| WALTER
LEE LIGHTFOOT - was born in the Territory of New
Mexico in 1900 He was the son of John and Dora
(Carter). As a boy, he worked around his father's
blacksmith shop in Duncan and at the age of
seventeen, he took his first real job in a garage
in Douglas having watched the early-day
automobiles being repaired in his father's
blacksmith shop. His mechanical knowledge and
experience in forging led to a job working for
Phelps Dodge and worked all through Mexico mining
in his spare time after he moved to the
Globe-Miami area. He worked in that area as an
auto mechanic for about twelve years and then
moved to Phoenix and worked for Anchor Body &
Steel and later for Utility Trailer Company.
Some of his
ornamental iron work included the Goldwater and
O'Connell homes, prison locks at Florence. He
also made the large hinges on cattle trailers by
hand, and became very skilled as a welder,
metalsmith, mechanic. He later owned and operated
of a nursery which grew house plants .
Grandad, as I knew
him, came into our family through his friendship
with my Aunt Ruth (Neagle). She and her husband
Bill Green, were good friends with Walter and his
first wife Mina (Lewis) and after Mina passed
away in 1959, Grandad married Ruth's sister
Connie who had also been previously married and
was the mother of three children - all of which
were out on their own at this time.
Walter and Connie
were married in Cortez, Colorado and lived in
Phoenix, Arizona and Ocean Side, California.
Their marriage lasted thirty years, until the
time Grandad passed away in 1990.
Grandad was always
an interesting character to me. I had heard
stories that he had was born in the territory
before it was a state, had lived in Mexico and
worked in the mines, but what I knew of him was
that he was an excellent photographer and had
traveled to many interesting places. He took my
8th grade graduation pictures and set up our room
just like a studio to do them. It was the first
time I'd seen him photograph although I have
since seen many of his beautiful photos. Some of
which were taken in Africa, still hang on my
grandmother's wall.
Grandad seemed a
stern man to me, but he was very intelligent and
that fascinated me. When I graduated early from
high school and he was out to Arizona for a
visit, he took me back with him to Oceanside in
his motor home. At that time, he was almost
eighty and the trip proved to be quite eventful!
He really was a wonderful tour guide, and stopped
at the ruins and told me about the trains and all
kinds of things on that trip with just the two of
us, and I'm so glad I had that opportunity to go
with him.
Since working
around all the machinery, Grandad's hearing
wasn't so good and he always had trouble hearing
me, but it never stopped me from wondering about
his life, his childhood, and his ancestry ... and
this is where and how I've begun to piece it
together.
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