Jesse G. Foust was my dad. A better man have I not known!
Dad was born in 1907 on some ranch land close to Hoosier, Kansas. Hoosier was a busy little hamlet and a cattle and hay shipping center. Laura and Phil Foust were Dad's parents. Originally from Indiana, my granddad came to the area with his father and sister (after his mother had died). My great-grandfather was seriously injured in Tennessee during the Civil War. As the battlefield litter bearers were removing him they noticed a flicker of life. After a metal plate was inserted into his skull he lived a full life. Though a farmer in Indiana he was a stone mason after arriving in Kansas and was involved in building bridges. He is buried in the Dexter cemetery along with my dad and grandparents.
Granddad was "a cowboy and rode wild horses"! That was the thought of grandma's parents and they did not want him dating their daughter, (Laura Wesbrook). This did not deter them and they eloped one night to Sedan for a marriage ceremony the next day. My grandfather later farmed and was a barber in Cedar Vale during most of his life. Later, he was the janitor at the Cedar Vale Grade School. Stories of his barbering days included (if my memory is correct) that a shave and a haircut was ... yep, two bits.
Dad was graduated from Dexter High School where he was a good athlete and a trombone player. Dexter had a good baseball team and advanced to the state tournament where they were defeated by Lawrence. Their basketball team was difficult to beat on their home court in the high school basement with low ceilings. Following high school he went to a business school in Winfield.
During those years he caught for some good baseball teams and was offered a minor league contract. Those were difficult times and he thought it best to "go to work". He was a telegrapher on the railroad in some southwestern states. My Uncle Ray broke his leg playing baseball in Sumner County and dad was sent to relieve him briefly as a depot agent in Riverdale. My Granddad Britton was the section foreman there and this was where my dad met my mom, (Rena).
After being married they moved to Cedar Vale where my dad was bookkeeper for the local Ford dealership. Dad was transferred to Fort Scott by Radliff Ford and we lived there for awhile until he found employment as a bookkeeper at Shell Oil Refinery in Arkansas City. Shell decided to shut down and move employees that wished to transfer to Indiana. Instead, Dad accepted the managerial position at Wallingford Grain Company in Winfield. His dream was to own a farm and he saved and borrowed for the purchase of some acreage between Cambridge and Moline.
World War II intervened and it appeared to him that he would be drafted into the service. He sold the farm and moved his family to Riverdale in order to be close to mom's parents. He was the manager of Wallingford's seasonal grain operations and a security guard at night at Boeing in Wichita. He was deferred from the service because of age restriction change. During this time, I started my work career by running the lift for the trucks and trailers to dump their wheat in the grain elevator. Mom ran the scales and dad scooped and scooped in balancing the wheat load in the railroad grain cars.
He applied to be the tank wagon man for the Winfield Co-Op and was accepted. Later, he was installed in the same job for Socony Vaccum (Mobil) Oil in Cedar Vale. Dad built a home there but for whatever reason my mother and sister were never happy in Cedar Vale.
Dad moved us to Dexter in 1952 where he accepted the job as tank wagon man for Mobil Oil. Dad worked very hard all his life until his early death somewhat caused (in my opinion) by a broken heart. He had entered the Cedar Vale hospital for an extensive checkup and while he was there my mother was brought into the hospital in serious condition because of what was whispered to be a drug overdose. After Dr. Hays informed him of the examination results dad joined me in mom's adjoining room where I heard him fall in the restroom. Resuscitation was attempted until the staff quickly removed him to his room next door, (shared with Roy Smith). Efforts to revive him from his massive heart attack were to no avail.
Dad was intelligent and a good father. He was a person with no known enemies and he was always ready to be of help. At Dexter, we lived close to the railroad tracks and he never could turn down a tramp's request for food. It is my belief that he was an exceptional man. In enduring a difficult marriage he quietly and without complaint sacrificed life and happiness for his family. His funeral was held in the "new" Dexter gymnasium in order to contain the large respectful throng.
Jesse G. Foust was my dad. A better man I have not known!
6 comments:
Phil,
Yes, I remember your dad very well. He and my dad often visited as they were down in the same part of CV filling up for a run to the farms. My dad always thought a lot of him. Thanks for the memory piece.
I expect that this post was not easily written--rattling the skeleton that is. Well done ! And a very nice tribute to your Father.
I'm quite convinced that you own offspring will be able to say and write things just as good, and with the same love that you exibit, about you.
Thank you, Don!
Gary, your dad's feelings about dad were reciprocated. It says quite a lot about them both (it seems to me) for competitors to hold mutual respect.
Yes, and one thing that it says, I think, is that in both cases there were more important things in life than making money.
I never knew your dad well, but I was afraid of him. When I entered your home in Dexter to pick-up your sister to go to a movie in Winfield, he confronted me. He was so big and ferocious that I think I never came back again. I thought he might beat me to a pulp if I so much as touched his little girl's hand.
Wayne, the truth be known was that JGF would have much preferred his daughter to associate with a young and scholary "gentleman" such as you as against those ... that did not include such a word in even their quite limited vocabulary.
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