Pop-Pop Goes Home

Jack P. Edmundson, Sr.
August 13, 1920 - September 5, 2010

Very few men live a long life. Very few men live an honorable life. Pop Pop was one who did both. He had a testimony about the Lord's goodness he loved to share. His sums up his life with this verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

From the bombing at Pearl Harbor to meeting my grandmother and many adventures along the way, he testifies to how God worked together for good things that did not seem to be good at the time. Yet, his citizenship, his family, his medical bills, his distant relatives, and his retirement among other things were evidences of God's lavish love upon this man and his promise fulfilled to make "all things work together for good" because of my grandfather's love for the Lord.

I can rest assured that he is now rejoicing with the angels and worshiping God forever alongside his wife, Janet (Nonna to me). Pop Pop, we will miss you, but I know I'll be seeing you again.

Until then...

You'd Never Guess It!

I was born on Friday the 13th.

So was my grandfather.

And his wife.

And their daughter.

And her grandson.

And my father-in-law.

String Bean was also born on the 13th. It was a Tuesday.

Happy 100th, Grandpa!

Well, today is the big day! My great grandfather turns 100 today. String Bean and I are celebrating with 5 generations of family out in Seattle this weekend. I thought you might enjoy some excerpts from a news article about his life that was printed in the Monroe Monitor.

Before arriving in Washington, Miller, one of 10 siblings and the only boy to graduate from high school, was somewhat footloose, working as a traveling salesman in the Midwest before heading to Los Angeles for work in the airplane manufacturing business.

“I had an aunt in Los Angeles,” he said. “I lost my job, I was out of work, and I had interviewed with (plane builder) Lockheed with a rep. in Minneapolis. They didn’t call and didn’t call, so I decided to come out to Los Angeles where they were anyway.”

It worked; he got the job and the career he would pursue until retirement.

He started out working on the P-38.

After six years, though, the job ended.

“Lockheed was going to lay me off, and I had a brother with a dealership in Minnesota,” said Miller. “I moved back there and joined that firm.” Then came World War II, and Lockheed cranked up production.

Back to Los Angeles went Miller, working on the P-38, this time outfitting the planes with guns for the war effort. He also worked on the C-69, a large cargo plane. After a while, he became a teacher, which lead to his next job.

“I was teaching about the airplanes,” he said. Some people from a company called AirResearch Manufacturing came in to take a class from him. “I asked them if they had jobs in their field service department.”

He switched careers after clearing it with military, as those involved in the war effort were required to do in those days, and continued to teach about airplanes for the rest of his
career.

He also had a large family; he and his wife Dorothy had seven children.

Upon retirement, in 1972, he moved to Startup. “I built the first house in Startup in two years,” he said. “They hadn’t had any houses built in that long.” He and Dorothy bought a manufactured home on two acres and joined the Hillcrest Baptist Church in Sultan.

After 68 years of marriage, Dorothy died in 2000. Miller moved to Merrill Gardens three years ago, at the age of 97.

He currently lives there with his second wife, Lois XXX Miller.

He will celebrate his birthday with his five surviving children at the Northshore Senior Center in Bothell. Many of his 20 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and six great great-grandchildren are expected to attend.

Update on the Card

Mr. Bean and I went to the grocery store to look for birthday cards for the various family members with March birthdays. There are 4. We were successful in all of them, except the 100th birthday card for my great-grandfather.

As we looked at the shelf, we found "age" cards starting at 60 and going up in 5 year increments all the way to 95 and then it stopped. Why?! So, we were considering getting a 95 card and a 5 card until our friend Patrick suggested we just get 100 1-year-old birthday cards.

100 Years Old

My great grandfather is turning 100 on March 27th. String Bean and I are going out to Seattle to celebrate. I am looking forward to getting a 5 generation photo while we are there! That's pretty fun because when I was about String Bean's age, I was the 5th generation in a 5 generation photo with another grandfather of ours at his 100th birthday party.

I'd like to get something small for him for his big day. Any ideas? He's 100, so I don't think he needs anything. Apart from ordering a card online, I'm having a hard time finding a happy 100th card.