A little about him. Warren Lee Stickney was born in June 1932, he was the youngest of several children. Grandpa (I started calling him Grandpa almost 20 years ago when my nephew Daniel was born) used to always tell us kids of his adventures as a child (and I am still lucky enough to have his older brother, Bert, come and visit and tell these tales to me and my kids). Grandpa grew up in Michigan and lived on the lake. He spent his boyhood camping, fishing, swimming,etc.
Grandpa quit school in the 10 grade but he never stopped learning. As far back as I can remember he has always gone to school. Always on trips, Grandpa had Grandma (my mom) reading him questions from flashcards,just so he could learn more. One of his proudest moments was when he finally graduated High School in 1976. He always joked about him graduating before me (I graduated in '78).
When we were little, if my sister, brother or I got scared or sick or sad etc. it was daddy we went to and he always made the hurt go away. I remember one time when I was not feeling well he made me his special fixer-upper (hot milk with sugar and vanilla), sat me on his lap in the rocking chair and we watched "I Love Lucy" together. And I no longer felt sick.
Grandpa always made sure to take each of us kids out on a "date" just him and the lucky one. He would let us pick a movie we wanted to see and pick out where we wanted to eat (I always picked Chinese).
After Grandpa died, my husband, Tommy, said something that I think describes Grandpa perfectly. Tommy said " Grandpa never noticed a person's skin color, or their religious preferences, the way they looked or dressed. He just noticed the person inside. I never heard Grandpa say a bad word about anyone (which to tell the truth could be annoying at times!). There could be times when you would be complaining about someone and my dad would say things like" You've got to realize that they have problems" or " Remember, they had a rough life growing up" and other excueses for them. So it made it no fun complaining about someone to my dad.
Dad was alway there when anyone needed him, and his word was his bond. A few years ago my brother's wife , Theresa, was pregnant and she had a doctor's appointment, my brother was out of town so my parents went to their house and took Theresa to the doctor - my parents lived in Georgia and Theresa was in Kansas, but Grandpa didn't care, Theresa needed to go and had no way to get there so Grandpa made sure she made her appointment. At Grandpa's Memorial Service, their Minister, Ron, spoke of just that, one story he told was when their church was going to have a barbaque and Grandpa had said the he would help. Ron said that by that time ALS had weakened Grandpa terribly, but Grandpa worked cleaning and scrubbing the bathroom until it was done, even though by that time he was having a hard time standing.
Grandpa had always been proud of his athletic abilities for a man his age. So when he lost those abilities he fought it and knew that he was going to be able to do those things again. Even though he could no longer sit up or even hold his head up, he kept telling us that he wanted to workout on our stationary bike. Even for this past Christmas he got exercise equipment as gifts. We knew that he could not use them, but it made him happy to think that he would be able to do those things again. Grandpa died three weeks after Christmas.
Grandpa did not smoke, use foul language and drank about once or twice every couple of years.
Now I'm not trying to make Grandpa sound like a Saint, because he wasn't. He was a very happy person and he liked to joke alot, but sometimes those joke were a pain-in-the-neck (though now I would love to have him joke around with us again). I turned 39 this year and I sure would have liked to hear my dad joke with me about how OLD I am now.
Grandpa had a temper, but his way of showing it was not by hitting or yelling , when he got mad he would go to his room and pout and stay in there all day. It was a pain having him pout, but that is much better than shouting and hitting.
Grandpa was a great Grandfather to his grandkids. To most of his grandkids he was more of a father than a grandfather - in fact one of his grandsons has wanted to changed his last name to Stickney since he was about 10 years old.
UPDATE - July 15, 2001 - My nephew got married yesterday. In their wedding program they made this statement - "While growing up, my Grandparents Warren and Helene Stickney played a major role in my life. When I was eight my dad left and my "Pops" took on an even bigger role as my father. Therefore in honor of my Grandfather I have decided to start my own family with the same name as his." Signed "Daniel Stickney." Yes, he did it, he had his name legally changed to Stickney. I only found out about this yesterday (it was our gift from the happy couple.), so I still get emotional everytime I think of it. I am so happy for and so proud of my nephew!!!! Daniel danced his "Mother/Son" dance to Green Onion by Booker T. and the MG's, grandpa's favorite song, (the song you are now hearing)). Daniel picked himself a very fine person for his mate, I know that grandpa is very proud of Daniel, both in his new name and in his new marriage.
Thanks for listening to my rambling and if anyone would like to ramble about a special PALS in their life, I would love to put it on Picturesque PALS for others to know of your special person.
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Katherine Stickney Klaus
