My first recollection of my uncle Heinie was my Mother telling every one he was her favorite Brother. he was very out going, and always seemed to be happy. I was probably seven or eight years old when i was visiting my grand mother. Heinie lived with her. He said " come on kid, were going to work" He drove a truck for the local creamery. He liked to show me around, and tell me all about how butter was made etc. I think I liked him from the very start. He never made fun of the way I stuttered. Once on the truck and out on the road he would light a cigarette on give it to me. The first stop would be the first tavern we came to. Uncle Heinie let me sit at the bar and drink a beer with him. I'm beginning to like him more all the time. It always came with the same admonishment.{Don't tell your mother!!} He needen have told me that. I would have died first. Besides, I never told her anything.
I had very little contact with him, until I was seventeen. I was in the Air Force. When I came home to Davenport my first stop would be the Homestead Tavern. Uncle Heinie was the bar tender. Driving a truck interfered with his drinking. He always was so glad to see me. He told me jokes, and stories, and let me drink free beer. I never forgot how much I liked Heinie.
It was about this period that I decided I wanted to be just like him. I thought he was what every man should be. He was single, but had a nice girl friend. On his day off he went to the ball game. He loved the St' Louis Cards. He could drink all day long for free. He lived in a hotel. Not a rooming house, or a boarding place. When he returned home at night the bed was made and his room was clean. He dressed up in a white shirt and tie every day. When he went out he wore a suit. When I thought about it I realized, He was my Hero. Looking back he was probably the first man I ever liked.
