Lucas County OHIO Biographies..... ******************************************************* File contributed for Ohio Biographies Project by: Don Firsdon [don-shrlky@juno.com] To contribute additional information and/or photographs, please contact Lucas County, OH Biography Project Manager Teresa Searcey-Casiano at tlcasiano@gmail.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Don Firsdon - Autobiography I was born July 20, 1931 in Toledo Ohio. We went camping regularly in the summer when I was between 6 and 15 years old with the family. My Brother Tom was 2 years younger. Dad drove his 1937 Pontiac and sometimes pulled a trailer with bicycles, etc. We went to the "Old graveyard", The Island on the Portage River, Waterville, Grand Rapids and Maumee usually, but other places occasionally. My favorite place was near the south edge of Waterville. We turned off River Road into a trail through a field toward the Maumee River. After 300 feet we turned right along the river and went through mud holes for about 800 feet. We set up a crude camp there for the weekend. We slept in the car or under a canvas lean-to. Tom and I found small fish in small ponds left by receding high waters. We also found baby turtles, crabs and other small animals. We usually ended up with poison ivy. Our Mother once got it very bad. One time we were going to the Waterville campground. We had just crossed the Maumee River from Perrysburg to Maumee. We were stopped at a red light at the end of the bridge and the bottom of a hill in Maumee. When the light turned green Dad started up the hill but the car would not climb the hill. We backed down, turned left, and took an alternate route to the campground at Waterville about 5 more miles. While there Dad took out the spark plugs and cleaned them with a wire brush. The car ran better then. We went camping once at Grand Rapids, Ohio on the Maumee River. Tom and I took our bicycles. It was in the summer. We rode our bicycles all the way across the river. The river had a bedrock bottom. We sometimes waded through tall weeds but we enjoyed these weekends. We also went fishing in Crane Creek. Dad bought a small Canvas and wood lattice frame boat with a 3/4 hp motor. Crane Creek ran into Lake Erie after 1/2 mile. There were abandoned fishing barns at the mouth of the creek. We caught bullheads, catfish, and perch, in the water and glass lizards on the abandoned buildings. I was fishing alone with Dad one time at the end of Crane Creek but about 200 feet into Lake Erie. We looked over at two guys who had just come to fish in the lake and at the end of the creek. We looked back soon after and Dad said, "Where are those Guys". The boat was there but we could not see the men. We started the motor, went over there and the boat was there but they were not around. We drove back to the dock, 1/2 mile away, called the Sheriff. They dragged the bottom and eventually found the drowned fishermen. We think that they drowned while tossing out the anchor. I went hunting in the winter at the same creek area with Dad. On one occasion I chopped a small fish out of the ice. It began flipping around. It was alive. On another time we went hunting near Oak Harbor. At noon it began snowing but Dad did not want to stop hunting. Later we could not move the car from the large snowdrifts. We forced a farmer to put us up for the night although it was obvious he did not want to. In the morning we walked ten miles to Oak Harbor along the railroad track. It was very cold. Near town Dad forced our way in to a Railroad relay station although the operator did not welcome us. It soon became obvious that he would not give us enough heat to recuperate. Dad decided to walk the remaining short distance to town. We caught a Greyhound bus back home to Toledo. Graduated from Waite High School, Toledo, Ohio, June 1949, age 17, born July 20, 1931. Worked as usher, Granada Theater, Office Boy, Toledo Edison Co., Toledo., Pennsylvania RR, and Libbey Owens Ford Glass Co. until enlisting in USAF Dec. 26, 1951. Served 20 years. Flew for 10 years as Navigator-Bombardier on B-47 and supersonic B-58 Hustler. Last 5 years on Bomb Wing Staff. Retired Dec. 31, 1971 at rank of Major. Worked for Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Cincinnati, Ohio as Savings & Loan Examiner for 13 years. Worked for U. S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development in Louisville, KY. Retired on July 31, 1993. Bought first home at 12410 Woodley Rd., Savannah, Ga. while in Air Force. Lived there 5 1/2 years. Transferred to Carswell AFB, Ft. Worth, Texas, USA 1962, Little Rock AFB, AR 1963. Vietnam one year 1967. Rome, New York, USA three years Dec. 68 to Dec. 71. Bought second house Georgetown, KY. Bought other houses for personal use and investment. Had homes in Florida for winter use. Lived at 608 LinWal Rd., Lexington, KY for several years. Presently, we spend winters at 9038 Aqua Vista Dr., Inverness, FL, 34450. We have spent 13 full winters of 6 months in Florida. It is just a nice place to live where we have other friendly retired neighbors. We play cards and dominoes together. We eat together and have birthday and holiday celebrations together. Sometimes we go out to restaurants together or ride to nearby attractions. I was called back to work at HUD in 1997 after being retired for three years. Made several improvements to home in Inverness such as; added two car garage, large outside fountain, patio, flower bed edging and a well. Added ceramic tile floors, modernized kitchen lighting also. Married to Faye Carroll Cooper for 28 years, then Shirley Brown for 23+ years. _____________________________________________________ Waite, Morrison b. November 29, 1816 d. March 23, 1888 Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Woodlawn Cemetery, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, USA Plot: Section 42, by the river PROPERTY TRANSFERS Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) October 21, 2001 Estimated printed pages: 10 40502 Marne Avenue, 112, Shirley Firsdon et al. to Saber Khoshroshahi et al., $41,000. Marne Avenue, 112, Saber Khoshroshahi et al. to William A. and Kathy S. Berry, $59,900. =========================================================== USGenWeb NOTICE: All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non commercial entities, when written permission is obtained from the contributor, so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ************************************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm ************************************************************************