There was a Centennial Parade in Wyandotte in 1954. They had soldiers from past wars marching in the Parade. The earliest war than the next and so on. In this Parade the soldiers not many but were in their blues and grays it was the civil war heroes. Mom told me it would be the last year and I said why? Mom said they are so old now. Mom was right next year they were not there. Our cousin Mark played in the school band and was in the Parade .

I remember one year when it was after Christmas and everyone was crying when we came through the front door of the house on Perry Place. Our Mom went to her Mom and said is it true? Grandma said I’m afraid so, but he died in his sleep. Dad held onto Mom and they both sat down on the crouch it was the first time I saw our Dad cry, you see our Dad loved Grandfather Graf so much. That was the year everyone in the family brought plots out at Michigan Memorial Park except Uncle Joe his wife was expecting a baby.

Now Uncle Harry and Aunt Louise had been looking for a home in the suburbs, they found one but they didn’t have the down payment. Grandma Graf asked to take a look at it too. Uncle Harry said that the bedroom with the private bathroom would be her room if she wanted to come with them. Grandma Graf sold her home and more than enough for the down payment for the Trenton house. Now that is how the Trenton house came about.

I remember being at Hudson’s with Mom and Peg (we lived on Sherwood court at that time before Charlie was born,I was only 4 or 5 at the time)

They had those glass shelves there and one little boy the same age as me had a balloon and let go of it and I tried and jumped up to grab it in the air and on my way up scraped against the corner of the glass and cut the crease on the side of my nose(which I still have a little scar from)so Mom with the bleeding was taking me to the hospital because I needed stitches as I got out of the car,scared,blood all over me my sister Peg shuts the car door right on my hand.lol

The doctor said I needed stitches and Mom asked while I was there if he would look at my hand that I got slammed in the car door on the way in.

Funny being so young and I remember it so well,was on the table and they gave me a gas mask I remember thinking it looked like a strainer and wondered what they were doing with a strainer over my face.lol

I remember only seeing the needle going to and from my side of my face.

We went home and the wizard of Oz was on that evening and remember sitting in my little rocker with an ice pack on my head and my doll in my arms rocking and watching the wizard of oz.

I remember it vividly,maybe it was because it was the scariest thing that happened to me up until then.

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by his great nephew James) when Donald W Kleiber was born on November 22, 1933, in Michigan, his father, Benjamin, was 39 and his mother, Mildred, was 36. He had two sons and one daughter with Mary Ann Chmura between 1954 and 1962. He had three brothers and two sisters.

Standing up in the wedding was Donalds brother Charles and Donalds sister Virginia.

Please note we do not know the exact date of this event.

Charles Thomas Kleiber (James Grandpa) purchased 6 lots at Michigan Memorial for $920 plus $10 carrying fee. Charles put $5 down and agreed to pay $15 per month to pay off the balance (no interest so long as the payments were on time).

At the time, the Kleiber family was living at 1089 Lindberg in Wyandotte Michigan and Michigan Memorial was over 25 years old and located in nearby Flat Rock so it seemed to be a perfect match. Shown in this picture is Peg and Criss looking down at the first person buried in the plots, James Great Grandpa Graf.

Pappy Graf is James Great Grandfather, Father to his Grandmother Loretta.

When Joseph George Graf was born on March 18, 1887, in Schönfeld, Lower Austria, Austria, his father, Joseph, was 33 and his mother, Katherine, was 30. He had one son and two daughters with Rose Margaret Huth between 1920 and 1924. He died on January 2, 1953, in Wyandotte, Michigan, at the age of 65, and was buried in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Pappy was very creative and used to make the childrens gifts by hand. He also created beautiful miniature village displays that were so popular in the neighborhood that the press would come out and photograph them for the newspaper. All of the houses in the display he would make by hand. He would setup this display around Christmas time which created a tradition that lasted for decades in the family of having displays set up at Christmas time.

Continue reading “Remembering “Pappy” Graf 1887 – 1953″ →

Joseph (Joe) Conrad Graf married Teresa Eva Graf Pingitore on November 15, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan. Joe is James Great Uncle and Teresa is James Great Aunt.

The couple had three children – Terry, Sandy, and Joey.

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by his great nephew James) when Joseph Conrad Graf was born on November 30, 1924, in Natrona, Pennsylvania, his father, Joseph, was 37 and his mother, Rose, was 34. He had two older sisters, Loretta and Louise.

When Teresa Eva Graf Pingitore was born on April 1, 1928, in Saskatchewan, Canada, her father, Sarafino, was 34, and her mother, Susanna, was 22.

Howard studies included agriculture at Middle Tennessee and in 1950 he was a member of the Agriculture club. Agriculture is still a main curriculum at Middle Tennessee and the agriculture department is still accepting students and their facebook page is very popular with the students.

Since 1911, more than 100,000 students have graduated from MTSU. Despite the university’s growth from a campus of 100 acres (0.40 km2), 125 students and a faculty of 19, to an academic city of more than 500 acres (2.0 km2), more than 26,000 students (second largest in Tennessee), and a faculty of more than 900, the institution is still essentially a “people’s university” with a concern for the diverse needs of the area that it serves. In the 1980s and 1990s, the institution dedicated resources to become a leader in technology, both in the classroom and in many services to students.

In addition to Howard Landis (James Grandfather) other notable alumni are listed below.

Politician Albert Gore Sr.
Nobel Prize–winning economist James M. Buchanan
NFL quarterback Kelly Holcomb
Multi-Platinum Producer Tay Keith
Grammy-nominated audio engineer (Prince) Chris James
Music executive Bayer Mack
Nashville Star winner Chris Young
Film director Seth Christian
Country music artist Hillary Scott of Lady A
Composer George S. Clinton
WNBA players Alysha Clark and Amber Holt
Rock artist Amy Lee of Evanescence
Country music artist Hardy (singer)
Alternative rock/ indie rock artist Julien Bak

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by her nephew James) when Cristine Louise Kleiber was born in 1950, her father, Charles, was 33, and her mother, Loretta, was 30. She married Kenny Selvia in 1987 and has one brother (Charles Joseph) and one sister (Margaret Ann).

Christine often says that being the middle child is the hardest one to be, since all the attention goes to the oldest and youngest in most families. Looking at her childhood pictures she may have a point as it seems that there is a Peg or a Mark in almost every picture with her. As she got older, it seems she began sharing the photo spotlight with her little brother. Criss also says her dad wanted a boy so she grew up a bit of a tomboy as a child.

Another thing she often said was that her dad wanted a boy and would buy her things a boy would like, trying to turn her into a tom boy, looking at the picture of her dressed with cowboy guns and holsters you have to give her the benefit of the doubt on that as well.

Continue reading “Christine Kleiber Born (Childhood Pics) 1950” →

As Middle Tennessee State University developed and grew, the Doctor of Arts program was added in 1970 and the Specialist in Education in 1974. These degree programs became attractive centerpieces for other efforts to improve and enhance institutional roles. Library resources were dramatically increased and sophisticated computer services were developed to aid instruction and administration. A highly trained faculty enabled the university to continue growth in program offerings. In 1991, the university’s six schools—five undergraduate and the graduate school—became colleges. In 1998, MTSU’s Honors program became the Honors College, the first in the state. In 2002, approval was granted to redesignate three D.A. programs to Doctor of Philosophy programs, expanding the progressive institution’s offerings. Ph.D. degree offerings now include computational sciences, mathematics, and science education (including concentrations in biology education, chemistry education, mathematics education, and interdisciplinary science education), molecular biosciences, economics, English, human performance, public history, and literacy studies.