One of James Dad’s earliest memories is being a ring bearer at his cousin Barbs wedding to Joe Gedman. His cousin Sandi was the flower girl that day. Dad was not nervous at all about being one to walk down the aisle in front of the bride and groom which was a very good thing as he did a pretty good job.

Aunt Peg was one of the bridesmaids as well so it was a real big family event, both the wedding and also the practice wedding which James Dad thought was fun.

This was the first wedding James Dad ever participated at and he also remembers breaking a glass at the reception. It was a warm but comfortable August day so everyone was drinking something.

All in all it was a great day for everyone.

Continue reading “Cousin Barbara’s Wedding 1965” →

Peg Graduates from Lowrey High School in 1965. James Raymond wanted to know why his Aunt Peg did not graduate from Annapolis since she was a Dearborn Heights citizen at the time. The answer is easy, Annapolis had not yet been built.

The Lowrey School has served its community since in 1927 and was built to relieve overcrowding at Thayer and Miller Schools. The 1920’s saw a large growth in the Springwells Township Unit School District with the coming of Ford Motor Company’s, Rouge Plant. As the number of students increased, the area’s school system had to adjust. As Ford Motor Company grew, so did its employees such as James Grandad Charles and thus so did the children in the Dearborn, Dearborndale, Dearborn Heights area. Additions were made in 1949, and the school was incorporated into a High School as well as its Elementary and Junior High. From 1949 to 1969, the school was used for all three grade levels.

Today it is used only for grades kindergarten through 9th.

Continue reading “Peg Graduates High School 1965” →

Kenny Selvia (future husband of Criss) joined the military in 1963 until 1969. He was in the Riverine task force patrolling the Mekong Delta.

The Mobile Riverine Force combined the 2d Brigade of Army’s 9th Infantry Division with the Navy’s Riverine Assault Force (Task Force 117) to conduct combat operations along the waterways of the Mekong Delta. A large percentage of the Mekong Delta was under water depending on the season which is why both Army and Navy forces were needed. How much of the Mekong Delta is under water is dependent on the season and rainfall at any particular time.

The Mekong Delta also proved to the U.S. army that their small boat force was still needed as the U.S. military since World War 2 had phased out the smaller ships in favor of larger ones. The Mekong Delta Mobile Riverine Force concept paired newly created assault boat units with a brigade of Army infantry.

Continue reading “Ken Selvia Serves Military 1963 – 1969” →

The Kleiber family celebrating Easter Sunday in 1963.

Mom went food shopping and we wanted to visit the snake pit (which was across Dixie road from the parking lot,down the hill to the boat). Mom took Charlie with her to the store and she would pick us up after food shopping. As we went into the snake pit we knew this was out of our league. We saw snakes and Spiders behind glass and it was gross. The woman asked if we wanted to see a turtle instead and we both said yes. Out the back door we went and almost tripped over this huge Grey rock right in the middle of the path. This is our one hundred yr old turtle and out popped its head and legs. We asked what he ate and other questions about the turtle. After asking these questions we went into the gift shop where we saw a black metal spider with a pin on the back.

Chris said “get that”!

“Chris they will kill us if I buy that”, I responded. I was in charge of the spending money.

Needless to say I bought the silver and black metal spider with a straight pin on the back. It looked so real, where should we put it so they will notice it? I put the bag with spider into my purse and Mom was waiting for us in the car. After loading the boat up with bags of food, rowing back to our home away from home, unpacking the boat, and tying up the boat we finally went into the house.

There was only one door at the house and that was the front door, everything else was privacy curtains. These were curtains that you pulled for privacy for each bedroom and for the living quarters. That’s were we put the spider, right on the entrance curtain just to the left of the over stuffed chair and sofa.

Then Chris, charlie and I yell all together “SPIDER”. The first person out was Dad and he ran past it without seeing it.

We all pointed to the curtain so Dad grab a fly swatter and started hitting that spider. Dad hit it so hard it fell off the curtain onto the floor, us kids jumped on the sofa and yell “kill it Dad, kill it”. This time Dad was steping on it and saying “Loretta this spider doesn’t flatten like the others”. Mom came out and we sat up and didn’t say a word just like little angels sitting nice and quiet. Mom bent over and picked up the spider and looked at all 3 of her angels than said “this is a metal spider”.

Well, Dad said it sure looked like the ones I’ve been killing all week. Mom couldn’t help but laugh right out loud and say “Well Chuck you were right the kids gave us a show we will never forget. They created the entertainment for tonight”. Dad even laugh too, it was a good joke. Grandma Graf came out and joined in. You know I think that spider brought the family closer than any radio or TV set could. We talked about it at dinner and the next day. Dad invited Uncle Harry and Uncle Joe to the island and told them about the spider story.

