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Hartwell Philips Family , Philips of Early Virginia , Horn Family , Larry's Home Page ,

Bernard Godfrey (BG) Holthouse Jr.

Bernard Godfrey Holthouse, Jr.

Born:     8 August, 1924 Lawrenceburg, TN
Died:      26 March, 2006 Cleveland, OH

BG was the son of Bernard Godfrey and Nelle Williams Holthouse.

BG about 1945

     

After serving in the Pacific theater with the Marines in WWII where he received a purple heart on Iwo Jima, BG went to work for Holthouse & Harthup, running their operation in Gorman, TN, halfway between McEwen and Waverly. 

I went over to work for him a couple of times.   I acquired my first car from the old couple where he lived for awhile in McEwen.  It was a 1932 Chevrolet sedan, complete with two spare tires on the running boards.  It had a crank, which I used frequently as the battery was weak.  It also had mechanical breaks, which necessitated using the emergency brake in addition to the foot brakes if you really needed to stop.
 
I drove it through high school and the first year of college.   That's me in the car with my brothers standing outside.
 

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After about five years BG left the Company to move to Cleveland, OH where he became an ironworker, building many of the skyscrapers seen in the Cleveland area today.
 
BG lent me money while I was in college and I repaid the loans with interest after graduating at the rate of $100 a month.
 
I never would have made it through school wihout those loans.
 
BG's and his first wife, Theresa Bacche whose picture is on the left, had one child, Eddie.

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After she died he married Era Jean Skelton who he had met in Waynesboro, TN shortly after returning from the war. She was born 1 June 1929 and died 29 July, 2003.
 
BG was 81 years old when he purchased a condo in the St. Petersburg, FL area.
 
He was installing a water heater when he caught his shirt on fire and died from the resulting burns.

BG's Purple Heart Record

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