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During
the second half of the last century this writer was lucky to live on one of God's greatest creations, Key West, the island
paradise at the end of the Florida Keys. The history of Key West is somewhat the same as a human life, constantly changing
and proving that the ability to change insures survival. One thing that doesn't change are the great memories of people from
these 50 years.
Families were always of great interest and was fortunate to have experiences with many. Starting
out at George Allen Apartments, we lived there when it was brand new, we were subjected to a wide variety of families at a
young age. When this time period is remembered two great men come to mind, Papa Tony Davila and President John F. Kennedy.
It was during this time, age 11, that many of us walked down George St. to Flagler ave. to see President Kennedy ride by on
a visit during the cuban missile crisis. Papa Tony was also of great interest to us, especially when the snowcone man came
by, because he would make sure we all got one. Later in life we would realize that these men had alot in common, they both
fought in WWII, the president on PT 109 and Papa Tony a tailgunner on an aircraft, they both had political power, on different
levels of course, and most of all they both came from large proud families. Papa Tony was a good friend and in future articles
his greatness will be portrayed.
Among the earliest families I admired were the Jollys, Miss Alma, Mr. Frank and
their children lived close to us and became lifelong friends. They were a hard working couple and were devoted to their family.
Mr. Frank Jolly Jr. was a policeman as was his father and sons, also lived there with his family. Miss Gladys Jolly was there
till her passing at age 97. Miss Jolly gave the best explanation of how the original conchs got the name, when families were
making the boat trip from the Bahamas, the trip for various reasons would take longer than expected and ran out of food, the
would survive the journey by eating conch meat.
At age 12 we moved to William St. in a house owned by Mr. Thurman
Sands, at the bottom of Solares Hill in front of mr. Johnny Knight's La Farola grocery store. Johnny was an amusing man with
a heart of gold. We knew some of the families in this area from attending the Congregational Church also on Willliam St. one
block down.Mr. Fredy Key's, Gate's, Edding's, Hatt's and Santiago's were some in this area.
Mr. Sleepy Roberts
was a giant of a man in many ways, as a fireman and cook but mostly as a family man, this family had more fun than most, he
helped us build one of the best tree houses on the island and was always taking all of us somewhere. Six of his own children
didn't seem to be enough, he often took neighborhood kids and at times had three or four foster kids living with them. They
lived three houses away and his oldest son Billy was one of my best friends ever, we had a few adventures and can attest to
the fact that he lived a full life, and is dearly missed by his wife, son, daughter and all of us. By coincidence three other
childhood friends would pass about the same time as Billy, Raymond (Gorilla) Martinez, Robert Carawan and the world famous
Michael Lee.
One day Charley Pinder and Stanley Bishop came to the tree house and for some reason we tried to hoist
Charley's bike up in the tree, it fell and as he rode away it made a clinking sound, he got his nickname that dy and from
on we called him Charley Clink. Stanley's family also lived in George Allen, he joined the army about the same time the draft
was ended for Viet Nam, as did several of the guys, was honorably discharged, became a firefighter then an electrician at
NAS Boca Chica, had a love for growing fruit trees, even raised bees to pollinate them, he was a good husband and great dad
and is missed by many.
Another friend at this time was Billy Gates, he lived across the street and we knew his
family from church. We all thought we were smarter than Billy growing up, but as time unfolded he showed us that he was much
smarter in some of life's more important tests. Kids can be cruel and one person that felt that wrath was Allen Ingram, as
we got older many of us would go out of our way to be nice to him, because of our conscience no doubt, we had many conversations
and know that he enjoyed his adult life more.
Some of us joined the Boy Scouts, the meetings were held at the NCCS
hall and Mr. Tony Martinez was our scoutmaster. Dennis Weekly was also in this troop and we became good friends, we would
go to his house behind the library for patrol meetings. He was fun to be around and as we got older, very popular with the
girls. Mr. Carl Weekly liked remembering and talking about him as we did a few times at Fausto's.
In these days
you needed a work permit if you were under the age of 16, at 15 I needed one to work at the Southernmost Pharmacy, on the
corner of Duval and Fleming Sts. Emory Major, a friend from school,was working there and was going to work at Paul J. Sher's,
he got me this job. Emory became a successful businessman and was elected to the City Commission, we remained friends throughout
his life.
