Samuel "Pappy" Light was my grandfather. He was born in Columbus Grove, Putnam, Ohio. He was living in Auglaize, Allen, Ohio in 1900.
He had 3 brothers and 1 or 2 sisters. I have one of his brother's pocket watch. He outlived all of his siblings. Samuel Light was named after his grandfather Samuel B. Light (not certain of his middle name).
Pappy was my grandmother's second husband and the love of her life. I'm not sure of the year they met but they likely met by 1946. He owned and worked a farm in Coldwater, Michigan. He was married to a woman named Edith. They did not have any children together and I know that he liked and wanted a family, especially since he had lost almost all of his siblings. My mother recalls him walking in front of their home while they were kids and he would stop and talk to her and her sister while they were in the yard. My grandmother was likely divorced by then. He became the husband she always wanted and the Dad that my mom wanted. I can't find official records of when they married but there is an paper I found that they were married in Yuma, Arizona in 1952. In 1952 the family decided to move west, originally moving to Arizona and then deciding to move to L.A. because Arizona was too hot.
Pappy was quite the entrepreneur. What I know of him he had a farm in Coldwater, Michigan for many years and that is how he met my grandmother and her family. He owned a liquor store / market in L.A. around 1955. He owned a gas station / corner store in Coldwater, Michigan around 1946. While living here in L.A. I know that he looked into a number of business opportunities including buying the local Frosty Freeze in Gardena. For a short time he set my grandmother Dorothy up with a dry cleaning business in downtown L.A. My grandparents bought one of the oldest homes in Gardena (built 1902) around 1957 at 1037 W. 164th street. Pappy loaned my Dad the down payment for our house on 133rd Street in Gardena. About 1960 my grandparents decided to manage a 4 story apartment building in downtown L.A. at 454 S. Catalina Ave.
I vividly remember my parents driving us kids into L.A. to visit them and how bad the smog was back then. It was a four story building. I would go up to the 3rd or 4th floor with my plastic dinosaurs and dangle down to the lower levels that I had tied a string to. Pappy would take dimes and nickels out of the washing machines that he had painted red so he could retrieve them. They had sheep skin rugs that my sister and I would lay and sleep on. He would hold me on his lap and read the newspaper to me and explain the stories. When Marilyn Monroe died on August 5th 1962 I remember him explaining to me what had happened to her. We always thought my Aunt Joyce looked like her. When I was very young he bought me a rocking chair that played "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". I loved that rocking chair and sat in it all the time. Fortunately we still have that little chair. On one trip to my grandparents as we were leaving and walking down the cement stairs in front of the building I fell and chipped one of my front teeth. I can still see a bit of that chip today.
Pappy smoked cigars and often had on in his mouth or his hand. We have a number of photos of him with a cigar. Pappy was a big man. He was about 6' tall, big boned and had a large presence. He wore a very large size in ring size.
He loved animals especially dogs. My grandparents had cockatiels. He had at 2 Kitty Kat clocks hanging on the walls when he lived in downtown L.A. - the ones that were popular in the 50s and 60s that looked like Felix the cat. He was a member of The Odd Fellows.
On the night of September 28, 1962 he got a call from one of tenants complaining about yet another loud fight by a young married couple. Pappy went up to the apartment and talked to the husband about the noise. As he walked away down the hallway the tenant came out and shot him in the back. It wasn't until recent years that I realized how badly it must have affected my grandmother.
His murder made the front page of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on September 29, 1962.
Pappy was a really good man and a kind man. My grandmother and mother thought the world of him. My older brother Sam was named after him and after Pappy's death he wore his ring all the time. Pappy gave me my first name Kathleen. Before my Dad passed away he told me that I was Pappy's favorite grandkid. :)
He had 3 brothers and 1 or 2 sisters. I have one of his brother's pocket watch. He outlived all of his siblings. Samuel Light was named after his grandfather Samuel B. Light (not certain of his middle name).
Pappy was my grandmother's second husband and the love of her life. I'm not sure of the year they met but they likely met by 1946. He owned and worked a farm in Coldwater, Michigan. He was married to a woman named Edith. They did not have any children together and I know that he liked and wanted a family, especially since he had lost almost all of his siblings. My mother recalls him walking in front of their home while they were kids and he would stop and talk to her and her sister while they were in the yard. My grandmother was likely divorced by then. He became the husband she always wanted and the Dad that my mom wanted. I can't find official records of when they married but there is an paper I found that they were married in Yuma, Arizona in 1952. In 1952 the family decided to move west, originally moving to Arizona and then deciding to move to L.A. because Arizona was too hot.
