I am one of the few people who do not have any teachers in my family. But I discovered the other day that I do have an education link in my background – my great-grandfather was a school board member in the Henry Ford School District in Dearborn, Michigan. I have never known very much about my great-grandfather because he died in a car crash in 1932, when my grandmother was only nine. Her mother was seriously injured in the same accident, and in the heart of the depression there was no safety net for the family of five kids.
My grandmother was sent off to live with relatives in Kentucky, and so most of what she has ever talked about regarding that time was the pain of losing her family along with her father. My great-grandmother lived until I was in college, but with her we kids always talked about the fascinating two-fingered hand that the crash left her with.
So I never really heard about my great-grandfather, TJ Evans. Until last night, when my grandmother discovered some old papers that included two newspaper clippings about the death of her father. His death made the front page, with a good sized photo of him, above the fold, as they say.
While I clearly do not have teaching in my blood, my school board member great-grandfather was like me in playing a support role for education, and I am glad to know it.
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