I remember the summer we moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Atlanta, Georgia. I had just finished the 5th grade at Town Line School.  We lived on South Division Ave. right across the road from the school.  We had several close neighbors and quite a few kids in the neighborhood. Dad had sold his Grand Rapids Coffee and Tea Company and we were ready to move but had now one to move our furniture.  Mom told this next part of the story.  One day a man rang the doorbell and asked to use the phone as his big truck broke down right in front of our house and he needed to call his boss.  Mom talked to him and found he was going to Atlanta, Ga.  and his truck was empty.  He was glad to haul our stiff to Atlanta.  What an answer to prayer.    

We left for Atlanta right after that and stopped in Cartersville, Ga. to see Mom’s Uncle McKin, (Grandma Schwander’s brother) Aunt Lea, and their kids.  I think we even spent the night with them before going on to Atlanta.  I remember they drew their water from an outdoor well, and Aunt Lea cooked on a wooden stove.  They had horses and a big barn.  But mostly I remember how they talked.  It was so southern that we could hardly understand what they were saying.     

We got to Atlanta where Daddy was going to study at the Atlanta Bible Institute and they were supposed to find us a home, but being a war (World War II) was on housing was very scarce.  We found out that there was no place for us to live so the Institute made room for in the dormitories and we ate our meals in the dining room with the students.  We were served food we had never heard of or ever had eaten.  Grits, blackeyed peas, nothing like Mom ever had cooked.  I remember one night they served what we thought was chocolate pudding and we dived into it only to find out it as prune pudding.  Well, we embarrassed Mom so bad she said we either had to sit there and eat it all or get a spanking when we got home.  We all took the spanking except for Sue: she ate the whole thing.    

I started the 6th grade at Clark Howell School.  It was a miserable year.  I had no friends and with my Yankee accent the kids made fun of me and I was forever forgetting to say “Yes mame or no mame” to the teacher.  At recess I never joined in the games, just sat off to myself.  At about this time I started playing the marimba, and Sue started playing the saxophone.  That summer or the next we visited the folks back in Michigan.  On the way we held the Junior Family and their Crusade for Christ meeting in all of these little southern churches from Atlanta to Michigan.  Mama did the chalk drawing, I played the marimba, Sue the saxophone and Dixie and Carole and Gary sang songs and Daddy preached.  (Corky wasn’t born yet)    

Fred's Church on Pryor Street - 1945

This is the time that Sue and I were into Paper Dolls.  We spent our allowance every week at the Dime Store buying paper dolls.  We had boxes of them and played all the time.  We didn’t live at the Bible Institute very long before Dad rented a house right on Peachtree St. and only a few blocks from Georgia Tech.  Dad bought a chenille factory and made bedspreads, housecoats, rugs and I don’t remember all what else.  He sold all of this stuff at various places and he was good at it and made quite a bit of money.  7th grade I went to O’ Keefe Jr. High school and a family moved in by us.  The father also went to The Bible Institute and they had a girl named Barbara who became my best friend.  At this time Daddy and some other students from the Institute started Sat. night street corner meetings down in the worst part of Atlanta.  Soon Daddy bought 2 old houses on Pryor Street and made one into a mission and the other one for homeless people.  Daddy was making a lot of money by this time and he and Mom bought this beautiful brick 3 story home on East Lake Drive.  The back yard was made up of five terraces, on the last terrace we had horses and Gary had a pony.  One terrace was a rose garden.  On Sunday nights after church Dad would stop and buy Krispy Cream donuts and he’d make milk shakes.  That was a real treat.    

Little baby brother Corky (Fred John Junior, Jr.) was born here.  He must not wanted to eat because I remember Daddy making up this mush of graham crackers and milk for him.    

About this time we visited Michigan again and we brought back Grandma, Grandpa Schwander, Bob and Helen to live with us.  Daddy took the 3 car garage and made it into an apartment for them.  Helen went to school with me but she never did like it (we were in the 9th grade).  I don’t think Grandma and Grandpa liked it much either and none of them stayed very long.  (Too big a culture shock coming from Michigan to the deep south).  That summer before school started, Bob, Helen, Sue and I had a great time.  We played Monopoly every day all day.  Sometimes one game lasted for several days.   We fixed the same lunch, tuna fish sandwiches and tomato soup I think every day for the entire summer.  I was very upset and angry with Mom and Dad for moving us to Ocklawaha, Florida the summer before I was in the 11th grade.  I really missed my good friends, Shirley and Fay.  Can you imagine moving from Atlanta to Ocklawaha?  These kids had known each other since birth and they resented outsiders.  It didn’t help either that daddy didn’t believed in dancing, going to the movies or going down to the beach were the kids all hug out all the time.   They had juke boxes and they dances and had pool tables and played pool.  How Sinful!  

Well, this about does it for that period in my life, most of you know the story of I met Morris at Flemington Baptist Church, about our marriage and our 51 years together.  I am now 70 years old, have 4 beautiful children and a8 precious grandchildren.    The Lord has bless us in many ways.  We have done a lot of traveling, have had 7 different RV’s, and have taken 2 cruses.  One of my favorite trips was the 3 month trip to Alaska in our motor home along with Betty and Bill Yawn and Joyce and Wyndall Skipper in theirs.  One of favorite things to do now is spend the summers in Sylva, NC in our cabin at Ft. Tatham campground where we have many friends our age.  We have attended Westside Baptist Church here in Gainesville for 37 years now and have many wonderful friends. Many our family also attend there now.  Sue and Jim, Dixie, Gary and Dianne, their children and Corky and Connie and Sara and Joshua.  I have wonderful family and I thank God for our father and mother who brought us up on Christian home and thank you for Kelly for putting his family history and pictures together

Sue Junior