Pappy was quite the entrepreneur. What I know of him he had a farm in Coldwater, Michigan for many years and that is how he met my grandmother and her family. He owned a liquor store / market in L.A. around 1955. He owned a gas station / corner store in Coldwater, Michigan around 1946. While living here in L.A. I know that he looked into a number of business opportunities including buying the local Frosty Freeze in Gardena. For a short time he set my grandmother Dorothy up with a dry cleaning business in downtown L.A. My grandparents bought one of the oldest homes in Gardena (built 1902) around 1957 at 1037 W. 164th street. Pappy loaned my Dad the down payment for our house on 133rd Street in Gardena. About 1960 my grandparents decided to manage a 4 story apartment building in downtown L.A. at 454 S. Catalina Ave.
I vividly remember my parents driving us kids into L.A. to visit them and how bad the smog was back then. It was a four story building. I would go up to the 3rd or 4th floor with my plastic dinosaurs and dangle down to the lower levels that I had tied a string to. Pappy would take dimes and nickels out of the washing machines that he had painted red so he could retrieve them. They had sheep skin rugs that my sister and I would lay and sleep on. He would hold me on his lap and read the newspaper to me and explain the stories. When Marilyn Monroe died on August 5th 1962 I remember him explaining to me what had happened to her. We always thought my Aunt Joyce looked like her. When I was very young he bought me a rocking chair that played "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". I loved that rocking chair and sat in it all the time. Fortunately we still have that little chair. On one trip to my grandparents as we were leaving and walking down the cement stairs in front of the building I fell and chipped one of my front teeth. I can still see a bit of that chip today.
Pappy smoked cigars and often had on in his mouth or his hand. We have a number of photos of him with a cigar. Pappy was a big man. He was about 6' tall, big boned and had a large presence. He wore a very large size in ring size.
He loved animals especially dogs. My grandparents had cockatiels. He had at 2 Kitty Kat clocks hanging on the walls when he lived in downtown L.A. - the ones that were popular in the 50s and 60s that looked like Felix the cat. He was a member of The Odd Fellows.
On the night of September 28, 1962 he got a call from one of tenants complaining about yet another loud fight by a young married couple. Pappy went up to the apartment and talked to the husband about the noise. As he walked away down the hallway the tenant came out and shot him in the back. It wasn't until recent years that I realized how badly it must have affected my grandmother.
His murder made the front page of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on September 29, 1962.
Pappy was a really good man and a kind man. My grandmother and mother thought the world of him. My older brother Sam was named after him and after Pappy's death he wore his ring all the time. Pappy gave me my first name Kathleen. Before my Dad passed away he told me that I was Pappy's favorite grandkid. :)
Samuel "Pappy" Light was my grandfather. He was born in Columbus Grove, Putnam, Ohio. He was living in Auglaize, Allen, Ohio in 1900.
He had 3 brothers and 1 or 2 sisters. I have one of his brother's pocket watch. He outlived all of his siblings. Samuel Light was named after his grandfather Samuel B. Light (not certain of his middle name).
Pappy was my grandmother's second husband and the love of her life. I'm not sure of the year they met but they likely met by 1946. He owned and worked a farm in Coldwater, Michigan. He was married to a woman named Edith. They did not have any children together and I know that he liked and wanted a family, especially since he had lost almost all of his siblings. My mother recalls him walking in front of their home while they were kids and he would stop and talk to her and her sister while they were in the yard. My grandmother was likely divorced by then. He became the husband she always wanted and the Dad that my mom wanted. I can't find official records of when they married but there is an paper I found that they were married in Yuma, Arizona in 1952. In 1952 the family decided to move west, originally moving to Arizona and then deciding to move to L.A. because Arizona was too hot.
Pappy was quite the entrepreneur. What I know of him he had a farm in Coldwater, Michigan for many years and that is how he met my grandmother and her family. He owned a liquor store / market in L.A. around 1955. He owned a gas station / corner store in Coldwater, Michigan around 1946. While living here in L.A. I know that he looked into a number of business opportunities including buying the local Frosty Freeze in Gardena. For a short time he set my grandmother Dorothy up with a dry cleaning business in downtown L.A. My grandparents bought one of the oldest homes in Gardena (built 1902) around 1957 at 1037 W. 164th street. Pappy loaned my Dad the down payment for our house on 133rd Street in Gardena. About 1960 my grandparents decided to manage a 4 story apartment building in downtown L.A. at 454 S. Catalina Ave.
I vividly remember my parents driving us kids into L.A. to visit them and how bad the smog was back then. It was a four story building. I would go up to the 3rd or 4th floor with my plastic dinosaurs and dangle down to the lower levels that I had tied a string to. Pappy would take dimes and nickels out of the washing machines that he had painted red so he could retrieve them. They had sheep skin rugs that my sister and I would lay and sleep on. He would hold me on his lap and read the newspaper to me and explain the stories. When Marilyn Monroe died on August 5th 1962 I remember him explaining to me what had happened to her. We always thought my Aunt Joyce looked like her. When I was very young he bought me a rocking chair that played "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". I loved that rocking chair and sat in it all the time. Fortunately we still have that little chair. On one trip to my grandparents as we were leaving and walking down the cement stairs in front of the building I fell and chipped one of my front teeth. I can still see a bit of that chip today.
