Grandpa Waelde

I decided to hold up on my music saga series to talk a little more about Grandpa William Erwin Waelde. I hope to get as much feedback from the rest of you as possible, and then I am going to compile it into a piece to be included in the family tree.

I'm not sure which name he used most, William or Erwin. His first wife, my mother's mother, died before I was born. His second wife, Christine, was known to us as Grandma Chrissy, and she called him Erwin. That was a Germanic tradition, the first name being a family name, and the middle one the name you went by.

I've already mentioned that he built his own theramin electronic instrument, and played the musical saw. He also had a phonograph, the old non electric type that you cranked up, but this unit could also make records on aluminum disks. Because of the weight of the stylus in those days, a bamboo needle had to be used to preserve the sound in the grooves. I've heard that a modern light stylus with a diamond tip will not destroy the record, so I am going to get the record in my possesion digitalized.

According to the descendant of an early boarder with the Waeldes who returned to visit in 1947, he had built his own telvision set. He also built an electric rotary lawn mower (200' cord included) that, with a few more r.p.m., could have been a hovercraft!

I remember that Grandpa liked to eat his dessert first, so he wouldn't miss it, then he liked to scramble all of his other food together before eating it. He would say "It all goes in the same place anyway!"

My only other memory is hearing Granma Chrissy tell this story. Granpa was working on the car in the driveway behind the house. The car was a late 40's model sedan, probably very heavy, and the driveway was just dirt. He was working under the car, which was up on blocks. All you could see was his legs sticking out.

She couldn't remember if she heard something, or just sensed it, but when she looked out the kitchen window, and saw the driver's side of the car laying on Erwin's waist. She ran out the back door, and lifted the left side of the car high enough to allow him to scramble out.

W. E. Waelde wore thick glasses in his later years, which he would take off and clean while talking. He had a twinkle in his eye (as did the whole family) and loved story telling.

And that's the end of my chapter of the Wm Erwin Waelde story.