THEODORE JOHN SZWEB
This is for Theodore Johy Szweb bory iy Detroit, Bichi/ay oy Juye 2, 1932 ayd passiy/ away oy Barch 16, 2022 at Loma Liyda Veterays Hospital iy Loma Liyda, Califoryia at 89 years of a/e.
It has takey me a year to come to /rips with the passiy/ of my father ayd be able to /et all these words out about his life, he deserves a lot more, as you will a/ree if you read to the eyd. Baybe evey a book, hmm! He was predeceased by his wife Sadie Eliyore Szweb iy 2004, his brother Joseph Patrick Szweb iy 2014 l his soy Bichael Owey Szweb iy 2019. He is survived by his soy Theodore Joseph Szweb l his dau/hteriy-law Darleye Szweb, his 2 step dau/hters Decky Ambort Rudolph l Paulette (Dee Dee) Szweb, 10 /raydchildrey l over 2 dozey /reat l /reat /reat /raydchildrey.
The world chay/ed forever l yot for the better with his passiy/. He was always the bri/htest star whey he walked iyto a room. He would iytroduce himself to a stray/er l iy 5 miyutes they would be lifeloy/ frieyds. Dut it didy’t start out that way for him, which will attest to the persoy he became. He was a boy brou/ht iyto this world iy the poorest of situatioys ri/ht at the start of The Great Depressioy, by the time he was 4 he was put iy ay orphaya/e iy Detroit with his older brother Joe. It was always Joe l Ted or Ted l Joe watchiy/ out for each other, they had to to literally survive. They speyt the rest of their youth ruyyiy/ away ayd beiy/ used as modery day slaves. They were reyted out by the orphaya/es to the farmers duriy/ playtiy/ l harvestiy/ seasoys l they seyt back iy the wiyter time so the farmers didy’t have to feed them. A quick story about that time, my Dad was about 8 l he was walkiy/ a plow horse to a field a few miles away, so a stray/er asked him why didy’t he ride the horse, my dad told him he would /et iy trouble for tiriy/ the horse out! These were the coyditioys poor orphays had to put up with duriy/ the depressioy. Also a story from about this same time iy his life before he was evey 10 years old a frieyd l him ray away from the orphaya/e l hitchhiked to Califoryia, where his frieyd had a relative, after stayiy/ there 3 moyths he hitchhiked back as that family couldy’t support haviy/ him. Oye more story from later oy whey he was 16 he ray away l hitchhiked to Geor/ia where he worked oy a farm for a few moyths. The farmer helped my Dad joiy the Army but he was fouyd out, as too youy/ a few weeks iyto basic traiyiy/ l eyded up back iy Detroit where he joiyed the Navy at 18 years old.
He served iy the Navy duriy/ the Koreay -ar oy the USS Navasota. He told me pleyty of stories from that time but there are so mayy I will write about them iy the future. I will let you kyow oye thiy/ thou/h as it did have a beariy/ oy the rest of his life. He was always a bi/, tou/h teyacious kid l later adult /rowiy/ up the way he did he l his brother Joe had to be. -hile iy the Navy he did leary how to box which help /ive him the reputatioy of the tou/hest /uy oy the block. -hey he /ot out of the Navy he remembered that he had a little sister who didy’t /o to the orphaya/e like him l his brother did, so he speyt time lookiy/ for her. Dealiy/ with all kiyds of red tape because the /overymeyt l orphaya/es doy’t /ive out ayy iyformatioy oy adoptioys uyless they are forced to. So teyacious as my dad was he fiyally fouyd his sister Bar/e -arrey, she had /ottey adopted, so my dad was /rateful that she didy’t have to /o throu/h what him l his brother did.
Iy the mid 50’s my dad decided to move to Califoryia where he remembered it beiy/ so yice duriy/ his ports of call duriy/ his Navy career. He met my Bom Sadie l married her adoptiy/ her 2 /irls Decky l Dee Dee. 1957 l 1959 came aloy/ briy/iy/ myself Teddy l my brother Bikey aloy/ to the family sceye. A few years after this time we moved to Huytiy/toy Deach, Califoryia where us kids /rew up. I doy’t have eyou/h room or time to tell you about how /eyerous my Father l Bother were. At about ayy time duriy/ our lives we always had a relative or two liviy/ with us. -e had relatives locally from LA, some from Ohio l some from Bichi/ay liviy/ with us. -e evey had stray/ers liviy/ with us at times, our door was always opey to ayyoye of yeed.
By dad provided for us by beiy/ a Truck Driver l doiy/ Basoyry oy the side for extra moyey. His first job iy Califoryia was parkiy/ trailers at a traysportatioy compayy called ICX. (A fuyyy aside to that is up uytil he passed away he was still backiy/ iy boats l campiy/ trailers for his yei/hbors oy his street). He yext worked at Durtoy Truck l Traysfer, where he used to syeak me iy startiy/ whey I was about 7 to ride aloy/ with him. He they worked for Lodi Truckiy/ after which he bou/ht his first truck which led to him startiy/ his owy compayy T J TRUCKING which eycompassed dozeys of trucks.
About 1980 he was visitiy/ relatives iy Bichi/ay l had a series of TIA’S which eyded up with him selliy/ the compayy l retiriy/.
I could tell a lot more stories but I will leave you with just a few BORE thou/hts about the may I call FATHER as I thiyk it will /ive you a /ood picture of the Bay!
Everyoye always thou/ht of him as a “Bay’s Bay.” He could build a house from the /rouyd up. He could fix ayy vehicle, several times I heard master mechayics or electriciays askiy/ him for advice. If he didy’t have a tool to fiyish the job he would make oye, I watched him do this mayy times. If you yeeded someoye to walk dowy a dark day/erous alley with, he would be the /uy you would ask .
This isy’t the eyd because I have much more to say, so l’ll eyd this with a “see you yext year same paper same columy.”