Just Wait 'Til Your Dad Gets Home

by Kenneth Haw

Overview

Author Kenneth Haw was born to a family of wanderers, migrant workers, and moonshiners. His parents, both born in Oklahoma, traveled west to Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington, following the crops, before settling in the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona. Ken and his family lived in at least thirty-three different places before settling in Mesa, Arizona, in the early sixties.

In 1962, Ken was faced with the choice of going to prison for vandalism at an early age or entering the US Air Force and trying to turn his life around. Just Wait 'til Your Dad Gets Home is the story of Ken's decision, which, right or wrong, made him the man, husband, and father he is today. This coming-of-age memoir follows the life of a decorated law enforcement officer who overcame humble beginnings and a dysfunctional family life in a migrant farm worker family. His story is filled with rich detail about his life in Arizona and in the Southwest, sharing a variety of experiences in the Dallas Police Department and of some headline-grabbing fraud cases. He also chronicles the death of his mother.

In this memoir-one that leaves more questions than answers about his life-Ken recalls the varied experiences of his life and how they shaped him throughout the years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475974690
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/13/2013
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

Read an Excerpt

Just Wait 'til Your Dad Gets Home

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By KENNETH HAW

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Kenneth Haw
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-7469-0

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Mom and Dad's Families

Before I get started with the meat and potatoes of the book, I think I should outline my aunts and uncles on both Mom and Dad's sides of the family. This will be a good reference area if you need to look them up for any reason. I will also list dates of births and deaths for the ones I know.

Starting with Mom's family, oldest first.

Father: Benjamin Franklin Brown
Born: April 11, 1895, Oklahoma
Died: August 12, 1977 in Klamath Falls, OR

Mother: Ellen "Ella" Sarratt
Born: May 17, 1902 in Armore, OK
Died: November 3, 1972 in Selma, CA

Children of Benjamin and Ellen Brown:

1
Mary Katherine Brown
Born: February 29, 1935 in Oklahoma City, OK
Still living

2
Bennie Christine Brown
Born: March 27, 1937 in Oklahoma City, OK
Still living

3
Shirley Brown
Born: May 24, 1942 in Mesa, AZ
Still living

4
Elmer Franklin Brown
Born: September 4, 1920 in Oklahoma
Died: March 26, 1989 in Tulare, CA

5
Ola Mae Brown
Born: June 27, 1922 in Stonewall, OK
Died: February 2006 in Banning, CA

6
Anna Louise Brown
Born: November 3, 1923 in Stonewall, OK
Died: November 1, 2000 in Peoria, AZ

7
Orval Burnett Brown
Born: October 1925
Died: Unknown (from diarrhea)

8
Emma Margaret Brown
Born: November 2, 1927 in Mountain View, OK
Died: February 4, 1991 in Fresno, CA

9
Linnie Evalina Brown
Born: November 2, 1929 in Oklahoma City, OK
Died: July 8, 1937 in Oklahoma

Dad's side of the family was almost as large and would have been larger if all the children had lived.

Father: Robert Lee Haw
Born: December 19, 1873 in Bakersfield, CA
Died: October 23, 1951 in Florence, AZ

Mother: Georgia Virginia Perkins
Born: January 25, 1890 in Longview, TX
Died: October 28, 1951 in Florence, AZ

Children of Robert and Georgia Haw:

1
Albert Haw
Born: 1906
Died: 1909

2
Maggie Catherine Haw
Born: December 20, 1907 in Paris, TX
Died: June, 1953, in Casa Grande, AZ

3
Charlie Earnest Haw
Born: August 23, 1909 in Monkstown, TX
Died: March 31, 1998 in Mesquite, TX

4
Vallie Mae Haw
Born: November 12, 1911 in Milton, TX
Died: April 30, 1996 in Casa Grande, AZ

5
Reba Lee Haw
Born: March 23, 1918 in Howland, TX
Died: July 1, 1982 in Portersville, CA

6
Ivy Haw
Born: 1919
Died: 1919

7
Kenneth R.G. Haw
Born: August 16, 1920 in Grant, OK
Died: February 8, 1991 in Prescott, AZ

8
Aubrey Preston Haw
Born: January 14, 1923 in Wright City, OK
Still living

9 and 10
Twin boys Haw
Born: 1925 in Arthur City, TX
Died: 1925 in Arthur City, TX

As you can see, these families are very large as per today's standards. The number of children who died, either at childbirth or at a very early age would seem alarming today. In the early 1900's, there were very few hospitals, few doctors and they were usually in the major cities. For the most part, children were born at home, sometimes with the help of a neighbor or family member. Those who died at home were sometimes buried on the plot of land the family owned.

