Bloom Township High School

Bloom Township High School

Dad started out as a janitor. He worked his way up to superintendent of buildings and grounds (man in charge.)

I remember his boiler room being so clean and shiny.  He kept it immaculate.

He loved to play jokes on the teachers or co-workers.  I remember him telling about this "stink bomb" bottle he used to carry.  He'd walk past a group and open it and blow it toward them without their noticing.  He also suspected one of his night watchmen of being lazy so he got up at 3 am. and went to the school and found the guy with his chair propped against the wall sleeping soundly.  He just kicked the chair out from under him.  I don't know if he fired him or not. He probably gave him another chance, knowing dad.

He noticed my talent when I was young and hired a piano teacher.   I took a couple of lessons and the third time I would just play the tune without a hitch.  She told him she couldn't teach me because I was playing by ear.  I sure wish we'd found another teacher who would have given me a lot tougher pieces to learn.  But he used to like to have me play for people from church.  And he loved to hear me play Master, the Tempest is Raging and We shall shine like the stars of the morning.

Dad started polishing stones.  I'm not sure what got him started, but he built his own polishing machine with a steady drip of water over the stone so it would polish beautifully. 

He loved to pour concrete too and I helped mix many a load in a wheel barrow with a hoe.  He would make a patio, or walkway.  He also built sheet metal ducts for his furnace work.  He had a great big diamond blade that would cut I beams.  I bars are very strong, thick steel beams.  He had a long handle attached to the wheel and someone needed to pull the handle down while he held the I beam in place.  This blade had something like 4000 rpms.  It spun very fast..had to to cut I beams  I was always wanting to work with dad so I got the job of pulling the handle down.  We were in the garage in Steger.  All at once the diamond blade (this was about as big around as a barrel top) shattered.  I looked behind me and there were holes all through the garage around my head and body.  Not one hit me.  It would have gone straight thru like it did the metal garage.