Thad's Archival Drawings 1947

Impressions of Family and Neighborhood Friends

 

 

For those who are depicted below, 1947 was a rich and enjoyable transition between World War II service and completion of college followed by the responsibility of  marriage and family. Much beer was consumed during that period.
   
Mac's Hands
Gwynn
Alan & Joe  Murphy

Hollis Reading - a typical pose

 
Alan and Gwynn
Alan
Bob Hoester Playing Poker
Charles Lee Coleman

Charles Lee Coleman and his big brother,Buddy, lived on Van Buren a half block north of Washington. They were a block and a half from our house. Buddy was Alan and Mac's age and we saw more of him than Charles Lee. Buddy played football and baseball with us on the lot next door. He was always encouraging everybody...he would say "Good job!" or "Good going!" He was a neat guy. One time he and I walked to Webster Groves and back, about ten miles total, in 110 degrees. We didn't mind the heat but when we got home our legs wanted to keep walking. They didn't want to stay still.

When Charles Lee started at Washington U. he brought some drawings by the house. They were sensational and I showed them to the Dean of the Washington U art school. He encouraged Charles Lee to take some art courses. In the summer of 1946 we rented a shack on the Meramec River in Valley Park ( three hundred feet north of the downtown bridge). We used it as a studio that summer.

Charles Lee had joined a fraternity. He enjoyed being with people...he was well liked by everybody. And I wondered if he would develop the concentration necessary to devote himself to an artist's life.
In a year he had joined the Air Force and we were shattered to learn that he was killed in an airplane crash during training. Here was this handsome, amiable, gifted man lost to us in a matter of seconds.

Thad

 
Gwynn
Calvert  Dizney
Hollis Suits - with the ubiquitous pipe
His favorite easy chair and his office in retirement
Bob Hoester

Bob lived across the street from Joe Murphy on Way Ave.  He was a big boned, husky guy. He married Elaine Douglas and became a judge in St. Louis County.
Gordon Henderson

Gordon, "Hen," was one of the most charming, elegant, men I've ever known. He delighted in ideas and had an ever present quick wit. He attended Kathryn Tracy kindergarten with Alan  and Mac and was a lifelong friend.  He died of cancer in the early 1980's.

Thad

Bill Hoeman grew up next door on Harrison with his younger brother Donny
McCawley
   
McCawley
Joe Murphy

Joe lived on Way Avenue two hundred feet west of Harrison Avenue. His dad had a big inventory of classical records (78's and LP's) and each Sunday night he would invite neighbors into his living room to hear selected pieces. Mom and Dad took me up there one time when Mr. Murphy was playing cellist Pablo Casals. Joe became a lawyer and stayed in Kirkwood for a good while.

Mac ran into him now and then and will confirm that Joe continued to take perverse pride in being an outspoken racist and bigot: the ultimate in political incorrectness.

A Bridge Game - Mac, Alan, Dad

A Poker Game
In the poker game we're in the DR looking NW toward the kitchen door. Clockwise from lower left: Alan, Jimmy Holsen, Joe Murphy, Gordon Henderson, Warner Schilling  and Kingsley Suits
Tom Ewald
Tom and his brother Bill, two brilliant young men, lived on South Clay, near Kirkwood High School. I spent hours and hours in the Ewald basement playing ping pong with Bill; he spent hours and hours at our house where we made recordings pretending to be blustery professors discussing works of art and miscellaneous.

Tom and I became close after high school. He came home from Harvard where he studied music. I'll never forget his urging me to listen to Mahler. he said, "He's very verbose, kinda slow, and hard to get. But if you give him a try you'll love him." He was right.

Tom later became a lawyer. Bill became a professor of English at Harvard and later helped Eisenhower write his memoirs.

These were two remarkable men I have known. Tom died of cancer in 1987.
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Thad
   
   
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