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Family Sheet

HUSBAND
Name: Leslie Frank Feagin Note Born: 19 Jun 1924 at Watsonville, , Santa Cruz County, CA Married: Died: 21 Feb 1967 at Sacramento, , Sacramento County, CA Other Spouses: Irene Huff
Father: John Thomas Feagin Mother: Vera Beulah Goldsmith
WIFE
Name: Mary Elizabeth Ibach Note Born: 8 Sep 1922 at North Evans, , Erie County, NY Died: 31 Oct 1994 at Porterville, , Tulare County, CA Other Spouses: Leo Altherr Walter Theodore Parsons Jr. Edward Hodges Father: Charles Winfield Ibach Mother: Lillian Elizabeth Maltbie
CHILDREN
Name: John David Feagin Sr. Born: (suppressed / living) Died: Wife: Karen Gertrude Hibbert
Name: Judith Anne Feagin Born: (suppressed / living) Died: Husband: Vincent Valentine Hardeman
Name: Michael Thomas Feagin Born: 24 Feb 1948 at Sacramento, , , California Died: 28 May 1994 at Porterville, , , California Wife: Nolberta Gomez
NOTES
1). I remember my father as a good man with a terrible di s e a s e alcoholism.He always loved his children. He h a d th r e e with my mother and two with another woman nam e d Iren e . T hese are my half brothers, Robert and Ralp h F eagin w h o I go t to know briefly. My father attende d Elem entary S c hool a t Camino Elementary School in Plac erville , El Dora d o County , California. His father was w orking i n that ar e a as a lumb erjack for the W.P.A. M y father wa s a good w ri ter and ha d excellent penmanship , winning a n award fo r bus iness writi ng from the Zane r Bloser Compa ny on 4 May , 1939. He was a member of the California High School Ca d e t s a s a private in Company L. He was honorably disch ar g e d fro m the cadets due to leaving the school to joi n t h e U. S. Nav y in November of 1941. He was in boot ca m p i n San D iego wh en Pearl Harbor was attacked by the J ap anes e on 7 D ecember , 1941. I have letters from him i mme diate ly befor e the att ack and a day after the attack . H e wa s sent to t he South P acific where he was on a t roo p trans port ship na med The Wh arton. He saw actio n o n the beac h with the U. S. Marines a t Guadacanal an d Tara wa . Eve n though he wa s a yeoman in t he Navy, h e also d id doubl e duty by bringin g troops ashor e in tro op transp ort carri ers. He was stuc k on the beach w it h the Marine s since i t was always a one way trip from t h e transports. His letters from WWII are descriptive, telling of beau t i f u l birds, swamps, and crocodiles . H e apparently s ur vi v e d shrapnel wounds while in battle. I can remembe r w e l l a s a child , picking bits of metal that surface d o n h i s back . He caught a bad case of Malaria and wa s sen t ba c k to Th e United States in late 1943. He wa s sent t o Bet he sda Nava l Hospital in Bethesda, Marylan d where h e met m y m other. He r story follows The following description was written by my mother , M a r y I bach at my request. April 6,1987 Leslie Frank Feagin, as I knew him I first knew of Leslie, when I was in the Coast Guard s , l a i d up with a kidney disorder, in Bethesda Naval Ho sp ita l . . . in Bethesda, Maryland, A Wave, in conversati o n wit h m e an d others , told of a sailor that she had m e t name d Les lie .She said he was handsome, but to sta y aw ay fro m him , as h e was weird. She didn t say in wha t wa y ... sh e di d say tha t he shook all the time and wa s yel low color ed... He had som e disease that made him ac t weir d he thoug ht. . . One da y I was told to go down t o ship s service, wh er e they handle d food and refreshmen ts an d played games o f c ards etc. Sinc e I was recuperat ing , I now was put on s om e hospital dutie s , this bein g t o converse with the me n wh o were there an d be alist ene r and help them in any w ay wi th their needs i n the a rea. ... X Wave named Mary Col eman f rom Philadelphi a wa s als o on this duty with me .. . We spen t our allotte d t ime i n that area each day...I he ard many s tories an d saw ma n y scarred men from the war. O ne young ma n onl y 18 had rev e rted back to his childhood i n thinking.. . . One day, Mar y an d I were sitting at a tabl e playing ca r ds with two m en, on e named Ray who became Ma ry s boyfr ien d later...wh en I look ed across the table t o a seat w here s ome men we re sitting a nd noticed this sai lor goin g for cof fee tim e after time an d noticed that h e was sh aking so ba d he w as losing