This book will deal mostly with my father's family. However, at times, I will refer to my mother's side. This chapter can be a resource for connecting the individuals.

* * *

Grandpa Haw and Grandma were married November 17, 1904, in New Boston, TX (Bowie County). Grandpa was 31 and Grandma was 14. New Boston is in the far northeast part of the state, just off Interstate-30, just south of the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line. They were destined to become migrant workers as many were in the early 1900's. They would follow the crops—fruit, cotton, vegetables, wherever there was work, primarily along the coastal line of Texas inland to Arizona and California. In the mid to late 1920's, the entire Haw family lived in the Galveston, TX area, approximately 38 miles along the Nueces River to Mathis, TX. They were living in tents and home-made camp trailers. They were fishing commercially along the Nueces River, utilizing trot lines, hand lines, and nets, anything they could use to catch fish which they would sell to tourists and small cafes. They also ate a lot of fish.

Grandpa apparently was pretty good with his hands and built very sturdy campers. He even built one that looked like the forerunner of an Airstream trailer according to Uncle Aubrey.

* * *

In 1928, close to where they were living, a bridge and dam were to be built across the Nueces River on the southeast side of what is now Interstate-37. This body of water, when backed up, would become Lake Corpus Christi. Grandpa and Uncle Earnest were hired to work on the construction. This lasted a few years and during this time Grandpa began making moonshine and selling it to construction workers and, eventually, to surrounding bars. Uncle Earnest told me in the early 1990's, he could probably take me back to an area on the Nueces River where Grandpa and my Dad, who was about 10 years old at the time, had to bury a load of moonshine because the "revenuers" were after them. They never returned to dig it up.

The earthen dam they had helped build washed out around 1932 or 1933 and they signed on to help rebuild it. Around this time, Grandma Haw became sick and was pretty much bedridden with what was diagnosed as plural asthma which now would be emphysema. She could only do light chores and not be on her feet for too long at a time.

* * *

In October 1940, the Haw clan plus a few new additions, as some of my aunts and uncles had gotten married, all were going from Texas to California. They stopped in Casa Grande, AZ, to pick cotton so they could afford to continue the trip to California. They were there for a couple of months and Grandma got to feeling better. Grandpa decided that's where they would put down their roots. Aunt Reba and Uncle Melvin Waller, her husband of six years, decided to continue on to California to settle. Uncle Earnest and his wife, Hazel, stayed in the Casa Grande area for a little over a year then returned to Texas where they would settle, around Dallas, TX. Aunt Maggie and her husband, Tim Lamb, decided to stay in Casa Grande as did Aunt Vallie and her husband, Robert Stanford Jr. All had come over from the Texas area. Talk about "greener pastures."

Uncle Aubrey told me that my Dad was always kind of a loner. In all the moving around, none of the kids received any kind of a formal education to speak of. Uncle Aubrey thought Dad had started the second grade, but never finished. He also said Dad had a big mouth, sometimes said things he never thought through and was always getting into fights. This trait Dad would carry into his adult life. I know what you're thinking, like father like son. Oh, well.

CHAPTER 2

Mom and Dad, before me

Lee Waller, brother of Uncle Melvin Waller who had married Dad's sister, Reba, decided not to go on to California, but stayed in the Casa Grande area because he liked running around with Dad and his brothers.

Around this time, the Brown family was living in tents, seven miles east of Mesa, AZ, north of the old Apache Trail road, just east of the Arizona canal. Louise Brown and some of her sisters had met Kenneth "RG" Haw, some of his brothers and sisters, and Lee Waller when the Haw clan ventured into the valley area to pick citrus.

Lee Waller began dating Ola Mae Brown in the fall of 1941 and introduced Dad to Louise Brown shortly after this. Knowing the kind of con artist Lee was at the time, I figure he needed the use of a car, which Dad had or could get from one of his brothers. Or at the very least, Lee would have someone to share the expenses and travel with.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The United States then declared war on Japan and Germany on Dec. 8. Shortly after war was declared and because of the number of Japanese we had in the state, Del Webb Corp. was contracted to build interment camps for the Japanese. These camps were built in Sacaton, AZ, which was on the Gila River Indian Reservation between Casa Grande and Phoenix. Dad was hired full-time to work on this project.