Mr. Gene Gootee was a no nonsense man, when he was a subsitute teacher at Truman School there was no
playing around in class, as a father he was also serious, we became better acquainted through his children, he was a great
example of good parenting. His rules were always followed, he interacted with his kids athletically and was one of the best
coaches of football and baseball and he often played football with us at Perry Court. He was a captain on the NAS crash crew
and also had a college degree that allowed him to teach, he was most successful as a father and was very proud of how his
five children turned out. Ohter teachers remembered at Truman are Miss Young, Miss Goodwin, Miss Cabot, Mr.Stockton and of
course the principal and assistant Mrs. and Mr. Wilbur Franklin.
We didn't have a shortage of men to look up too,
like Sheriff Reece Thompson, Sheriff Bobby Brown, Mr. Johnny Hernandez, Dr. Julio DePoo, Mr. Earl R. Adams, Judge Raymond
Lord, Judge Jack Saunders, Mr. Arthur Lujan, Mr. Glynn R.Archer Jr. Mr. T.R. Roberts, Mr. Charles Pritchard, Mr. Joe Balbontin
and Mr. Woodsy Niles are some that we knew. Another one of these great men was Mr. William A. Freeman Jr., his children were
good friends and as time went by he also became a good friend. He was very young when he was first elected to office and had
a long successfull politcal career, he was Monroe County Sheriff at his passing. At one point, when we were all bachelors,
Mr. Freeman was living in the big house on Eaton St., we were there alot and some of his friends would visit often, they included
Mr. Kenny Blackwell, Mr. Joe Fleitas and Mr. Feto Lastres. There were a lot of good times and every once in a while Mr. Freeman
offer some words of wisdom.
When you're young you don't pay much attention to how important someone's father may
be, but if you can play football on one of the best lawns on the island, the Sheriff's Office, you start to realize this family
is special. We barely knew him but many people loved and was devoted to Mr. John M. Spottswood, sometimes reffered to as "The
Last Most Powerful Man of Monroe County", he was a sheriff, then Senator and was one of the first persons in the country
to recognize the future of cable television. He was good friends with President Harry S. Truman, who we once got a glimpse
of by the Casa Marina, it seemed like we saw him all the time because Mr. Spotswood would rerun his visits on the local Cable
Vision channel. Miss Mary Spotswood was a "Grand Lady" involved in many charitable causes, she was devoted to her
children and grandchildren and was seen at all school activities. Often she would be seen at people's houses who had lost
a family member to console them. This lady was loved and is missed by many.
So many families come to mind its hard
to imagine that a person could know this many, but lots of us did. Another great family was that of Miss Annie Sands, she
managed a girl's baton twirling group called the "Twirletts" and a large family, she was a fair and kind person,
and usually had something good to eat at her house. She always attended school functions for her children and grandchildren.
Mr. Floyd Sands, her husband was a highly respected fisherman and master carpenter. Miss Phylis and Mr. Malcolm Archer, Miss
Betty and Mr. Mervin Thompson, Mr. John Monsalvage, Miss Henrietta and Mr. Pinky Powell, Mr Dave Kohlage, Miss Thelma Zeoli
and Uncle Busta, Miss Shirley Pope, Miss Romona and Mr. Buddy Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Haas, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Gilbert
and Mr. Oliver Welch were a few other great families remembered.
Mr. Charley Wardlow, a businessman and renowned
short-wave radio operator had a good formula for parenting that turned out to be very successful, he would allow his sons
to have parties at home where he could watch and avoid trouble. Over the years that compound would be the site of more parties
than any residence on the island. Nina Jo Padgett was the most beautiful homecoming queen ever at KWHS, not only her apperance
but her personality, she was not above having conversations with us dorks. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard
"Dickey" Wardlow, who would become Key West Fire Chief, together they helped make this one of the most respected
and was once dubbed "The First Family of Key West". They passed to soon and was devastating to the entire community.
One may ask what is to soon? When someone is in the prime of their life, which could be anytime before 100.
Raul Calvo became a good friend and had lots of fun during our senior year of high school, he was the only child of Cuban
immigrants, very intelligent, making mostly A's and he had a job at the Winn Dixie. His plans were to continue working and
attend the junior college for two years then transfer to a university, there was little doubt he would become something, perhaps
an accountant, lawyer or doctor. That same summer after graduation he was involved in a car accident, he was driving and was
the only one hurt of the five in the car, his passing changed all of our lives and to this day wonder what great things Raul
would have accomplished. Two of the passengers that day have since passed, Billy Roberts mentioned previously and Mario LaTorre.
Mario was one the few students at KWHS to be elected class president each of the four years of high school, needless to say
he was a well liked person.
There are so many wonderful people that I remember, very close friends, close friends
and friends, many I called brother or bubba, there is to many to list, to give them the space they deserve this story is going
to have to be done in two of three parts. So stay tuned, N.S. Sherlock
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