It was always hard to think of my Grandpa Edgar Darr (standing, center, in the above picture), as a warm man. True, he died when I was barely 8 years old. I never lived close to Ann Arbor, while he was living, so I never formed a close bond with him.
My Dad's memories of his father affirm my impressions of my grandfather. He was always pleasant, and obviously worked hard to support his large family. But by all accounts he was close to his brothers and sisters (a trait that my dad shares with his father).
A lot of important traits get passed from father to son. Edgar Darr was close to his siblings. My Dad is close to his. I am close to mine. While curmudgeonly in character, still these men modeled the best trait of all: love for family. Earlier generations did not express it the way that we do today, but it was there nevertheless.
So let's talk about Edgar's parents: Roscoe and Elizabeth Darr (seated in the picture). According to Gene Halfman, his grandfather Roscoe was always listening to a ball game, shushing the kids so that he could hear. My Dad remembers Grandpa Roscoe only when he was on his deathbed. He rode a train to Savanna with his father (Edgar) and visited with Roscoe, who was wrapped in blankets on the front porch.
What about Grandma Elizabeth? Her niece, Mary Donegan, remembers her Aunt Elizabeth as a "warm, friendly, hospitable woman." She was always smiling, and always had lots of great food ready for company.
From Roscoe and Elizabeth Darr, came a set of children that always remained close. Their grandchildren stayed extremely close within their family groups. When the time came for the entire family to come back together, in 2007, there were 132 people that showed up on July 7, 2007, at the first reunion in fifty years.
They did something right.
One of the earliest insights I discovered in my family research, shed some insight into what my Grandpa Darr (Edgar) was really like. On the outside, he was a crusty guy. But he named his first daughter, Elizabeth, after his mother and grandmother. When he was on his deathbed, this same Elizabeth (my Aunt Betty) came to visit him, and he said "Thanks for coming, Betsy," a name he had not called her since she was a girl.
The man had a soft side.
Our family teaches us a lot about not being fooled by appearances!