it on th e way back t o his se at ... he wa s yell ow colored in a tan s kin...He h ad th e most beautifu l eye s I ever saw, and alway s being i nt o eyes, I took noti c e and went to ask if I coul d get h i s coffee ... he tol d m e to please bring him a ful l cup ... after that he sa t ther e and flirted with me constan t ly .. .being on dut y . I trie d to avoid this contact .. . th en h e came to th e table an d asked if he could pla y cards wi t h us ... w e let him an d one of the men lef t to make roo m . .. He to ld me that h e had never see n a Spar before an d thou gh t Iwas an ensig n in the Nav y because of my out f it an d s crew in insignia s ... whe n he found I was jus t a Seam an S1c . he moved in o n me h eavy and I could go n o wher e without h im being somew her e in the area ...Whe n I foun d out who he w as,I wasn t , too interested...tha t made h im more determine d ... H e fo und out I was on 6 to wer sta tioned, and he one d a y took th e elevator there aga inst a ll rules and asked f o r me...Go t me in the elevato r and k ept it going up an d dow n unti l I listened to wha t the h ad to say ... I fo und ou t then , that he was sen t fro m a California hospit al Oak Kn oll to there for exp erim entation on malignat urtia malari a .. . as it was a kin d o f malaria that no o ne lived throug h .. . Hegot it whi l e marooned from a do wn ship fighting wi t h the Marine s o n Tarawa island .. . He had shrapnel in R h i s back fro m th e fight. I bega n to see this man was a su rviv or wit h gut s ... that imp ressed me.... He had survive d a bo mbe d out ship and fou ght with the Marines on the isl and th a t ha d the worst t oll of casualties in the war.... A nd s urvi ve d.... We be came inseparable ... the nurses love d o ur rel a tionshi p so much that when we needed a place t o b e alon e an d k iss etc., they made a place and drew a cur t ain .. . we b e came the couple of the hospital ... when L e s had a n at tac k of malaria which they thought he woul d no t liv e th rough , it was the doctors that came lookin g for m e.. . . They ha d a curtain drawn around him in th e ward whi c h m eant he wa s dying ... I talked to him an d then go t o n m y knees and pr ayed out loud as he and I o ften ha d don e .. . He was pourin g sweat, and told me, JUT E, I m dying . . . I told him he wou ld be allright and wo ul d be standi n g for muster the next m orning ... he sai d , I hear the mo s t beautiful music and the re is a man n ex t to me ... th e ma n scared him. . . I told h im not t o b e afraid, as i t was p robably his father ... he s mile d and lapsed off in to a com a ... I was told to leave.T h e nex t morning a doct or sough t me out and said that Le s ha d m ade it and stoo d muster.. . I went to see him an d he to l d me I saved hi s life....Soo n he was back in sh ips serv ic e and himan d I were gettin g short leaves tog ether fro m V A hospital . .. it was winte r and snowing .. . he propo sed t o me on th e front steps o f the Bethesd a Naval Hospi tal dur ing a ti me when the sno w was pleas antly fallin g down in fla kes an d covering us ov er. Le s and I had a o ne of a kind rel atio nship that was be aut iful and every g irls dream. There w a s no way I could h a ve known that h e would ever turn to dr i nking as an esc ap e from his prob lems. He drank very litt l e in those da ys an d was a ver y spirited and outgoing per so n with a r eally in fective p ersonality He did not begi n drin king h eavy unti l we cam e to Calif. to his mothers a nd fro m th en on it go t wors e with time. His favorite son g wa s a S tauss waltzB eaut iful Ohio . He often requeste d i t.His fav orite color w a s blue. He loved the Navy and w a s proud of hi s service a n d his uniform. I have never se e n a sailor tha t looked s o m uch like he belonged in th e un iform. He wa s a natura l fo rit and looked great i n it I o ften pressed h is unif orm wh ile we were in the h ospital, a s he wanted it t o lo ok its b ast He wore the l ittle whit e hat crushed on t h e front of h is head and wa s a knockou t in the so calle d Do nald Duck w interblu e hat He had be autiful gray alm ond shap ed eyes th ick au burn wavy hair... skin that wa s a light oliv e and fai rl y smooth a beautif ul smile wi th great teeth an d one m i ssing on the side. H e had larg e shoulders and a bod y t ha t fittedin that wa s trim an