The backgrounds of these photos are, except one, of the Bloomfield farm, giving a further idea of my description. For instance, here in his Bloomfield Bee uniform, he is standing before the sidehill where the fruit cellar was, with the two chicken coops behind him.
At the same time, with Ardell Lawson.
And this was probably from the same time, too, but is a 1961 reprint, the corner taken out by the photo above. You have to bear in mind most of these photos are already on scrapbook pages, as this title says, and I have to block them out with paper but can't do anything about my montage overlapping. While the little photo above is one of those from an instant photo booth and later, the two small ones here definitely seem to be school pictures.
Apparently these two were before he and Bob Bruegman were going hunting. I had forgotten about the stone-edged fill around the dining room corner of the house. That's Grandma Koftan's writing and, I suspect, her shadow or Mom's (?). (The hairdo looks more like Mom's.)
He also was good friends with Ronnie McQuistan (from Center), who died a few years ago in Ankeny, Iowa. McQuistans were, for a time, our Center neighbors, otherwise living next to the church. In the left photo can be seen the hog shed at the northwest corner of the farmyard and my grandparents' Chevrolet I remember for most of my youth; it is to the far left in the right photo, which also shows the windmill and the big barn behind the boys. I presume the other car is Ronnie's.
I'll leave this one with Grandma K's identification of the four.
Thanks for these photos of my dad. I have never seen any of them before, and would be interested in seeing any others you have from Grandma Koftan's scrapbook, which will probably number quite a few. If you would rather, you could scan them in and e-mail them to me rather than posting them on the website.
I'm thinking of JaVee today. But then, I've thought of her every day this past year. I mean, seriously. Every day. I miss her very much, so I can't imagine how much you and Sue and the rest of the family must miss her.
I wish you comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, and friendships to brighten your being.
Love, Linda