When I was in the 5th grade, there was a boy in our class named Claude. He was the biggest guy in school and a good ball player but mentally slow and from a really poor family. As I recall Claude equaled the the state high school shot put record when he was still in grade school. Anyway, Claude could really hit a baseball and everyone wanted him to play but he did not have a glove and had no way to get one.

Well, I decided that a few of us could chip in what we had and buy him a glove. I felt Jack would come up with the rest. The glove we settled on was about $20.00, several days pay at that time, and one of my friends and I went to Jack’s Place and told him our idea and asked if he would help us buy the glove.

He was not an easy touch and questioned us about why we needed the money and why he should help buy a ball glove for someone he didn’t even know. He wanted to make sure we put in all of the money we had so we were also contributing. In the end he agreed to make up the difference even though we could only come up with a of couple dollars ourselves.

Jack did not like to see anyone picked on or bullied. He never started an argument or fight but did not hesitate to jump in and try to stop one. One day when we were walking down the street in town we came upon two children. A girl about 8 or 9 years old was yelling at a smaller boy striking him and telling him to get home. Jack told her to stop that immediately.

She said the boy was her brother and that her mother had told her to find him and get him home. Jack told her that was no excuse to beat up on him, that he was much smaller than she was and she shouldn’t be doing that.

Funny how some of the things you learn in your youth stick with you. I don’t know why I remember these instances but they must have been important in making me who I am.

Jack was not a refined type of guy. He always wore a suit, tie and hat but he did not seem at all polished. Looking back, I think he was very introspective and uncomfortable around people because he was not sure of acceptance.

In the late 1930′s and through the second world war, he was a partner in the Pastime tavern, pool hall and gaming room in Klamath Falls. Oregon was “dry” during those years and you could not buy hard liquor by the drink. So Jack boot-legged liquor from Doris, California, just a few miles away. He then rented rooms in the Willard Hotel and ran poker games there supplying players with liquor.

This activity was known by the chief of police (Orville Hamilton), mayor and politicians up in the Oregon State capitol. Some were patrons and others were just happy to take payoffs to look the other way. Until Oregon repealed the ban on liquor by the shot sales, we had bottles of all kinds of booze in closets, under beds, in the attic and elsewhere.

Jack had been married before and as a good catholic could not get a divorce recognized by the church so was not in good standing after he married my mother. According to the church, he was living in sin. But the priests were always happy to accept his donations along with a little shot from his bottle supply.

I never did understand that.

After selling his partnership in the Pastime, Jack bought his own tavern, Jack’s Place, and ran card games there. It was right next to the armory and a good location for all of the activities held there. He never made a lot of money on the bar but he was an excellent card player.

All of the forgoing is really just to set the stage. You might think Jack tended to be hard to get along with but he wasn’t. He was honest and tried his best to treat everyone fair.

I was with him one day when he parked across from the Pastime and left me in the car for awhile. When he came out, he gave me some money and laughed about what he had just done. When he went in the Pastime, he saw several “house men” (people employed by the business) cleaning up on an unsuspecting player.

Jack asked the fellow how much he had lost. He then took a hand in the game and proceeded to teach the house men how to play. After he had won a little more than the man had lost, he gave him the money plus a little and told him he had been set up by the other players. He suggested he not play anymore unless he was sure who he was playing with.

He could have kept the winnings. He was entitled to them but he felt sorry for the player who he said had a family and really could not afford to lose the money.

- To be continued in part 2 -