My Dad Jeff Mikesell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Dad



Jefferson Osborn Mikesell 1887-1962

by Leslie Mikesell Wood 2001

I'm going to tell you about my dad as I knew him. I was the youngest of his children and he took care of me while my mother worked. He was one of the early house-husbands. We didn't have a car and so we walked or rode the bus whenever we went anywhere. When I started kindergarten I missed him so much the first day I didn't go back. You can see he spoiled me rotten, which did not go over too well with my siblings. He had been strict with them but mellowed as he got older. Although he sometimes looked gruff and could scare the life out of me with his shout if he saw me doing something wrong, Dad was a very kind family man, who was not well for much of his life. I could not understand why my girlfriends were scared of him.

For many years, when he was not well enough to work, he raised a huge vegetable garden and shared with neighbors. I remember him pulling a red wagon around our neighborhood as a door to door Watkins salesman in Spokane, Washington. The neighbors all knew and liked him and many were regular customers.


We had a dog, Tootsie Sagwell Mikesell, that Dad liked but he could not stand cats. Thelma and I were given a white kitten and we had it until we found another one, this one black. When we returned home one day they were gone. Mom said Dad gave them away. I guess we brought home one kitten too many.

Thelma had a large newspaper route and Dad often helped her. He would take it over when she was sick or off on church youth activities. I think he knew more of the neighbors than anyone.

He used to sing a song to me when I was little. It went "Froggie went a-courtin, he did ride, uh-huh, uh-huh, [repeat] Froggie went a courtin, he did ride, a sword and pistol by his side, uh-huh...uh-huh..." The second verse was about Froggie going to Miss Mousie's door, but I don't remember the rest. He also would put a handkerchief on his fist, like a mini-scarf, used 2 buttons for eyes and magically had a puppet. He had his favorite recliner and in his later life his grandchildren loved to climb up on his lap and slowly rock.
 

Jeff with grandchildren Jeffry, Jan and Debbie

There was a grocery store owned by George Horseman just a double block away from our house. It had nothing to do with their name, just the quality of their meat that made Dad say they sold horse meat and he would only shop at Hanks, the small neighborhood grocery about 8 blocks away. Mom & Dad became great friends with the owners. In those days families would run up a tab and pay at the end of the month. I always tried to go with Dad when he paid the bill because Hank would hand me a free candy bar. Dad didn't mind going after groceries, even though his feet were misshapen and he had to wear special made shoes. He bought them at White Shoe Company where they kept a "last" of his feet. They were very expensive. He could rest his feet before starting home by visiting with Hank and the other neighbors that shopped there.

We walked 6 blocks to our RLDS church every Sunday, and on Wednesday evening for prayer service. I could not stay awake and would fall asleep in church. Even when I was a good size, dad would carry me home and I would wake up in my bed the next morning not remembering how I got there.

Dad usually went along with whatever ideas Mom had. For awhile she decided we would make money by raising hamsters. He built cages and fixed a room in the garage for them. I know now they were a great nuisance to him but he took care of them when Mom and I were away at our church reunion camp. I don't think we made any money, some of the mothers ate their babies and often they would chew their way out of the cages.

When Mom decided to fix up the small upstairs bedroom for me, Dad painted the walls and woodwork and cut the tall headboard down on the bed so it would look more modern. One day he was cleaning his and mom's bedroom ceiling with a clay product, something like play-dough. When I came along he thought he would entertain me by drawing a big smiley-face with the clay. When he tried to get rid of that face, he couldn't. It was still there when we moved away.  Another time he tried to knock down a hornets nest in one of our trees. He couldn't run into the house fast enough and got stung many times.

One Father's Day, when fathers got into the movies free, we got Dad to take mom and me to three different theaters. He probably slept through them. Mom and I loved movies.

Dad was not raised to be too religious even though his was a Mormon family. His mom was the religious one. He seldom if ever swore at our home but when he got with some of his swearing relatives, especially brother-in-law George Aller, he could fit right in with their conversation. He respected Mom and although they could argue at the drop of a hat over any little thing, he never got violent. In fact, what drove Mom wild was that if mad he would not talk, sometimes for days. She was just the opposite, she could blow up but then was soon over it.

Dad felt sympathetic to other salesmen, I remember two of his buys that mom didn't get too mad at. One was a large black Bible with beautiful pictures, of Jesus, in the center. Another was an expensive vacuum cleaner. They used it for many years, and then it came in handy later, when they managed the motel. They bought their grave plots when the cemetery was first being developed.

About 1954 we moved to the "Blue Bird Motel" where Dad helped Mom manage it. He was also the fix-it man there and was always busy. One day he was minding the office when a stranger came in. Dad asked him if he wanted a room. The man laughed and was amazed that Jeff didn't recognize him. It was Jeff's brother Ern whom he hadn't seen in 40 years. I thought that Uncle Ern was just a shorter version of Dad.

   Managers apartment at Blue Bird Motel

When I got into Lewis & Clark high school, I hated it. I used any excuse to stay home. If I played "sick", Dad would let me stay in bed and read, bringing me tea and milk toast, spoiling me again. They were so busy at the motel they didn't pay much attention to my schoolwork and when I was told at school to shape up or ship out, they let me quit school. At the time I badly needed discipline they were too tired and busy making a living to straighten me out. If I hadn't had their early moral training at home I don't know what I would have become. I feel bad now that I didn't realize that Dad was not well and how hard they were both working, at a time when they should have been able to rest.

When his health finally gave out he and Florence moved to a small house in N.W. Spokane. I think they enjoyed that short time alone together in their own home. Dad finally had time to read his western paperbacks and at that time there were lots of cowboy television shows that he enjoyed. He loved to argue about what star was in what western movie. He coughed a lot and lived on cough-drops and Role-aids.


Finally he was so ill that he was admitted to Edgecliff Sanatorium in Spokane. He could have adult visitors but his grandchildren would stand outside and wave where he could see them out of the window. Edgecliff was owned by Washington State for Tuberculosis patients. Jeff had spent time there before, about 1939, when he first came to Spokane. They were very good to him there and never sent a bill. He died of emphysema, contributed to by tuberculosis. Mom and all his children were there except me.  At that time I had a 3 year old and a 6 month old baby. I had been to see him the day before but was not called to be there when he died, a misguided attempt to spare me. I still think of Dad often. * * *


Mikesell family photo album

Jeff's Memorial page on findagrave.com

Jeff's biography, by daughter Betty Mikesell Erlandson

Florence Allen Mikesell's biography