William Valentine O’Hern was born on February 14, 1920. Throughout his life he was known to us all as William John O’Hern and we were told that his confirmation name was Valentinius. After some digging by one of our cousins it is almost certain that his middle name was Valentine, not John. He may have changed it when he went into the military. No one knows.

Like all his siblings he was born at home on Craig Street in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The house did not have electricity until dad was 18 years old. They used gas for lighting which had switches that you could flip that would ignite the gas lamps. I am assuming the house was heated by coal. Dad’s paternal grandparents, who lived with family had never encountered electricity and were afraid of it. If it got dark and no one was home they would maybe light some candles but refused to go near a light switch, electricity being a strange and scary thing to them. Craig street is on a steep hill. Our grandfather and grandmother got the names Down Daddy and Downey because the house was ‘down’ the hill. It wasn’t a small house, but with eight kids, the parents and one set of grandparents it was pretty crowded.

Dad was one of eight children. Five boys and three girls. He was to have eight children as well: five girls and three boys. Dad used to play with the ‘brickyard kids’. I think they may have played in an actual brickyard. Whenever dad as a young boy was in danger of getting beaten up by the bad guys he would tell his older sister Marie. Marie was his protector and no one messed with Marie. Dad had no problem with a girl being his body guard. His three sisters were Marie, Wilma and Betty. I remember him telling that when it was time for the girls to come in from playing someone would shout out, “Marie da Wilma da Beeeeety!!” in a sing-song voice and they would come running home.

Bath time was once a week. They had some kind of wash tub that was not connected to plumbing I think each Saturday was bath day and the wash tub would be filled with water and each kid would take their turn bathing. The water wasn’t changed so if you were later on down the line to get a bath the water would be pretty nasty. Dad, being one of the younger ones, usually didn’t get first dibs on the tub. He said that after about five of his siblings had their baths he wasn’t especially keen on getting in that water. He would often just skip the bath.

While much of dad’s family worked in the coal mines or steel mills, Papa Boo was not interested in those occupations. I don’t think he ever went into a coal mine and I know he had no interest in going into one. Once he joined up to go to war he never looked back. Fortunately for us dad was in Alaska during World War II. He once said that he was glad he was in Alaska where he saw no combat because he didn’t think he could kill another person.

Dad’s father, also William O’Hern, worked in the coal mines until he decided to support unionization of the workers. Coal mining is never a safe or healthy profession but in the 1920’s and 30’s it was much worse than today. Because of his support for the union our grandfather was thrown out of the coal mines, never permitted to work in one again. In addition her was branded a communist. I did not know my grandfather, except for meeting him when I was very young, but I can almost assure you that he had little idea of what a communist was. He was only fighting for better working conditions for the coal miners. I believe he worked as a bartender the rest of his life.

Dad did not have much of a formal education. He told me that when he was in, I think, the ninth grade, he got in trouble and was suspended from school. He never went back. At the time there was very little communication between school and parents and I don’t think his parents ever knew he was no longer in school. His ‘higher’ education would come from the Air Force. He did odd jobs with his older brothers or others until he enlisted in the military for World War II. At some point he obtained his pilots license but was not able to be an Air Force pilot because he was color blind. As they say, “Those who can’t do, teach”, so he became a flight instructor in the Air Force. The Air Force did not become a separate military branch until 1947.

After the war, dad and one of his buddies, traveled to New York City to apply for jobs as pilots for some South American airlines. While in New York he and his pal went into the Zanzibar, a rather fancy club in the city. In the front it was just a bar, but in the back an orchestra was playing. The guys ordered a beer each and the bartender said that it would be two dollars. Dad and friend were stunned and asked the bartender if he was sure the beers cost that much. The bartender looked at them and said, “Do you know who is playing in that back room? That is Duke Ellington. If you want a twenty five cent beer there is another bar around the corner.” That one beer was enough for them. Needless to say they did not get jobs as pilots in South America or, as dad told me, “You might have grown up in Argentina.”

Mom and dad apparently met at a dance where mom was with someone else. Dad was sort of in love at first sight and definitely wanted to see Vivian Ann again. His solution was to steal her purse. That way she would have to see him again to get her purse back. Their romance began then but almost ended. While he was in Alaska during the war, mom was in nursing school in Pittsburgh. He wrote her letters but she had met another guy she was interested in. Mom’s aunt Gert, who adored dad, found out about mom’s new love interest and wrote dad a letter. She told him he better get his butt back to Pennsylvania as soon as possible because he was going to lose his girl to another man. Dad did not waste time and got to Pittsburgh shortly thereafter. He showed up at the student nurses’ residence looking for mom and the rest is our history. The other nursing students were all aflutter when that handsome guy showed up for Viv. She was the envy of the school.

