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I Change
Sedonia Adam married August Pucheu sometime later and they had a daughter. Willie’s sister was only 2 years old when his mother died. Willie was 14. The family sold their place in Bay St. Louis and the animals they had been raising, and caught a train to Gulfport to live with Pucheu’s sister.
There were 10 other people in the small home. Before they left Bay St. Louis, Pucheu gave Willie a choice of going to live with one of three families that wanted him or coming with him, but Willie had promised his mother that he would stay with his sister and take care of her.
His sister, Mrs. Norman M. Gosie) McDonald Sr., lives in I Long Beach.
Willie grew up in Gulfport and married Avis Lyons of Biloxi. They had one son, Willie Jr. His wife died in 1964 and he remarried in 1967. He and Angela Oberlies, of Gulfport, met through St. John’s Catholic Church. Angela died of cancer in 1982.
Family
Willie’s son, Willie Jr., grew up in Gulfport, where he delivered papers for The Daily Herald on his bicycle. He went to work for The Daily Herald when he was grown. Willie Jr. married and had three children. His daughter, Sandra “Sandy,” is married to Robert (Bobby) Bailey and has one son, Steven Adam Horde, who is 14. They live in Gulfport. A son, Willie III, lives in Gulfport and is married to the former Wanda Hill. The second son, Joe, lives in Slidell. He has a son, Jamie Adam who is 16 and lives in Gulfport.
When Sandy was bom, her mother brought her to Willie Sr. on the way home from the hospital, as Willie tells it, and told him, “You’ve always wanted a daughter — here she is.”
Willie raised her, educated her and has loved her like a father. Willie Jr. died at 52 with kidney disease, shortly after Willie’s second wife died. In the same time, Willie lost his eyesight from glaucoma.
Hard work
Willie worked for Ashton Barrett at Barrett’s Cleaners for many years and then for the railroad as a plumber and steam fitter for four years. His salary then was $28 every two weeks. They wanted him to move to Paducah, Ky., so he quit and went back to work for Barrett’s Cleaners, delivering clothes.
He had a bad wreck and was down for two years with a broken back. When he recovered, he went into business for himself, establishing Willie’s Cleaners on West Railroad Street in about 1932. The business was very successful for 10 to 12 years, but by then, there was 23 other cleaners in town competing for business. Added to that, the government initiated minimum wage and it was hard to make a profit paying his employees more than he could charge to press a single item of clothing.
He closed his cleaners and went to work for Bill Albert at
American Linen (then Gulfport Laundry) and worked there for 23 years.
He was working at age 69, when the boss asked him how old he was. When he learned Willie’s age, he told him he had to retire him. He then went to work for Jack Barrett’s Cleaners for three years until his eyes got too bad to work.
Managing
Willie has now been blind for 20 years, but until a short time ago he managed to keep house and cook for himself because he was familiar with everything in his house on 20th Avenue in Gulfport.
Sandy has always called Willie “Papa” and has cared for him for years, making sure that he had groceries, plenty of clothes and all the things necessary to make him comfortable. Only recently, after his health deteriorated, has he gone to live in a personal care home in Gulfport.
Sandy visits him often and makes sure that he has everything he needs.
Active life
Willie has been active in the Catholic church all his life. In New York City, he attended St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In Bay St. Louis, he attended the little church in Cedar Point. After settling in Gulfport, he began a long association with St. John’s Catholic Church. He was an usher in the church until his eyesight failed.
He has held every office in the Knights of Columbus and some even at the state level. He helped organize the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Gulfport more than 50 years ago with Monsi-gnor Williams. Willie would do field work, check on families that had needs and then recommend their needs to the Society without regard of race or reiigion.
His friend, Jim Putnam, is still active. While Willie was still at home, Putnam would come by and visit him and take him grocery shopping. Willie reports that the Society delivered 45 food baskets for Thanksgiving and 60 for Christmas to needy families.
Over the years, Willie has also been active in other organizations.
“Papa” Willie has always been someone special to his granddaughter Sandy. He is also special to many friends in the area who love to visit him and hear his tales of his humble beginning. And although an orphan, his is a success story. An example of what you can do when you are not afraid of work and have lots of love to give.
■ Free-lance writer Ada Reid is grandmother of 12. She writes about seniors and seniors’ events for The Sun Herald. You can write her in care of the paper at P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567.