My name is Peggy I’m 58 yrs young at the time of writing this. I bought the spider. Even to this day when I get sad or blue I think about Dad hitting that poor metal spider with the fly swatter, then with his foot. I laugh just like I did when I was a kid. I will remember that day for the rest of my life.

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by his son James) when Charles Joseph Kleiber was born on December 17, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan, his father, Charles, was 43 and his mother, Loretta, was 40. He married Mary Elizabeth Landis on September 5, 2002, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. They have one child, James Raymond Kleiber. He has two siblings, Christine and Margaret.

Chuck (James Dad) is probably best known for trying to cook cookies on a frying pan, getting his head stuck in a box when he was small, and throwing the ball that hit home plate and ricochet right through the convent window at St Alberts. Chuck also was responsible for several incidents in the Kleiber family including the football birthday cake incident, the fake lottery ticket incident, and the baby stinky incident on Pegs birthday in Trenton.

Continue reading “Charles Joseph Kleiber Birth (Childhood Pictures) 1960” →

We can’t forget devils night when I was young. I was too young to be out at night and it was devils night,we were suppose to go out and ring door bells and soap windows and I wanted to had to be a part of it,but Mom said no way was I going out on devils night,meant only trouble and was too young to go out after dark anyway. I pouted for awhile then forgot about it until the next day when Mom called me and accused me of soaping her windows,told her that I was always blamed for everything that happened around there and was tired of it and that I had not gone out that night because she would not let me and she told me that she knew it was me because they were soaped from the inside.

I also remember that every Halloween we went out got bags of candy,that’s when they gave the big candy bars and you could be out until 11 without getting hurt or the parents being worried. We would come home and I would empty my bag and my girlfriend and I went back out,did this a few times. When I got home for the night and wanted to look at all my treasures,I asked what happened to the big candy bars. Dad had gone through each bag as I left it,not as a caring father to make sure everything was ok with the candy but to take the big candy bars for himself.

I did all the work and he got the candy. I was left with the junk candy and apples,said the apples were better for me

Thirteen years ago Mark was born and almost immediately earned the reputation as the number one troublemaker in the family. Kleiber legend and lore has it that Pappy Graf was so upset with him (Mark saw him walking down the street and shouted “Hey pappy, you going to put down a few at the Bar” which was the final straw) that he waited for him around a corner with his cane (pappy could not catch the fleet footed little Mark) and when Mark walked by, hooked him with his cane and told him what his life would be like if he didn’t start treating people with respect.

Well now this youngster is a teenager and as these picture show Mark was involved in a multitude of activities including playing in a band, playing an instrument in a parade, Scouts, fishing, camping, and many other fun activities most teens would love to do.

Lots of pictures in this gallery including some from a photo booth which were popular in that era.

Continue reading “Mark Becomes A Teenager 1959” →

Camp Dearborn-oh does that take me back in time. We were living on Sherwood ct, in Dearborn, when Major Hubbard decided to buy land and make a park for all the people of Dearborn to enjoy. Our Dads boss Mr Hayford wanted his family and our family to go to camp Dearborn for a week or two. The first time we went there it seemed like a ride to the end of the earth. There were no expressways or freeways, they were not made as of yet. We did get there and it was beautiful two large gates Dad drove the car through and saw a huge sign Welcome to Camp Dearborn.

Some things in the park were too far to walk to so Mom drove us kids to the Paddle boats. For fifty cents we could ride for an hour. Chris and I were in one boat and boy was it nice. The first time on a boat that we made go with are feet. Each boat had a number on it and when the man on dock called out your number you had to go in the ride was over. Our number was called. We headed in to the dock we were right in front of the dock so we stopped with our feet, that’s when the boat moved back and now we were away from the dock again. Chris my sister said I will climb on the front of the boat and grab the line and hop onto the dock and pull the boat in. Sounded good, but Chris forgot to grab the line. My sister made it to the dock jumping up and down that she made it. Meanwhile I’m trying to paddle but kept going in circles. I stopped I saw Mom on the Dock now and she wasn’t happy at all. I guess she got angry that the men on dock wouldn’t help little girls. I know she said a few choice words for them. One Guy got into a motor boat and came out to get me as I was in the middle of the lake by now. He grabbed the line and the boat and I were in tow. Needless to say that was my first and last time on the paddle boats with my sister.

Continue reading “Story – Camp Dearborn Paddle Boats by Aunt Peg 1959” →

Criss celebrating her First Communion, here is a little background on this event which is sort of a rite of passage in the Catholic Church.

The sacrament of First Communion is an important tradition for Catholic families and individuals. For Catholics, Holy Communion is the third of seven sacraments received. It occurs only after receiving Baptism, and once the person has reached the age of reason (usually, around the second grade). Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist occupies a central role in Catholic theology and practice.