ha! Shirley was just a crying and dad was beyond mad at me that day! Ha!Ha! I was definitely in the dog house over that little incident. Bobby got to go with dad to a wrestling match once. It was when we lived in Blandinsville but I don't remember where they went too or who they got to see wrestle. But, dad was a HUGE wrestling fan and I used to watch it with him. Grandpa was also another wrestling fan. Jake took Grandpa to a wrestling match one time and he said that one of the wrestler's flew out into the audience and landed on Grandpa and he goes, "WHOA...YOU SOB"! Ha!Ha! Jake laughed his butt off when he told that story many years ago. I can just picture it! Ha!Ha! He said that Grandpa's eyes got real big because the wrestlet actually fell on Grandpa's lap! Ha!Ha! It's ver possible that dad was with them. I remember dad & Uncle Jake play fighting one day in Burnside. It had rained and there was alot of excess water draining off of Fred Hulls grocery store in the very back and I remember watching dad & Jake pusing one another under the water getting soaked. They were laughing and having a good time just being ornery brother's that day! Ha!Ha! Uncle Jake told us kid's not too long ago that our dad would never have hurt him for anything, but he could have kicked his butt had he wanted too! Ha!Ha! Dad had a stocky build and people knew better then to mess with him. Bobby & I got a brand new pair of tennis shoes one day and we would race from the switch office to Fred Hulls store and back to see who had the fastest shoes! Ha!Ha! Bobby was running around and he stepped on a piece of glass and it went clear through his shoe cutting his foot. I remember I was so jealous because he got to ride in the front seat with dad & mom and I got stuck in the back all by myself! Ha!Ha! That happened at the switch office. I used to work for Metromail out of Mt. Pleasant Ia. for a short period of time. There was a woman there that told me that dad used to work for her and her husband. I can't remember what her name was or exactly what kind of work it was that dad did for them. But, she told me that one time Rosemary had packed dad a lunch and stuck a boiled egg in his lunch box and to be orney her or her husband one took it out of his lunch box and replaced it with a real egg that was totally raw. She said dad used to always have a certain way of cracking the shell off of his boiled eggs before eating them. He took boiled eggs in his lunch alot from what that lady told me. She said she'd never forget when dad took that egg and went to crack it open to peel the shell off realizing it was a raw egg and she said he gave Rosemary a heck of a cussing because he thought she was put that egg in his lunch when she didn't have anything to do with it...they did! Ha!Ha! She told me too how strong my dad was and what a hard worker he was etc. They liked him real well. I remember the rest of that night I couldn't get my dad off of my mind. Doc Moore told me that one time dad had lost his driver's license and wasn't supposed to be driving since his license had been suspended for a period of time. So, dad was driving mom somewhere when a cop turned his siren on and wanted dad to pull over. Dad slid over to the passengers side of the car and put mom behind the wheel so he wouldn't get into any trouble! Ha!Ha! It was priceless the way Doc explained it to me. Grandma told me a comical story about dad & Jack Sanderson that I've never forgotten. Dad asked Grandma if he could borrow her car for the evening and promised to be back to pick her up from work the next morning on time. She said alright. The next morning Grandma said 8:00 rolled around and "NO BOB"! When he finally shows up he goes up to the door there where she was working at to pick her up. He told her that he'd had a flat tire. All of a sudden Grandma spots Jack hiding behind a tree. She told me that she made some remark to dad about at least he had a Jack when he changed his tire or something like that. Grandma laughed big time telling me that story. I'll bet that was hilarious! Ha!Ha! Dad was good friends with my mom's brother Sonny because he was my mom's brother and Rose was married to Sonny and they had Ed, John, Judy & Janet. So, Bobby & I are double cousin's to them. Growing up we were around Aunt Rose and her kid's alot. We all lived together at the switch office for awhile. I remember Grandma running the switch office and putting in gardens to help feed everybody. Ed, Bobby & John were known as the "OUTLAWS FROM BURNSIDE"! Ha!Ha! Ed wasn't as bad as Bobby & John were, but we were all a pretty wild bunch of