Thoughts and
Some Background
Mom and Dad
William "Bill or WO" Fielder married Guynelle Jones in 1945. Fresh out of the service, Air Force, they set about making a family and building a business at the same time. Both of my grandfather's were butchers, mom's father Wayne worked for Kroger in Kansas City as manager and had contacts throughout the grocery business. The decided to open a Drive In restaurant and leased a building that already had a neon sign, "Allens", so to save on signage they adopted that name and the first Allen's Drive In was born.
A dynamic couple whose family grew to 7 children (one lost to crib death at 3 months) by 1961. The restaurant business grew too, several Allen's locations, a new endeavor called "Smaks" which spawned a few dozen locations. By the time I was old enough to understand things, we were rich and I was living life in Camelot.
In 1961, the year my youngest brother Warde was born, we left Kansas City, my dad struck out on his own due to disagreements on the business direction with my grandfather. We moved to Colorado Springs, CO and dad started "Hasty House", "The Hamburger that went to Switzerland". Indeed my parents and grandparents had made trips to Switzerland to see how the Swiss were handling "Fast Food". The concept for the new outlets was more a combination of sit down booth dining and fast food. He did not fare well and by 1967 he was bankrupt and lost the businesses. We moved to Breckenridge, CO and lived there for a year, my father managed several businesses for a friend from Colorado Springs. After a year we moved back to Colorado Springs, dad took another management position with a small business, Peter's Pub, a cafeteria and small dinner Pub combined in the downtown area. Failing to save what was already a failing business, he took another management position with Pope's Cafeterias out of St. Louis and we moved to Oceanside, CA. The new outlet was in a new mall in Carlsbad, CA, near our new residence, it was 1969 and I was 17. The already fragile relationship between mom and dad, was reaching an end and by the summer of 1970 she divorced him and moved back to Kansas City, with me and my two younger brothers in tow. It had been an incredible ride and there was much more to come.
Siblings
I was blessed to have a large family, though as a youngster and the fifth of seven I felt oppressed a lot. We lost Vivian, the second in line, born in October 1947 she was found dead in her crib in January of 1948. Today we would call it SIDS, but everyone I spoke to over the years felt sure she suffocated, it was not uncommon in those days. Dad's and Granddad's namesake, William Wayne, was born in November of 1946, so mom was fertile and in December of 1948 she bore Susan, the only girl of the clan from then on. Wynn was born in May of 1950, I came in March of 1952, Wesley in June of 1956 and Warde in February of 1961. We lost Warde in March of 2023, he had moved overseas and we did not hear much until there was a problem of some sort, then we were expected to step up and take care of it. We all tried, his friends and extended family tried but Warde was a force to be reckoned with and ultimately paid the price for his decisions and lifestyle.
My own family.
On August 20th, 1977 I met a "Jersey Girl" on her summer vacation in La Jolla, CA. I was snorkeling in the Cove and as I emerged from the water I saw the most beautiful girl standing on the shore testing the water. I put my gear back near where my friends and I were camped out and went back to talk to her. She was very dark skinned, dark brown (almost black) hair in a Cleopatra style cut, she was wearing an emerald green bikini and had a terrific body, to this day I can close my eyes and see here standing there. I convinced her to venture into the water, even though she said it was too cold. I explained about the warm pools of water on the surface beyond the breaking waves and she joined me out there where we talked for an hour. We were married on November 20th, 3 months to the day we met. That's a story for another time, but I will admit, she changed my life for the better in many ways. We had two childen, Matthew in October of 1979 and Jessica in July of 1981.