d perfect.... He was to o p erfe ct in every way t o be real .... When my sisters m et hi m the y flipped over h im and s aid he looked lik e a movie sta r. H e always smile d in tho se early days .. . My grandma Ibac h l oved him...h e like d to tell joke s that were rather raun ch y...she like d t o listen...Le s was no coward ... he face d u p to whatev e r he had to d o and often got into fights .. . i n the War . .. he was o n Tarawa and Guadacanal, fighting a lo ng sid e t he Marine s...few survived that area , but he d i d .. . He h ad shra pnel In his back from the flack ... he l au g hed abo ut it . Les loved life and wanted to live it t o t h e fulles t . .. on a moments notice we moved around an d we n t back e a st or whenever he took a notion to go... W ho ca n f org e t the tears when his grandmother died that h e was n o t o n e to hide, or the times we went out at nigh t to go t i ce c r eam because we woke up and wanted it...o r the t ime h e ca m e into the apt. inBrooklyn when I wa s pregna nt wit h a t att oo covered over of a another girl s name,w ith LOV E JUD Y an d flowers around it, and a smal l bouque t of flowe rs h e pick ed in someone s lawn for me , or o f robbing someo ne s vegeta ble garden on the way ho me fr om our jobs for o u r supper .. . We had it all in tho se d ays ... or the farm e r chasing u s out of a grapefrui t or chard when I was hug e i n pregnanc y and couldn t ra n an d he was in the car roo tin g me on. Onl y to find th e ca r fullof bees that were i n th e grapefrui t we had t o es cape...The only thing his mo the r really hate d abou t me , was Les s love and devotion t o m e ... she could n t le t go of him...He was torn by th e effe ct she had o n h i m an d I believe to thisday.9 tha t drov e him to hi s dr inki ng problem ... for he surly didn t hav e it whe n we w ere bac k east in the early years... . All hi s kid s know a bout him h as been from the later yea rs whe n h e drank hea vily and die d because of it ... I had t o tell t his as on ly I know it. H e was a beautiful pers o n who love d God an d had a kind and t ender heart ... H e w as not wha t he bec ame...and I want al l his kids to r ememb er that... . Les l oved to garden ... i n fact he gre w the b est spinac h I ha ve ever ate when we liv ed in Do s Rios .. . He reall y trie d to overcome his problem s wit h alcohol . .. and ofte n cr ied about the things he di d t o me during h is drunks . . . he hated what he had becom e a nd wanted wha t we once h ad again all the time I kne w him. H is sister a nd him wer e v ery close knit she call ed him Bu b . He wa s a good so n an d brother and loved ev eryone in hi s life.H e had man y frien ds in those days fr om the Navy year s tha t droppe d in often. Unfortunately, I have all the good memories and Les s k i d s are left with the memories of him when he was r ed uc e d t o the gutter because of his drinking problem .. . a n d th at m ade him a completely different person.But b ecau s e I ha ve th e good memories, I can make a differenc e no w i n how h e is r emembered for future generations o f hi s line age. I n those l ater years when his kids wer e young , he wa s drink ing a lo t and taking everything h e could g et his h ands o n to sell f or liquor, includin g the pearl s he gav e me in t he hospita l when we were i n the servic e and m y keepsake r ings he bou ght then .. . he even sol d a pair o f my new shoe s ... we ha d not hi ng, and coul d have nothin g. He begge d borrowed an d sto le to keep m y kids fed. H e was mean an d unpredictabl e w hen drunk .. . I sheltered m y kids as bes t I could and t o ok the abuse ... Every, tim e he broke int o my home,wa s to ta ke the ki d. I can t cou nt the times h e was putt ing the sle epin gkids in a car wh ile I was in th e hous e waiting for t h e police before he g et away with the m . .. even as drun k a s he was, he was gen tle with them a n d made sure the y were c overed in a blanke t when he car rie d them out ... . He love d his kids... Th e other sid e of him , was the so ber times th at could las t as much a s a week a t times .. . We would sit a t the tabl e and pla y cards lik e we did w hen we met ... he k new a lo t of ca rd tricks...an d he wou ld talk with big plan s for h is fa mily s future o f what h e was going to give us.. .. H e wa nted gusto have th e bes t in those times.... It wa s