In January 1942, RG (Dad) and Louise decided to go to Las Vegas, NV, to get married. In Nevada, you could get married quickly, no questions asked, no blood tests required, just zip in and zip out. It sounded good, but didn't quite work out that way. RG had borrowed a friend's vehicle, a 1937 Ford, for this long drive. They made it as far as Henderson, NV, about 20 miles south of Las Vegas.

They were almost to Las Vegas when RG fell asleep, ran off the road, over corrected and rolled the Ford. Louise, asleep in the passenger seat, was partially ejected. She had her right leg caught when the passenger door closed on it. Her leg was broken in a couple places from the knee to her upper thigh. RG was not injured, but Louise had to be hospitalized in Henderson. The vehicle was totaled.

Louise was in the hospital for a couple of weeks giving RG enough time to hitchhike back to Casa Grande where he would borrow Aubrey's (his brother) 1940 Ford to return to Nevada to get Louise. When he got back to Henderson to pick up Louise, she had a cast on her leg that would not allow her to sit in an upright position. RG had to have the bench seat of his brother's car altered a little bit. He found a place that cut the bench seat in half allowing her to lay down on the back portion of the passenger side so Louise could ride in a laid-back position as they returned to Casa Grande.

* * *

It should be mentioned that Mom's mother Ella Mae Brown did not care for RG in any way, shape or form and made it very clear that they would not be getting married with her blessing. Because of the outbreak of the war and the situation being as it was, they were hoping to get married as Louise was only 17 at the time. Louise stayed with RG's family in Casa Grande and finally her parents came around to okay the marriage.

On June 3, 1942, Anna Louise Brown and Kenneth RG Haw were married in Mesa. They were sitting in the front seat of an old Ford that belonged to RG. Louise still had her leg in a partial cast and could not stand on her injured leg for very long. Present during the ceremony was Ella Mae and her daughter Christine, Louise's sister. It is not known who, if any from RG's side of the family was present. After marrying, they established residence in a tent erected in the back yard of RG's parents.

On Sept. 24, 1942, RG received his draft notice. He was drafted into the U.S. Army-Air Corps and was to report for active duty status on Oct. 9, 1942, at Smokey Hill Army Air Corp base in Salina, KS. His Army serial number was 39850319. Smokey Hill provided training and advanced training for B-29 pilots. RG was trained as a spotter, working on the firing range, so to speak. He would spot the dropping of bombs during target practice sessions and report back to the pilots.

Early in January 1943, Louise was able to rejoin RG in Salina. She was heavily-laden with a baby. For those of you who don't understand the previous sentence, she was pregnant. In late February or early March of 1943, Louise had a baby boy who died at birth. This information was told to Ms. Jan Moore who was a social worker at Good Shepherd Rest Home during Mom's last months. More on Dad's relationship with Mom in following chapters.

CHAPTER 3

Me

I am Kenneth Ray Haw. I was born to Kenneth R.G. Haw and Anna Louise Haw (Brown) at 7:45 p.m. Jan. 2, 1944, at St. John's Hospital, Salina, KS. I was six 6 pounds, 2 oz., 18 inches long. Dr. Porter Brown was the attending physician.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, was in his third term of office. The vice president was Henry Wallace. The Dow Jones was at 143.30, an ounce of gold sold for $35, silver for 75 cents an ounce. A loaf of bread went for 10 cents, a gallon of milk for 62 cents and a pound of butter for 50 cents. A new Ford automobile sold for $975 and a gallon of gas for 15 cents. The average new home sold for $3,475 and the annual family income was $2,378.

In the arts, the No. 1 song was "Sentimental Journey" by Homer/ Brown/Green. The top movie was "Going My Way," produced by Paramount Studios and starring Bing Crosby who was the No. 1 actor at the time. The No. 1 actress was Ingrid Berman for her role in "Gaslight."

About five years before I was born, on April 30, 1939, the first regular commercial television broadcasts were aired in New York City via a transmitter that had been installed in the Empire State Building. I remember our first television set in the late 1950's. This TV tidbit is just to show that my family was not a family of means.

Well, I think we have Day 1 out of the way. What do you expect? I was born at 7:45 p.m. Most of my first day was already shot so let's head into my pre-school years.

