In my previous post, I mentioned that my step-grandpa had passed away last April and I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to him. Even just writing that first line brings tears to my eyes at the loss I am feeling. It’s really not until they are gone that you start to acknowledge what they meant to you. Grandpa was a retired Air Force Colonel and was the longest running director of the Dayton Air Force Museum, but those things are just a small part of what he brought to the world. So I am going to capture the broad strokes and then write a bit more about my own memories of him.

Grandpa was born March 31, 1932 in Washington, Pennsylvania to Gustav (George) Morris Uppstrom and Edith Elizabeth Yingling. He was their only child. His father’s side was from Forshälla, Sweden and had emigrated in 1901. His mother’s side was from Germany (unknown when exactly they came over). Grandpa’s Father worked as an Engineer and was employed by the Fort Pitt Bridge Company of Canonsburg. Perhaps this is why Grandpa went on to attend Pennsylvania State University and pursued an Aeronautical Engineering degree.

Grandpa went on to serve in the Air Force and was stationed in Maryland when he was set up on a blind date with my grandma, Celestia Love Ludtke. She was in nursing school in Wilmington, Delaware and said she didn’t want to date one of those “Fly Boys”. Needless to say, they hit it off and were married on October 8, 1955.

They lived in many places during their marriage and had three children along the way. One of which, was my stepdad! They lived in Alabama, Massachusetts, Georgia, Alaska, Texas, Maryland, Thailand, and eventually settled in Ohio. I’ve heard a lot of great stories of the various places they lived, but I’m so glad that they ended up in Ohio. One of my favorite stories was the tale of when they were living in Thailand and a snake had made it in the yard. Fortunately, their dachshund, Rusty, was on the case. Sadly he got bit on the nose and almost died!

As a kid, I spent a lot of time with them and occasionally my parents would go on vacations and my sisters and I would stay at Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Grandpa was still working as Director of the Air Force Museum at that time and he would sometimes take us to the museum while it was closed and we could explore the place on our own. At one point we even got to go inside a plane that had carried FDR that was under restoration. I was very impressed by this.

I remember playing baseball with Grandpa in the backyard and using the big trees as bases. I would help Grandma pick veggies from her big garden. They had an addition made to their house that had many windows and I’d use Grandma’s binoculars to bird watch. In high school I had an assignment where I was supposed to interview people about their experiences during different historical events. I asked Grandpa about Vietnam since I knew that he had served.

Once I got older and went to college my visits were not as often. Grandpa would ask me a lot of questions about my classes in engineering and I think he enjoyed hearing about my work as I got further into my career. He often asked me questions about traffic signals, roundabouts, and why things were the way they were. It was fun to have someone take such an interest in what I do.

When Grandpa eventually retired from the museum he had a lot of time on his hands and he really began to do a lot of woodworking. I’m glad he did because I now have reminders of him in nearly every room of my house. I am currently typing this up on the cherry desk that he made for me. All inspired by a photo I took of one I saw in a store. He was great at drafting up plans for his creations and bringing them to life. He made furniture for each of his children and grandchildren.

Since I was the oldest grandchild I tried to do my best to record audio of their stories and asked lots of questions about their family history. It was always easier to get grandma to answer those questions than grandpa which is unfortunate. I count my blessings that I had gotten into genealogy while they were both had good recall and could share their histories. I was not so lucky with my other grandparents since they had all passed before I got interested enough to ask. So glad that I have both of my parents to “bug” about questions that come up while I research.

In later years I would bring my dogs with me for visits. Grandma and Grandpa were great dog lovers and had many over the years. I can remember their basset hound as the first dog I got to know in their house. Eventually they had collies that Grandma trained and would go to local hospitals for pet therapy visits. The collies were a lot of work and as my grandparents were getting up in years they stopped getting more dogs. They really missed having dogs which was apparent when I’d bring mine to visit. It was so funny to watch Grandpa spoil them with doggy biscuits and nuzzles.

I am so glad that I had Grandpa in my life for nearly 40 years of my life. Of course, I wish I had more time with him to ask those remaining unanswered questions. Instead, I’ll have to ask my stepdad and his siblings what they can remember while I use genealogical research to fill in the gaps. Finally, his obituary was a good one and so I’ll share the link with you here.