i n t hose times he plante d hi s garden, helped with the k i d s and bathed and put the m t o bed and prayed with the m an d k issed them each with te n der fatherly love...it w as i n thos e times that we woul d p ut our babies in a bug gy an d walk t o his mothers an d he wo uld be telling the m abou t the prett y birds alon g the way a nd the flower s he saw.. .sometimes h e would pick one and pu t it i n a little han d to hold...an d he woul d make sure th e su n wasn t on a fa ce too much o r a blank et wasn t ov e r a nose...he took not ice of every li ttle t hing...i f I sco lded my kids when h e was sober he woul d s cold m e for talki ng to them like th at .... He would lo o k at h is kids and sa y how beautiful h is kids were . . . he w a s proud of them.. . when his kids w oke up in th e night , h e would tell me t o let him go and d o what wa s needed ... an d he was a child in many ways...h e liked t o go t o spooky mo vies...and the n we would play o ut the m ovi e in the dark an d scare each o ther.... He woul d get u nd er the covers and sc ream when I p layed the mumm y .. . h e requested I do it ... D runk he some times becam e pl ayfu l and would take off his clo thes and ru n out of t h e hous e... the neighbor and I would h ave to g o in sear c h of hi m with a blanket and he would be o ut ther e in t h e dark , giggling because we couldn t catch hi m...h e lo ve dmisc hief ... it made him giggle.. . If he sa w some o ne t hat n eeded something he had he gave it to him.. . I s a w hi m ta ke a brand new coat off his back and put i t o n a m a n wh o had no coat ... My feelings for Les wor e down i n t h os e yearswhen I lived day and night in fea r of him w h i l e drunk...I forgot for a long time what h e once was b ef o r e it his took over ... When he died , I remembered h o w h e ha ted what he was in those earl y years of drinking .. . an d I f elt some relief that he w as free at last...T o me , h e was to o good for this worl d and something vicio us ha d t o destro y that good ... th at seems to the way o f thi s worl d...Non e of his kids sh ould ever be ashamed o f hi m ... fo r liquo r alone destro yedwhat he appeared t o be . .. in rea lity h e was nothin g like what he appeare d inside ... Medical My father was an alcoholic. He tried to qu i t d r i nking many times, attending AA and even receivin g e lect ro sh ock therapy. He was completely addicted to a lcoh ol . I t wa s because of this reason that I John Fea gin , Sr. qui t drinking.
2).  My mother was the oldest daughter of five childr e n .  H e r mother  s early death had a large impact on he r l if e a n d ours. She was raised in an abusive situatio n. S h e spe n t her early years in North Evans, Erie Count y, N e w York .  H er favorite  person in the world was he r gran dm othe r  Maltb ie  Schultz .  She  also loved he r grandfa the r, Wi lliam Iba ch. Unfortunately, both  of t hese indiv idua ls pas sed away e arly in my mother  s life.  She spent some of her years in Marion Junction, Ala b a m a .  She was there during the depression .  She was l iv i n g wi th her grandmother Ibach and grandfather who wa s h op in g t o get work building the railroads. Unfortunat el y fo r hi m, t he jobs were mostly taken by destitute bl ack s .Th e K u Klu x Klan was active in the area and my mo the r ofte n spo ke o f the blacks working in the e cotto n fiel ds sing ing ol d Neg ro spirituals. At times they wo uld b e greete d by th e Klan a nd for some imagined infrac tion,w ould be t arred an d feather ed or even lynched .  A woman t hat I me t in her la ter year s that playe d a great role i n my mothe r  s life wa s Mrs. Ros coe .  I know she had a so n Isaac an d I believ e a daughte r , Anita. Mrs.Roscoe wa s black and a n angel! Sh e  s th e one w ho taught my mothe r how to do th e jitterbug a n d other dance s of e day.  M y mother also wa s introduce d t o authentic sou l food an d treated as one o f the fami ly. I n 1965, while st atione d in the Air Force , I met Mr s. Rosc oe who was then i n he r 90  s .  Once sh e figure d out wh o I was, I was welcom e d in her rural hom e wit h welcome arm s and cooked real h om e smoked bacon an d fr esh eggs.  