Like all his siblings he was born at home on Craig Street in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The house did not have electricity until dad was 18 years old. They used gas for lighting which had switches that you could flip that would ignite the gas lamps. I am assuming the house was heated by coal. Dad’s paternal grandparents, who lived with family had never encountered electricity and were afraid of it. If it got dark and no one was home they would maybe light some candles but refused to go near a light switch, electricity being a strange and scary thing to them. Craig street is on a steep hill. Our grandfather and grandmother got the names Down Daddy and Downey because the house was ‘down’ the hill. It wasn’t a small house, but with eight kids, the parents and one set of grandparents it was pretty crowded.

Dad was one of eight children. Five boys and three girls. He was to have eight children as well: five girls and three boys. Dad used to play with the ‘brickyard kids’. I think they may have played in an actual brickyard. Whenever dad as a young boy was in danger of getting beaten up by the bad guys he would tell his older sister Marie. Marie was his protector and no one messed with Marie. Dad had no problem with a girl being his body guard. His three sisters were Marie, Wilma and Betty. I remember him telling that when it was time for the girls to come in from playing someone would shout out, “Marie da Wilma da Beeeeety!!” in a sing-song voice and they would come running home.

Bath time was once a week. They had some kind of wash tub that was not connected to plumbing I think each Saturday was bath day and the wash tub would be filled with water and each kid would take their turn bathing. The water wasn’t changed so if you were later on down the line to get a bath the water would be pretty nasty. Dad, being one of the younger ones, usually didn’t get first dibs on the tub. He said that after about five of his siblings had their baths he wasn’t especially keen on getting in that water. He would often just skip the bath.

While much of dad’s family worked in the coal mines or steel mills, Papa Boo was not interested in those occupations. I don’t think he ever went into a coal mine and I know he had no interest in going into one. Once he joined up to go to war he never looked back. Fortunately for us dad was in Alaska during World War II. He once said that he was glad he was in Alaska where he saw no combat because he didn’t think he could kill another person.

Dad’s father, also William O’Hern, worked in the coal mines until he decided to support unionization of the workers. Coal mining is never a safe or healthy profession but in the 1920’s and 30’s it was much worse than today. Because of his support for the union our grandfather was thrown out of the coal mines, never permitted to work in one again. In addition her was branded a communist. I did not know my grandfather, except for meeting him when I was very young, but I can almost assure you that he had little idea of what a communist was. He was only fighting for better working conditions for the coal miners. I believe he worked as a bartender the rest of his life.

Dad did not have much of a formal education. He told me that when he was in, I think, the ninth grade, he got in trouble and was suspended from school. He never went back. At the time there was very little communication between school and parents and I don’t think his parents ever knew he was no longer in school. His ‘higher’ education would come from the Air Force. He did odd jobs with his older brothers or others until he enlisted in the military for World War II. At some point he obtained his pilots license but was not able to be an Air Force pilot because he was color blind. As they say, “Those who can’t do, teach”, so he became a flight instructor in the Air Force. The Air Force did not become a separate military branch until 1947.

After the war, dad and one of his buddies, traveled to New York City to apply for jobs as pilots for some South American airlines. While in New York he and his pal went into the Zanzibar, a rather fancy club in the city. In the front it was just a bar, but in the back an orchestra was playing. The guys ordered a beer each and the bartender said that it would be two dollars. Dad and friend were stunned and asked the bartender if he was sure the beers cost that much. The bartender looked at them and said, “Do you know who is playing in that back room? That is Duke Ellington. If you want a twenty five cent beer there is another bar around the corner.” That one beer was enough for them. Needless to say they did not get jobs as pilots in South America or, as dad told me, “You might have grown up in Argentina.”

Mom and dad apparently met at a dance where mom was with someone else. Dad was sort of in love at first sight and definitely wanted to see Vivian Ann again. His solution was to steal her purse. That way she would have to see him again to get her purse back. Their romance began then but almost ended. While he was in Alaska during the war, mom was in nursing school in Pittsburgh. He wrote her letters but she had met another guy she was interested in. Mom’s aunt Gert, who adored dad, found out about mom’s new love interest and wrote dad a letter. She told him he better get his butt back to Pennsylvania as soon as possible because he was going to lose his girl to another man. Dad did not waste time and got to Pittsburgh shortly thereafter. He showed up at the student nurses’ residence looking for mom and the rest is our history. The other nursing students were all aflutter when that handsome guy showed up for Viv. She was the envy of the school.

A Renaissance Man

There was not much sitting around and doing nothing in dad’s life. Yes, he liked to watch football and golf (hated baseball and basketball) and he watched some television in the evenings, but most of his time was taken up with his numerous projects. This is, of course, besides raising eight kids, working two jobs much of the time and having an active and delightful social life with mom. Dad was a flight instructor for the Air Force and then taught the automatic pilot systems of the C5 Galaxy, one of the largest military aircraft in the world.   He was also a painter, musician, excellent and enthusiastic cook, electronics expert, theater producer, actor, woodworker, leatherworker, photographer, astronomer, dart champion, raconteur, student of history (particularly the civil war) and, not least of all; dad was a very wise man. I will offer details of all his talents and accomplishments as we go along. In doing so you will discover that dad was so much more than the labels I have given him here. It is astounding how much he created and explored throughout his life.