Harold John LeRoy
Written in 1983
I was born in Centerline, Michigan on October 10, 1930. This was during the "great depression". My father was a blacksmith with his shop on VanDyke at 10 Mile Road. I had two older sisters, Alice and Jean and a brother, Earl. Two years later my younger sister, Marilyn was born. These were really hard times. My father lost everything in Centerline due to back taxes. He salvaged enough from his blacksmith shop to get a meager start in New Haven and that is where I grew up.
In New Haven we had a 10 acre farm (a playground for us, my dad said) and we had a cow, chickens and a horse which we could all ride when dad wasn't working her in the fields. He always had a large garden, strawberry patch, raspberries, currents and a few fruit trees. This along with the cow for milk and the chickens for eggs kept us fed. He worked nights in the foundry and would do building days, when he could find work.
I would often help my father at work. I'd mix mortor and cement, carry bricks and blocks and do some nailing when things were ready. Sometimes I even got paid a little - 75 cents a day for me and my horse cart which I used to haul blocks from the road back to a house dad was building.
Enough about work. The horse and cart was my main transportation. I would drive into town and buy hay and grain and groceries. Also sometimes ride around for fun. Later I had a pony to ride. This was more fun and faster. Pete (my pony) and Buster (the dog) and I were a common sight on Sunday afternoon as we rode through the country. Sometimes to Tiny's (a gas station and small restaurant) and often to my friend, Don Dussett's who also had a pony. Mostly I rode no where in particular. (Unless there was a young lady that might be seen!)
When I was about 14 I got my drivers license and fixed up an old 1934 Chevy to drive. The roof leaked and fenders rattled but it ran good and was my first car. I could drive to school and after school drive out to help Dad for a while, then home to do the chores. We still had the barn, etc. At 17 I worked afternoons after school till midnight at a small shop in Richmond polishing and buffing chrome mirror arms for about a month. Then to Mt. Clemens Sugar Beet Factory where they made sugar. This only lasted about a week or so, then back to helping Dad.
I went to school at New Haven Public School all 13 years and went to the Methodist Church. This is where I met Rosalie and life began to have a meaning for me. We were married May 4, 1951. She was 17 and I was 20. I was working as a carpenter apprentice with my Dad. I was at prime draft age but we moved into a small house in New Baltimore which Dad, Earl and I had built. When I was called to the Service we were expecting our first child. I was deferred and never had to go at all. After our first four children were born we built a new home with four bedrooms and sold the first one. We had two more children, six in all, four girls and two boys. We now have seven grandchildren, four boys and three girls.