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"As
a
young
child,
I
only
recall
my
father
as
a
person
who
was
seldom
at
home
or
only
practicing
on
his
beloved
piano
when
he
was
at
home.
He
was
35
when
I
arrived,
his
third
offspring.
For
the
next
10
years
he
was
a
shadowy
figure
in
my
memory
devoting
all
of
his
interest
and
energies
in
his
musical
career.
Each
summer
we
would
all
visit
his
mother
&
father
at
Memphis,
Nebraska.
He
owned
a
1930
Packard,
later
a
'33
Pontiac.
The
4th
of
July
was
his
"big
day",
for
he
bought
a
box
of
fireworks
and
enjoyed
helping
my
brother,
sister
and
me
in
setting
them
off.
On
hot
summer
evenings
in
the
'30s
he
would
take
us
on
pleasant
drives
around
Lincoln
or
to
Emerald
or
Oak
Creek
lake
when
motor
boat
races
were
going
on.
I
saw
him
perform
as
the
soloist
with
the
Lincoln
Symphony
Orchestra
[Grieg's
Concerto
in
A]
in
the
late
1930s.
He
was
in
a
small
chamber
recital
at
the
Jocelyn
Memorial
Music
Hall
in
Omaha
one
Sunday,
which
my
mother,
sister
and
I
attended.
He
played
the
second
violin
with
the
Lincoln
Symphony
Orchestra
and
I
usually
went
to
the
evening
performances
with
my
mother
to
hear
the
program
and
a
featured
soloist
such
as
Ruth
Sieneguski
{pianist
,
my
age},
Albert
Spalding,
violinist,
and
Marion
Anderson,
contralto
{a
colored
performer}.
He
was
a
soft-spoken
man,
but
was
easily
irritated
by
his
noisy
children.
Not
one
of
us
dared
to
defy
him!
An
order
was
to
be
obeyed
with
no
explanation.
His
life
was
perfect
when
he
received
his
4th
child,
our
red-haired
"Sunny
Jim",
in
1933,
a
dear
little
boy.
Some
summer
evenings
would
be
spent
taking
walks
to
20th
&
D
Street
where
the
First
Plymouth
Congregational
Church
is
located.
The
church
has
a
courtyard,
where
we,
my
sister,
little
brother
Jim
and
I
would
all
run
around
and
play
while
Dad
waited
for
us.
Our
home
was
at
1730
C
Street.
We
lost
that
home
in
1938
with
Dad's
$5,000
equity
in
it,
for
lack
of
$2,000
to
finish
paying
for
it."
The
"Sunny
Jim"
that
my
aunt
was
speaking
of,
was
my
Dad.
~Kathie
Harrison
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