John Robert Klem

John Robert is the easiest for me to talk about because he was my father.

John was born 25 Jan 1904 in Dillonvale, Ohio. Baptised 30 January 1904 at St. Aclalhert church, Dillonvale, by pastor C Smogov. Sponsors Carl Luaket and Mary Gregiel. John died Feb 1985 in Erie Pa.

From what I have seen he lived a full and rewarding life.

The 1920 census show my father living at 217 court ave Moundsville West Va. with his father, mother, and several brothers and sisters.

By the way Andy is shown on this census at age 4. My father is the oldest child living at home at this time. Mike Jr. lives up the street from them. George was one year younger and living at home.

The date on the census was 15 January 1920. This was 10 days before my father's 16th birthday. The census show my father working as a burner at the enamel factory. My mother always said that dad never went to school beyond the 3rd grade. Dad was good at math and could read and write well. He must have taught himself. It must have been tough for a young man to grow up without a childhood and had to work so the rest could go to school. I never heard my father complain about this.

My father was looked up to, and respected by all the other children. Now I know why. Grandpa Mike is shown as working as a loader in the coal mine. None of the other children are shown as working.

I am sure that times were tough and children had to work so the family could survive. I just watch a movie about the Irish coming to Pennsylvania and the children went to work in the coal mines at age 5 or 6. I think it was 1918 that the child labor laws came out and stopped the children from working at such a young age. None of my father's siblings were working on the 1920 census but him. Keep in mind too that many immigrants worked so others in the family could come over here, the land of milk and honey.

The 1930 census show grandpa working at the airplane factory and dad working as a driver for the hardware company. Dad used to tell storied about how he would go to the Rail Road yard and get the new cars off the train and drive them to the hardware store to be cleaned up. The census also show dad's brother Joe working in the coal mine and Annie working at a restaurant. George is not listed so he must have married and moved on. Also Andy is not listed but we know by this time he passed away.

The census states that Grandpa Mike bought the house at 211 court avenue and the value was 4,000 dollars.

The 1940 census will not be out until 2020 so we can only go by the stories that have been passed down. The family was tight lipped about everything. Today getting anything out of Coleen is like pulling teeth, and then because of her age you don't know to believe her.

On May 20, 1927 Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt field, Garden City, Long Island, Ny and flew the Spirit of Saint Louis across the Atlantic to at Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris, France 33 hours and 30 min. later. My father had a picture of the take off and said he was their.

Sometime during the 30's my father worked for the power company. Dad had a broken back and his floating ribs were broken. He told me that he fell off a power pole. Because of this injury, during the war he could not be drafted.

My father told the story that he was in the hotel across the street during the St. Valentines day massacre 14 February 1929. What was he doing in Chicago any ways, But I do remember George talking about Chicago many times and the youngest son, Steve, lived their after the war. So it seem that the Klem boys liked Chicago. I have been there several times and would rather stay in smaller towns.

Grandma Katherine died in 1954. I remember we lived on the second floor at 644 east 5th street in Erie . We had complete use of the attic. I used to play up there mostly in the winter. Dad had a workshop up there where he repaired radios. Stories had it that dad used to go into the Moundsville prison and repair radios for the inmates when he was younger.

After grandma died we went down to Moundsville and helped clean out the house. It was that Coleen would continue to live there.

Dad had a radio shop in a chicken coop. I was too young to remember much about it. But I do remember that dad brought home a set of German field telephones, a German helmet, and an German Officers hat. I played with these for years. I never knew which Uncle brought them back from the war. I would bet it was George or Steve.

Some time after Grandma passed we had to go back down. I was older, May 10 or 11. I remember no one was happy about the trip, so I think Coleen sold the house. Up to when Grandma died we would stay at Grandma's house. After she died we would stay at dad's sister Aunt Sue.

Dad and I cleaned out the chicken coop and brought everything back. Dad had some neat things in that coop. I remember he had a spark gap generator . We talked about it and he said that one time he knocked KDKA over in Pittsburgh off the air. Radio was in its infancy then and there were no controls on frequencies they just splattered over the air.

Dad was married before he married my mother. His first wife was Juanita Weeks. Story has it that they had a boy and a girl. I have not been able to prove it. She probably remarried and the children have a different last name. I don't know. Dad married my mother in 1940 so he must have married Juanita in the 30's sometime. We will have to wait another 10 years to find that out.

My dad, John, married my mother Goldie Waneta Tschappatt on July 20, 1940 in Wheeling WVa.

I know that they lived at the Court Ave. address for a while. I'm not sure but I think that dad worked at the Toy Factory until the war broke out in 1941. He and my mom moved to Lorain Ohio where dad worked in the ship yards building ships for the war. My older sister Karen was born in Lorain 1944.

After the war ended I think Dad was offered a job in Erie, Pa at Marx Toys as a model maker. That is how we got to Erie. I think Joe and Mary came after.

Uncle Joe and my father were close. So my guess is that Joe came here with my dad and found work at the GE as a guard. Joe married Kathleen DiNuzio who worked at Marx with my Dad.

Then Aunt Mary came up and married Charles Fling. He worked at the GE. I never thought to ask them while they were alive but I think they all met because of where they worked.

Dad spent the rest of his life in Erie and worked at Marx until they were bought by the Quaker Oats company.

He bought a home at 1651 west 30th street where he lived until he died.

At age 63 dad had a hart attack. We took him to St. Vincent Hospitable where he had a triple by pass. He lived another 20 years. He retired from Marx at age 72.

For as long as I can remember dad smoked Raleigh Plain end cigarettes. He never smoked again after his hart attack.

He did enjoy his beer. Drank Kohlers beer which was brewed locally.

Dad owned a Maroon Chevrolet , must have been a 1940's. I remember it had running boards that were hidden when the door was closed. It was a 2 door standard and the starter button was on the floor.

It was a neat car but I remember him saying when he bought his 1952 Chevy that "they don't make them like they use to." He always bought used cars. The 52 Chevy was Grey on the bottom with a white top. It was a 4 door. It had a straight 6 cylinder engine and it too was a standard. The first automatic transmission that dad bought was a 1958 2 door Chev Biscayne. It had a 283 cu in. two bbl and it moved. I learned to drive in it. What a car. I wrecked it twice. The first time was after I took my test I asked dad if I could take it for a drive. He gave me the keys. I backed it out of the drive way and smacked right into Mr. Coon's car parked on the street. I just got my license and just had my first wreck. Dad made me get right back in that old car and drive it. He was always good about that.

The next car dad bought was a 62 Pontiac La Mons Nice little car. It had a slant 4 cylinder. The timing chain kept breaking. So dad bought a bigger 64 La Mons. It had a 350 cu. in. engine. What a car. That was the last car dad ever bought.