My dad, spring 1950, on the big step. He was born Richard Henry Britton, January 6 1927 here in Torrington, CT . The youngest of 15 children John Henry Britton had, Eugene, Minnie, Sadie, Harry, Nellie May, Florence and Henry by his first wife, Ella, and John, Edward, George, Joseph, Ernest, Howard, Evelyn, and baby Richard by his second wife, (Ella died in 1907, leaving 7 children motherless so ...he married my gramma), Helen Nellie Klink.
My dad could repair cars, he was an "Automobile Mechanic" by trade. We had a lot of different cars as they came and went. He had a pink Chevy I think, with automatic windows. His first new car was a Corvair, which I don't think he cared for, 'cause when I got my first used old Corvair in college, he said "What did you buy a Corvair for?"
He worked for George's Tire and Zeller Tire here in Torrington. He had some good friends we went places with. He liked picnics, cookouts, driving trips, although mom found it hard to get him to stop at interesting places along the way to somewhere.
We hung out with family a lot. His brothers George, Erney, John, Howard and his sister Evelyn. There were eleven cousins. My dad was the baby of his family, so most of my cousins were older than I.
We played baseball a little, but mostly the adults would drink and play cards, 9 and 5 was the big thing then.
And fish, he did this a lot, he took me too and put the worms on the hooks for me. I assume he was good at it, I ate a lot of fish. I remember bull heads in the bathtub and a small shark in the cellar freezer. He hunted rabbits, which I refused to eat on the grounds they were cute and adorable when alive. He always looked like Humphrey Bogart to me. He had a sense of humor and liked pranks.
Richard divorced Phyllis Irene Albrecht, and moved to Cocoa Florida. There he repaired golf carts and cars. He fished a lot. Saw lots of Manaties. He lived in a trailer just near the main highway not far from Johnny Weismillers place. He also had a fall out shelter, a little cement building that you could stand on and see the Kennedy Space Station launches.
He died in 1998, at age 71. Today would have been his 87th birthday.
I wish I had known him better. I wish I knew now what I didn't know then. I wish he had stayed around for this 87th. I hope he is ok.
....Reggie
