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- Andrew was the second youngest son of Andrew Milton Alford and Malinda Ann Cockram Alford. He was born on a 60 acre farm on the Trace Fork of Mud River in rural Putnam County West Virginia. The farm income was primarily from tobacco and corn. Life there was rather primitive without electricity or running water. Andrew was troubled with asthma as a child and was not in the best health early on. He was reportedly a bright student in school but only attended through the eighth grade. High school was not an option unless he moved to town.
Little is known of his teen years except that he had troubles with local roughnecks that became increasingly dangerous. This reached the point where his parents feared, "he would kill somebody or be killed". This led to Andrew moving to Akron, Ohio to stay with his sister Mary Ethel Alford Booth. While living in Akron, Andrew attended a country picnic in Doylestown, Ohio and met Bertha Margaret Cihlar. They fell in love and were soon married in November of 1933 when Andrew was 19 years old. They resided first in Barberton, Ohio where Andrew was employed as a tool grinder at Wright Tool and Forge Co, a maker of automotive tools. He worked there during the depression until WWII when he took employment at the Babcock and Wilcox Co Boiler Works in Barberton, Ohio. He and Bertha welcomed their first child, Charles, June 24, 1934. Three more children were born in 1936 (Robert), 1937 (Thomas), and 1939 (Richard). When WWII began, Andrew was not called to military service because of his five dependents. However, all during the war, Andrew worked at the war plant for 7 days 3-4 weeks per month always on 2nd or 3rd shift and saw little of his boys. He was a good father.
During the early years of his marriage, he did smoke and use alcohol, but in his late 20's his health was such that his doctor advised him to stop drinking and smoking if he wanted to see age 30". He did stop and for the rest of his life never smoked once and never drank a drop again.
As a worker, Andrew became very skilled as a Class A assembler in the Millroom at Babcock and Wilcox. He was uniquely qualified to perform precision grinding ("honing") of boiler components, especially nuclear power products. A notable event in his work life occured when he was sent to Groton Connecticut submarine base to work on a nuclear submarine to solve a critical maintenance problem.
After WWII was over Andrew worked on many home improvements. The four room home on 73 Oak Court - later renamed to Goodrich Ave - was originally used for production of linseed oil for paint products. There was no central heating and no basement. Heat was provided by a potbelly stove in the living room. There was no bathtub or shower and no refrigerator. Andrew, with family help, dug and finished a full basement, installed a gas furnace, remodelled the bathroom and kitchen and added a bedroom.
Andrew's life as a father was very rewarding. His boys were good students in school and his relationships with them were enjoyable. He took them fishing frequently and engaged in their activities as his time permitted. His family life was transformed in 1950 when he and Bertha had another child, Victoria (Vickie) Lynette Alford Dec 23, 1950. Vickie was the joy of Andrew's life. She was a wonderfully intelligent child who was everyone's darling. But as idyllic as her childhood was, her later life was a mixture of joy and tragedy. All was untroubled until she graduated from high school. She enrolled in a church school, Anderson College, in Anderson, Indiana. While there, she met a minister's son who she soon married. The union was a disaster. Divorce followed and transfer to Kent State University in Ohio came next. When at Kent State, she and a schoolmate were kidnapped by gangsters from Cleveland OH and taken to Las Vegas NV. The girls escaped from where they were detained and returned home. The gangsters were apprehended and convicted, but not without threats against Vickie and her family. Vickie then moved to Washington DC and found a good job in the Watergate Building as an executive secretary. All went well there and after a time she met a young man, John Driscoll, a landscape architect whom she eventually married and made a good home blessed by two beautiful daughters, Elizabeth and Amanda. However, misfortune arose when Vickie was afflicted with a brain tumor. Although the tumor was not malignant, it was growing and needed surgery. The surgery caused brain damage that eventually led to her death at age 54.
Andrew himself suffered cardiovascular problems which necessitated bypass surgery. The first surgery was a single bypass surgery at Cleveland Clinic. The technology at the time only allowed a single bypass. He had a second bypass operation later. He suffered angina pains that crippled him for his last 15 years. A third attempt for a uadruple bypass was eventually performed and was apparently successful when he went unexpectedly into cardiac arrest and dies July 1, 1987 at age 73.
Andrew's wife, Bertha, lived on in Barberton with her youngest son, Richard, until she moved to Magnolia care home in Wadsworth, Ohio for the remainder of her life. She died in 2009 at age 95.
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