* * *

Following my birth, we stayed in Salina, KS, for about six months before moving to Ellsworth, KS, just north of Salina. This would have been about June 1944.

Lo and behold Mom was pregnant again. This info was told to me by Mom's sister, Ola Mae, who verified information given to me years ago by Mom that I had a younger brother who died. He was born between me and Ron. However, there was a bit more that Aunt Ola Mae had to add to this saga. According to her, Dad had an affair while in Salina and came down with a venereal disease. She thought it was gonorrhea and that's what is believed to have killed my brother in December, 1944. He was born premature stillborn.

I want to make a note here that the two infant deaths mentioned previously have not been verified or authenticated by any birth or death certificates. I hope to obtain these documents before publishing this book. However, if I am unable to obtain these documents, I do believe these events happened as described.

It must have been something in the water.

* * *

We had lived in Ellsworth for about seven months when Mom got pregnant again. I was about 12 months old at this time and the events I am relating to this pregnancy were given to me by a friend of Mom's, Mrs. Jan Moore, who had befriended Mom during Mom's last year of life at age 76 in Good Shepherd Rest Home in Peoria, AZ. The events have been substantiated with records I received shortly after Mom passed away on Nov. 1, 2000.

When Mom became pregnant, Dad was furious and did not believe the baby was his. After months of fighting and feuding, my mother's parents, Benny and Ella Brown, came to Ellsworth from California to pack Mom and I up to take us back to California with them. Mom and Dad were going to split up because of this baby.

We were going to California by train and got as far as Grand Island, Neb., when my Mom went into labor. Grandpa Brown and I stayed at the train station house while Grandma and Mom went to the Lutheran Hospital in Grand Island. My sister, Debra Ann Haw, was born alive at 3:30 p.m. on July 24, 1945. She was six-and-a-half pounds and the father's name was listed on her birth certificate as Kenneth R.G. Haw. This information was given to the attending physician, John Reilly, by my mother. Who really knows besides Mom, whether this was also Dad's daughter. This event on numerous occasions over the next 18 years would cause me a lot of trauma and unnecessary searching of my own soul. More on this in later chapters reference the little bastard that wasn't mine.

My sister, Debra Ann Haw, died at 5:30 p.m., on July 24, the same day she was born. This is substantiated by a death certificate I received from the Vital Records Depository in Lincoln, NE, on Oct. 13, 2000. She lived for two hours and died from cardiac insufficiency, another premature birth.

After a short time, Mom was released from the Lutheran hospital. The exact length of stay in the hospital is unknown, but after being released, her and Grandma met up with Grandpa Brown and me back at the train station. After some discussion as to which direction to go, either continue on to California or go back to Dad in Ellsworth, Mom decided to go back to Dad.

* * *

We were back in Ellsworth for a short while as Dad was scheduled to go overseas. He packed Mom and I up and sent us to Dallas to live with his older brother Earnest and sister-in-law, Hazel. Meanwhile, the Armistice was signed and Dad did not have to go overseas, but instead he was transferred to Colorado where he spent a short period of time. He was honorably discharged because of a surplus of enlisted personnel in the zone of Interior. He had spent a total of three years, 2 months, 6 days in active-duty status before being sent back to Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson for separation on Nov. 29, 1945.

Mom and I had already moved back to Casa Grande, AZ and was living with my grandparents, Robert and Virginia Haw. Dad joined us there.
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Just Wait 'til Your Dad Gets Home by KENNETH HAW. Copyright © 2013 by Kenneth Haw. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction....................     vii     

Chapter 1: Mom and Dad's Families....................     1     

Chapter 2: Mom and Dad, before me....................     7     

Chapter 3: Me....................     10     

Chapter 4: Travelin' Man....................     18     

Chapter 5: 'What Mother Means to Me'....................     25     

Chapter 6: The Military....................     78     

Chapter 7: Life prior to the Dallas Police Department....................     96     

Chapter 8: Working for the Dallas Police Department....................     102     

Chapter 9: Post Dallas, Prior to DPS....................     119     

Chapter 10: The Arizona Department of Public Safety....................     144     

Chapter 11: Life after DPS....................     198     

Chapter 12: Letters to Mom, and a journal of her passing...................     211     

Attachment....................          

I Places Where I Lived....................     227     

II Family....................     229     

III Surgeries....................     230     

IV Awards....................     232     

V DPS Work Shops, Conferences, Training Classes....................     234