Wayne Bennett Sr.

Wayne Dudley was a small man (about 5’6” 150lbs.) he was the shortest in the family apparently the kids all took after Mary as far as height.

. The man could do anything. He could machine stuff, he could fix cars, he could prune trees and shit, he could castrate pigs (other animals too, I guess), with his Pen Knife, carpentry. He actually built a house, all by himself. Talk about swearing, he had a repertoire that was unbelievable. Get him around a horse or car, and piss him off, and the air would turn blue. He could go on for twenty minutes with repeating himself.

 Getting back to the "Pen Knife", I have no idea why he called it a Pen Knife, it was a little folding knife. I'd call it a Pocket knife, or Jack Knife, two blades.  The old people of the day really used to talk funny, they called my bike a wheel for example. He used his pen knife for everything, Pruning, castrating. He didn't just whip it out and start cutting off pig nuts though, he always prepared it. When he was getting ready for surgery, he whipped out a little stone along with his "Pen" knife and sharpened it first. I thought that was like sterilizing it.

            All that and do you know what I admired most? He could blow his nose without a hanky! He had this way of pinching off his nose, blowing, then flinging it on the ground in one motion. I supposed without getting snot in his hand, although come to think of it, I never saw anybody shake hands with him after he did that

I (Bryson) remember our father as yelling a lot of course I came along pretty late, after the depression did a number on him. Most people think the depression was just about money, I think it was a lot more, it changed some people, our father never got over it.

He was basically a farmer and a damn good carpenter with a determination that wouldn’t quit (he built a house) he could have made a living at just about anything but after the depression he just worked on an assembly line. I thank the depression for taking all his drive.

He was opinionated try to think of a democratic Archie Bunker. Jews, blacks, chinks, he had a name for them all. He was a patriotic bigot though; he hated Germans and Japs equally (we were in WWII). Problem was HE WAS GERMAN. He solved that little problem by pointing out that Nazis were blond (he had dark hair). That worked till his daughter went and married a blond German. Although we lived in Michigan we were very close to the Ohio state line. Whenever someone did some unpleasantly to him, like getting their car in front of his, he knew they were Ohio Pollok’s. They couldn’t fool him, even if they moved over the state line and had Michigan plates. To this day if you’re called an O.P. by one of his ancestors don’t take it lightly.

Wayne suffered a heart attack in 1960. He had just retired and died changing a flat.

This is the oldest picture we could find of him. Maybe before his army days.

In the army. I wonder if that's where he learned all those naughty words.

Card to mama, shipping out to Fort Sill OK. That was still Indian territory then wasn't it? Maybe that's what happened to his hair.

This is a postcard from his  little sister.  When's the last time you  heard a modern teenager rave about her first long dress?

Nothing changes does it? I imagine Hannibal going, “ALL RIGHT YOU MAGGOTS’ I WANT THESE ELEPHANTS SO CLEAN I COULD EAT OFF THEM”

Happiness is being a grandpa.

This is Wayne Sr. with his new Willies. I think it’s a 1953. He was so proud of this car. Than his dumb son (me) said it sounded tinny. He fell asleep driving on his way home from work (he worked afternoons) soon after he bought it and went in the ditch. Totaled it, the insurance co. paid it off and left him without a car.

Mary Bryson: February 9, 1892 January 2, 1971

Mother and her brother John and sister Margaret were orphaned in New York city. We have no idea what happened to the parents. The father came from Scotland the mother from Ireland. We figure they were orphaned about 1897 -1900. The two girls went to one orphanage and John went to a different one where he was apprenticed to a glass blower. The orphanages were operated by the Catholic church.

Mother sort of reminded me (Bryson) of Lucy (I Love Lucy) in that she was smart, pretty and a little scatter brained. Her favorite toast, “here’s dirt in your face” should have been, “here’s mud in your eye”. When she got excited and tried to yell at me she called me all of her kids…. Grace-Wayne-George-Margaret-Eunice…Damn-it BRYSON.

I remember I had this pet goat, we also had a Cow. Well for some reason mom picked up the goat, the stupid cow started chasing us because it thought the goat was it's calf.  Mom with goat and me ran around this tree, the stupid cow chasing us.  A cow can't actually run around a tree, but she tried, hanging her ass well out. Well after about two or three laps I got tired and bailed.  Mom and the cow and goat kept going until Mother finally got exhausted and dropped the goat. It was quite a sight.

Then there's the time she got a-hold of a book on "improving your memory by word association" That is probably not the title but it was something like that. Shortly after reading it she called Mrs. Winterhauter, our landlady, Mrs. Horses Collar and our neighbor Mrs. Lovelace. Her name wasn't Lovelace but for the life of me I can't remember what it really was, because after that she was known to us as Mrs. Lovelace

I think the depression affected her too but not like her husband it seemed to make her grittier than ever. Way late in her life when she was done raising kids she went back to school and became an R.N.

Mary and Wayne separated in ____ I’m (Bryson) guessing 1949) Mother lived in Toledo as a live in housekeeper until she could afford to go to school. Mother suffered a heart attack in 1971