hoodlums to say the least! Ha!Ha! Grandpa was a week-end drinker. He'd start drinking on Friday nights and be drunk all week-end long. Us kid's didn't always get along with ol' Guvoline the drinking machine! Ha!Ha! One of the funniest stories ever told about the 3 boy's and Grandpa was when he was real drunk and the boy's made mud balls and threw them at Grandpa hitting him in the face and head. He got real mad and began to chase them calling them dirty names so the boy's took a ladder and climbed up on top of the smoke house behind the switch office so Grandpa couldn't get them. Grandpa got so mad that he climbed up the ladder after them and one of the boy's knocked the ladder down so that Grandpa couldn't get off the shed! Ha!Ha! Grandpa had mud caked all over him and his clothes. Grandma sent me over to our house to get my mom to come get after the boy's. So, I got mom and she took a switch off the tree and gave the boy's a good switching is how Grandma put it! Ha!Ha! Grandma & I laughed and talked about this story at the nursing home. Ed always told Grandma "THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAY'S"! Ha!Ha! The switch office was located directly behind the Burnside Methodist Church. They tore the switch office down years ago and the house across the street from Fred Hull's store. There was no running water at either place and no bathrooms. Grandma got all of her water from pumps and we had outhouse's. One Halloween trick or treaters knocked over the outhouse behind the switch office and us 6 kid's decided to play follow the leader jumping from the knocked over toliet to the shed etc. I accidentally slipped as I was trying to jump across the outhouse and stepped directly in the toilet with poop clear up my leg and everybody ran from me and I was crying and gagging and Grandma had to clean me up! Ha!Ha! I have always been an animal lover and one time I had my little puppy on my head and I was skipping along down the sidewalk towards the switch office when all of a sudden the dog pooped on the top of my head and the crap was running down into my face and I ran in the switch office crying and about to throw up and guess who got to clean me up that time too? Yep, poor Grandma! Ha!Ha! She had to stick my head under the water and scrub my head etc. She was sick to her stomach and dry heaving. It was awful! Grandma told some of the residents this story and we both cracked up! Ha!Ha! Poor Grandma got me out of alot of mess's when I was a kid. I remember one Christmas about a year before dad was killed and married to Rosemary he put together 4 Hawthorne bicycle's for me, Bobby, Ruth & Connie. We girl's all got real pretty blue bike's and Bobby got a red boy's bike. I was in the dining room and dad had the door shut to the front room where he was working away playing santa. I could see the light coming from under the door and could hear him hammering away! Ha!Ha! I loved that blue Hawthorne bicycle and I remember getting it Christmas morning and taking it outside and riding it. It was probably the most memorable Christmas for me. I also remember a great Christmas with both of my parents when Bobby & I were little too. We lived out in the country somewhere near Carthage but I can't picture where it was at. All I can remember is dad & mom told us to stay in the car until santa left and then we could go in the house etc. They came to get us and when we got in the house we got to open Christmas presents from santa! Ha!Ha! I don't remember what I got but I do remember that it was alot of cool girl stuff that I really liked. I remember getting quite a few presents and that Bobby & I both had a nice Christmas. Grandma told me that a week before dad was killed that he showed up at the door where she was working. He'd been drinking and was real upset and crying because he was missing mom so much. He told Grandma that he wouldn't be happy until he was buried next to Luke. Grandma told him that he couldn't think that way because he had 3 kid's to think about and another one on the way! He told Grandma that he loved us kid's but he didn't want to go on without mom. I always felt like God answered his prayer to go be with my mom. I don't think that dad realized just how much he loved mom until it was too late. Like the old saying; you don't know what you've got until it's gone! Grandma told me that my dad took time away from work to stay home to be with mom before she passed away. There is no doubt in my mind what so ever that dad loved her with all of his heart and he definitely loved all of his kid's and would have loved Bob Loter had he known