Later, my mother met a man named Leo Altherr who she d i d n    t love, but married to get away from home. This w a s a r e a l mistake. She ran away from him and joined t h e U.S. C oa s t Guard during WWII. She didn  t get along w i th the Co as t G uardeither and was being processed fo r di scharge un de r les s than honorable conditions when s he wa s sent to h el p wit h the troops at Bethesda Naval H ospita l, in Maryla nd . That   s where she met my father, L eslie F rank Feagin . Sh e had th ree children by him witho ut bene fit of marri age du e to th e fact she was still ma rried t o Leo Altherr.  I was born in the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in T a k o m a Park, Montgomery County, Maryland .  My parents w e r e li vi ng in Berwyn Heights at the time.  I was delive r e d hom e i n a high explosives truck that my father drov e.  We eventually went to live for awhile in Buffalo, N e w Y o r k and even later in Sacramento, California.  I re me mb e r m y mother leaving my father several times.  We o nc e li ve d i n a house with an outhouse in the back and w er e o n wel fare.  My father always loved us and looked for us and my m o t h e r was forever hiding from him. I remember in the ea r l y 19 50   s, my mother writing a letter to  lonely troo p s i n Adak , A laska in the Aleutian Islands. She starte d c orre spondin g wi thPrivate Walter Theodore Parsons wh o  w as i n the U.S . Mar ine Corps.  He was seven years yo unge r tha n my mother .Event ually after they finally met , the y wer e married afte r th e marriage to Leo Altherr w as ann ulle d by the Catholi c Chur ch.This was sometim e in earl y 195 3 after my half s ister , Mary Anne Parson s was born .  The y also had Pattie E llen P arsons, and Pa mela Jane P arsons.  Pamela was born in Tripler Army Hospital, Honolulu, Ha w a i i . Her birth took place in on the 18 th of April, 19 6 0 , ju s t a few months after the Territory of Hawaii bec a m e a sta te .  I remember seeing Pearl Harbor before th e m em orials w er ebuilt  and oil slicks were still on th e wa te r from th e at tack by the Japanese.  After a few years in Hawaii, my mother returned t o l i v e i n San Francisco.  She was never happy there an d oft e n b ecam e depressed. It was also at this time tha t my br ot her , Mich ael, was  taken to the first of man y foster h ome s.  I graduated from Mission High School in San Franci s c o a n d left for college and later the A i  Force.  M y mo th er m ov ed to San Jose, California and was somewha t happ ier .  Sh e e ventually divorced Walter Parsons an d marrie d E d Hodge s .  I have nothing good to say abou t Mr. Hodge s s o will l e t the matter rest.  After divorcing Ed Hodges, my mother sent some of my h a l f   sisters to live with their father and she increasin g l y be ca me a loner. She moved in her latter years to Wa t so nvill e , California where she found some peace by gar de nin g an d ra ising animals, mostly cats. She really did n   t ca re t o hav e family around. It was also at this tim e t hat s he go t brea st cancer and had to have surgery .  Sh e also h ad sur gery fo r spinal spurs in her neck. S he nev er full y recover ed fro m either .  It became mor e and mor e necess ary for he r to us e addicting pain reli evers.  Sh e spen t a great dea l of tim e in introspection . She love d to wri te poetry an d I hav e a few of her boo ks.  She was a  new age  type person, believing in God, b u t o n l y her version of God.  She would argue about me b ei n g a M or mon.  She did see the missionaries but neve r to o k them s eri ously.  The last time I saw my mother, she was a mere shad o w o f h e rself standing in her driveway completely caug h t up i n h e r own problems. I later phoned her and we ta lk ed abou t li f e and death and I felt that I left nothin g u ndone wi th he r.  She was removed to my half sister Pamela  s house in Po r t e r ville, California when her cancer recurred and the r e s h e di ed.  She asked to be cremated and I took her a sh e s t o be pl aced in the grave of her mother, Lillian , i n th e 1s t Congregational Church of Evans  Jerusale m Corn ers    Nort h  Evans , New York.  !BIRTH John Feagin, Sr., John Feagin, Sr.  !DEATH John Feagin, Sr., John Feagin, Sr.  !BURIAL John Feagin, Sr., John Feagin, Sr., Interred my mo t hers cremated remains in the same grav e a s h er mother , L illian Maltbie Ibach at 1st Congregatio na l Chur ch o f Eva ns known as Jerusalem Corners., Personally present a t buria l.

						

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