Growing up and after, I have lived in a variety of home over the years.

After my birth, mom, Steve, and myself lived with her parents (Walter and Marie Hayes). From what I can find we lived there for about two years. The address was 1056 Delaware Avenue.

In 1948, Steve went to live with his dad and stepmom. After mom married Richard Boschet, we moved to a mobile home court.

From there, our family moved to 1822 1/2 Tecumseh. This home was down the street from Grandpa Hayes’ home. We lived here for about a year and then we moved to 1011 Rockhill Street (an apartment)

In 1954, our family now consisted of mom, Dick, Rick, Kerry and myself. This year we moved to 345 Nussbaum Avenue. Our family lived here until the fall of 1963. The following is what I have found out about the little street called Nussbaum Avenue. Also this chart will tell the names of the occupants over the years.

Chart of Nussbaum Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana until 1960 Census

While we lived on Nussbaum Avenue, my sister Kathi was born. In 1956, our mom and Dick divorced, leaving our little family of 5 living at 345 Nussbaum Avenue. This home had the following:

When we lived in the home there was a 4 step ‘stoop’ leading to the front door. The front door led to a closet in the small doorway, a living room was left of the doorway, a “bedroom” was off the living room (about 5 feet X 7 feet with no closet), a ‘dining room’, a second bedroom off the ‘dining room’. This bedroom did have a closet and one window. Next came the kitchen with the ‘bathroom’ off the kitchen. Also in the kitchen area was a door going outside and a door that led to the ‘basement’. In the ‘basement there was at least two ‘rooms’ (one was an old Coal Bin and the other was storage). In the middle of the basement a large gas furnace. In the basement, mom had her clothes washer. As for drying clothes, we had an outside ‘clothesline’. There was no garage located on the property. That was ok. It gave us more space outside to play. At one point, we did try to have a vegetable garden. I also remember that there was a Mulberry Tree in our backyard. An interesting fact: since this home was built in the twenties, it had a ‘cistern’ near the back door steps. (According to the https://www.thisoldhouse.com/authors/this-old-house-reviews-team. A cistern is an underground tank that captures and stores rainwater that you can use for irrigation, emergencies, or daily water needs.) In the right corner of the picture below of ‘Kathi by the back door’, there is a cage. At one point there was a small monkey that lived in that cage. Over the years we had cats, dogs, a monkey, and I think a parrot in our home. Thankfully not all a the same time. The dog pictured below was a dachshund (wiener dog) named Blacky

This is the way the home looked in 1960s

Back yard photo taken in 1960s

Photo taken in 2014

In 1963, mom remarried Donald Marvel and our family moved to a larger home in the fall. This new home was located at 1601Tilden Avenue. This home had four bedrooms If I remember correctly. We lived here until the fall of 1964 when we moved to Peoria, Illinois.

In 1964 our move to Peoria was do to the fact that dad had a new job with General Electric. He was part of the new partnership of General Electric and Honeywell Computers. In Peoria, we lived in two different homes. In 1966, Dad was required to move again. This time to Warren, Michigan. His position required him to work with General Motors.

While everyone moved to Warren, Michigan, I went to live with my grandmother Hayes and Aunt Beverly in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I was to begin my college career at the Purdue Regional Campus, located in Fort Wayne. Their house was located at 1815 Tecumseh. This was a two bedroom home. While I was attending Purdue Regional Campus, I slept on the living room couch.

By 1967, mom, dad and family moved back to Fort Wayne, Indiana. They bought a home in a new subdivision called Old Brook Farm. Our family lived in this home until 1976. In 1967, I went to the main campus of Purdue University located in Lafayette, Indiana. on campus, I lived in Tarkington Hall that year. I went back to the Fort Wayne Regional Campus in the fall of 1968/69 semesters.

During the fall of 1967, I took a class in Architectural design. One of our assignments was to design and draft the layout of a future home that we would like to live in. I sent a letter to my future wife and asked her what she would like to have in her future home. After drafting the layout, we were instructed to ‘build’ a model of this future home. Below is what my ‘future home’ looked like.

In the Spring semester of 1968, I changed my college major to Education – Secondary Education Social Studies. I spent my senior year at Purdue University living between Tarkington Hall on main campus and back in Fort Wayne while I did my student teaching at Jefferson Junior High School. I graduated in May of 1970 from Purdue University

1970 was an exciting year. I graduated from Purdue University in May and in June, I married the love of my life Ruth Steininger. Being married you needed to have a home. On June 30th, we moved into our new home. It was a mobile home located near the wooded area on the Steininger farm. There was a single lane leading back to our home off Bishop Road. 1970 I got an accounting position with Sun Oil Company ( Sunoco). I worked in Huntington, Indiana (Southwest of Fort Wayne) and my wife worked as a second grade teacher in Auburn, Indiana. (North of Fort Wayne)

In 1972, our son was born and that fall our family moved to Dayton, Ohio. Sun Oil consolidated district offices. We lived in a new apartment complex along with several Air Force families from the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. In 1973, Sun Oil again consolidated district offices with the Detroit, Michigan office. That year our family moved back to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In 1973, our family’s new home was located on the southside of Fort Wayne. The apartment complex was called Turtle Creek Apartments. I started a new job as an insurance agent with Farmer’s Mutual Insurance. My position with Farmer’s lasted for one year. I found that I was not a good insurance salesman. I went to an employment agency and was hired by Azar’s Big Boy Restaurants as a night manager.

In 1975, we moved to Grabill, Indiana. We felt that we needed a house instead of an apartment. We found a home to rent in Grabill. During this time our daughter was born. I was still with Azar’s Big Boy, however, I was now a General Manager.

By 1977, I felt that it was time to stop paying rent and own a home. We decided to have one built. We contracted with Witmer Builders to do the construction. Where was it going to be located was the next question. We decided on a 5 acre plot our on my in-laws farm. It was located near Spencerville, Indiana. From the fall of 1978 until 1984, I was the owner of the Leo Cafe in Leo, Indiana.

In 1984 our family moved to Midland, Texas where I was employed by Taco Villa. We lived there until 1989, we moved to Lubbock because I changed employers.

In 1989 we moved to Lubbock, Texas where I worked for Whataburger. That year Whataburger corporation took over a franchised operation. In Lubbock we rented a home and lived there until 1996 when we moved to Crossville, Tennessee. 1995 Whataburger Corporation sold the Lubbock stores to a franchise out of Oklahoma.

In Crossville, Tennessee we rented two different homes. In 1996 I started working for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores.

In 2002 I was able to transfer to a Cracker Barrel location in Fort Worth, Texas. When we moved back to Texas we rented a home in North Richland Hills, Texas

In 2005 we decided to move to Fort Worth, Texas and have been there until today.