him. Rosemary told Shirley that right before our dad was killed that he had told her the morning of the day he got killed that there was something he wanted to tell her and the rest of the family. He didn't get the chance to tell anyone because he was killed on his way home from work. Aunt Rose told me that my mom told her that Betty Loter was pregnant and that she thought the baby was my dad's. Rose told me that Grandma only knew of it to be a rumor as far as she knew. Only Aunt Helen & Aunt Rose knew that my dad had a son with Betty Loter before meeting my mom and marrying her. Aunt Rose told me that when my dad met my mom that it was love at first sight. Aunt Helen's daughter Linda told me that our dad had a son before he met my mom and I searched for him locating him and now we have a good relationship with our oldest brother Bob Loter and we hope to have many years yet to get to know him. He & his wife Charlotte are super nice people and we've already had alot of great times with them and look forward to many more in the future. Bobby always yearned to have a brother and that's something that I didn't think I'd be able to do for him but I did. It's really neat to have 2 brother's! Aunt Norma nor Uncle Jake knew about Bob Loter either so it came as much of a shock to them as it did to us kid's. We held a big Phillips family reunion welcoming Bob & Charlotte into our family which was a very exciting day for everybody. I wish Grandma could have met him before she died. It gave Aunt Norma alot of joy before she passed away as it would have Grandma. Bob Loter looks so much like dad. Grandma & Aunt Norma always used to say that Shirley looked more like dad then any kid he's got, and so does Bob Loter. It feels right when we're all together with Bob L. Almost like he's always been a part of us kid's. It's great! Bob L. refers to himself as "BOB THE ELDER", beings he's the oldest kid our dad had. Bobby & I were spending a couple of weeks with our mom's sister Bonnie when we got the devastating phone call telling us that our dad was gone. We had just lost our mom only 2 1/2 years prior to dad's getting killed leaving us orphans. We were playing the board game "SORRY" when we heard about our dad. We were wondering why he & Rosemary hadn't shown up the day before to pick us up because the 27th of August was my 12th birthday and they were due to get us. The first thing that I thought when I heard about dad getting killed was that he'd been drinking and got into a wreck. I remember saying out loud that I told him he'd better stop his drinking. But, he wasn't drinking when the accident happened as it turned out. Jim Sanderson was driving his car and went to pass a car and the sun blinded him so that he wasn't able to see what was coming towards them. They hit head on with another car killing a young boy and my dad. Jim was seriously injured and they had to cut the car to get him out. When he came too the first thing he wanted to know was how "BOB" was. They had to tell him that my dad was ok or Jim wouldn't have survived the accident. He and my dad were good friends as well as brother-in-laws. Jim would have traded his life for dad's if he could have. He suffered both mentally as well as physically due to what happened that day. He had many operations and ended up walking with a bad limp because one of his legs were longer then the other one. I was told that one time Jim got very emotional about dad getting killed and Uncle Jake had to snap him out of it. Poor Jim lived hell on earth blaming himself for dad's death until the day he himself passed away from a major heart attack while he was in bed. I always felt so sorry for Uncle Jim because I was sure that when ever he'd see one of us kid's it'd bring that day back all over again. I NEVER once blamed him for my dad getting killed because I knew it was a horrible accident. I never did understand why both of my parents had to die so young though leaving me & Bobby with no one. Grandma, Bonnie, & Lucille and Aaron Luttrell were all good to us and did what they could. Bobby & I are very grateful for everything that was done for us! Bobby & I had a hard way to come up after losing both of our parents. When you lose your parents you fall prey to people who don't really care about you and take advantage of your being little etc. We had some bad experiences after losing dad & mom. Dad gave Grandma a half dollar and told her she couldn't ever say that he didn't give her anything. Grandma gave it to Bobby and he had it mounted on a belt buckle and wore the belt for years and still has it. It's quite a keepsake!