Pappy smoked cigars and often had on in his mouth or his hand. We have a number of photos of him with a cigar. Pappy was a big man. He was about 6' tall, big boned and had a large presence. He wore a very large size in ring size.
He loved animals especially dogs. My grandparents had cockatiels. He had at 2 Kitty Kat clocks hanging on the walls when he lived in downtown L.A. - the ones that were popular in the 50s and 60s that looked like Felix the cat. He was a member of The Odd Fellows.
On the night of September 28, 1962 he got a call from one of tenants complaining about yet another loud fight by a young married couple. Pappy went up to the apartment and talked to the husband about the noise. As he walked away down the hallway the tenant came out and shot him in the back. It wasn't until recent years that I realized how badly it must have affected my grandmother.
His murder made the front page of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on September 29, 1962.
Pappy was a really good man and a kind man. My grandmother and mother thought the world of him. My older brother Sam was named after him and after Pappy's death he wore his ring all the time. Pappy gave me my first name Kathleen. Before my Dad passed away he told me that I was Pappy's favorite grandkid. :)
He had 3 brothers and 1 or 2 sisters. I have one of his brother's pocket watch. He outlived all of his siblings. Samuel Light was named after his grandfather Samuel B. Light (not certain of his middle name).
Pappy was my grandmother's second husband and the love of her life. I'm not sure of the year they met but they likely met by 1946. He owned and worked a farm in Coldwater, Michigan. He was married to a woman named Edith. They did not have any children together and I know that he liked and wanted a family, especially since he had lost almost all of his siblings. My mother recalls him walking in front of their home while they were kids and he would stop and talk to her and her sister while they were in the yard. My grandmother was likely divorced by then. He became the husband she always wanted and the Dad that my mom wanted. I can't find official records of when they married but there is an paper I found that they were married in Yuma, Arizona in 1952. In 1952 the family decided to move west, originally moving to Arizona and then deciding to move to L.A. because Arizona was too hot.
Pappy was quite the entrepreneur. What I know of him he had a farm in Coldwater, Michigan for many years and that is how he met my grandmother and her family. He owned a liquor store / market in L.A. around 1955. He owned a gas station / corner store in Coldwater, Michigan around 1946. While living here in L.A. I know that he looked into a number of business opportunities including buying the local Frosty Freeze in Gardena. For a short time he set my grandmother Dorothy up with a dry cleaning business in downtown L.A. My grandparents bought one of the oldest homes in Gardena (built 1902) around 1957 at 1037 W. 164th street. Pappy loaned my Dad the down payment for our house on 133rd Street in Gardena. About 1960 my grandparents decided to manage a 4 story apartment building in downtown L.A. at 454 S. Catalina Ave.
I vividly remember my parents driving us kids into L.A. to visit them and how bad the smog was back then. It was a four story building. I would go up to the 3rd or 4th floor with my plastic dinosaurs and dangle down to the lower levels that I had tied a string to. Pappy would take dimes and nickels out of the washing machines that he had painted red so he could retrieve them. They had sheep skin rugs that my sister and I would lay and sleep on. He would hold me on his lap and read the newspaper to me and explain the stories. When Marilyn Monroe died on August 5th 1962 I remember him explaining to me what had happened to her. We always thought my Aunt Joyce looked like her. When I was very young he bought me a rocking chair that played "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". I loved that rocking chair and sat in it all the time. Fortunately we still have that little chair. On one trip to my grandparents as we were leaving and walking down the cement stairs in front of the building I fell and chipped one of my front teeth. I can still see a bit of that chip today.
Pappy smoked cigars and often had on in his mouth or his hand. We have a number of photos of him with a cigar. Pappy was a big man. He was about 6' tall, big boned and had a large presence. He wore a very large size in ring size.
He loved animals especially dogs. My grandparents had cockatiels. He had at 2 Kitty Kat clocks hanging on the walls when he lived in downtown L.A. - the ones that were popular in the 50s and 60s that looked like Felix the cat. He was a member of The Odd Fellows.
On the night of September 28, 1962 he got a call from one of tenants complaining about yet another loud fight by a young married couple. Pappy went up to the apartment and talked to the husband about the noise. As he walked away down the hallway the tenant came out and shot him in the back. It wasn't until recent years that I realized how badly it must have affected my grandmother.
His murder made the front page of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on September 29, 1962.
Pappy was a really good man and a kind man. My grandmother and mother thought the world of him. My older brother Sam was named after him and after Pappy's death he wore his ring all the time. Pappy gave me my first name Kathleen. Before my Dad passed away he told me that I was Pappy's favorite grandkid. :)
