A tribute to my Mom and Dad, both deceased now for many years.

My Daddy loved sports cars.  The blue convertible is a Fiat 124 and the orange one (second photo) is a very rare Dodson Fairlady.  He also had a couple more European cars…being another Fiat and a Peugeot.

Warren Ivester: “Circa 1976” driving his 1965 Datsun Fairlady 1500 Roadster. A very rare car with a high-performance 4-cylinder (1,488cc engine) twin-carburetors and a four-speed transmission.

My Dad had an engineering mind with an ability to improvise a mechanical fix when he didn’t have the necessary parts. This was especially true as related to cars…which were always his passion. In the early days, I remember him cutting copper-shims and placing underneath engine bearings rather than using new bearings. However, this was a common practice during the early years and even into the 60’s.

Helping my Dad at our home garage:

The garage was a thrown up building, dirt floor and comprised of a conglomerate of salvaged materials, and with a small coal burning stove.

While my Dad was rebuilding an engine or doing some serious engine work, my job was to grind valves and valve seats in head blocks, when necessary. I would use a tool with a suction stopper on one end, attached to a wooden handle.

I would begin with course grit, put around the loose valve, which would become a tool with a valve lapper tool, as pictured below. I would spin the tool back-and-forth between the palms of my hands. I would then progress to finer and finer grits, until both the valve seat and valve would have “an almost” mirror finish.

This was a long process, especially for a V-8 engine with 16-valves and seats to surface.

A modern hand-lapper tool pictured below, is similar to what I used, so many years ago. However, the one I used (again) had a wooden handle and a suction cup on only one end, but not very different.

Yes, I would use various grits, similar to how amateur astronomers grind an astronomical mirror.

After each valve and seat, my Dad would examine and decide if I needed to do more work. If my work was not good enough, I’d use more fine grit and do more work on the valve seat and valve. This was to insure the valve would not leak after the engine was reassembled and running. I was about ten years old at the time. (note: machine shops now perform this task)

Born in 1913, my Dad grew up on a farm in the foothills of North Carolina when most roads in the area were dirt and things were far different than today. Those were the days of Ford T-Models and later A-Models.

For a time reference as to when my Dad was born (1913)

The Wright Brothers made their first flight in December 1903, lasting only 12 seconds. The Titanic sank on April 12th 1912.

The first Ford Model T was produced in 1908, but very few people or families owned one, at least in the area where my Dad lived. It would be many years later before the general populous would own one.

The first Model A was produced in 1927. This would be the car that allowed the masses to own a gas powered vehicle, worthy of traveling great distances.

Working on the family cotton farm:

He would later begin working as an auto-mechanic, and would work for himself at times and then at many different garages over the coming years.

The story of the Savannah River Nuclear Facility:

My Mom told me about this on numerous occasions…when I was about twelve years old, or possibly younger...

My Dad had an offer to work at the Savannah River Nuclear Facility, but decided against it. This facility was being built in the early 50’s to produce and fabricate nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonian-239. Some “seriously dangerous materials” for sure!

I really can’t remember all of the particulars, but I do remember why he didn’t take the job, according to my Mom. However, I’ll let this remain a mystery at this time. And no, it was not due to the plutonian-239.

However, if my Dad had taken this job, it would have for certain changed the trajectory of my family. It could have been beneficial to the family finances for sure.

It could have been good for me also: As I needed my own bicycle, a serious astronomical telescope or two, an authentic Duncan YoYo, an electric train set, a slinky and other essentials that kids needed in those days. 🙂

Moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse:

When engineers were trying to figure out how to move the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse further inland, away from the ocean, I remember my dad having his own thoughts. The Outer Banks of North Carolina are very unstable land masses and constantly changing.  His thoughts were as following:

“……it needs to be lifted up using the same principle as moving a house, then installing a massive rail-system underneath. The rails would extend the entire distance to be moved, or to its new and final resting location. The lighthouse would have to be moved very slowly, maybe only inches a day, which would allow very close monitoring of the process.”

Well, this was pretty much the exact way the famous lighthouse was moved...

The lighthouse was built in 1870, and the foundation underground was not concrete, but layers of yellow-pine which were “crisscrossed” only six-feet below the surface on compacted sand, and below the water line.

Read again and think about the foundation of this massive structure! It was just sitting or resting on timber and compacted sand, and again….only six-feet below the surface!

For a size comparison, note the two story light keepers house in the photo: An incredibly massive and heavy structure, and 210 feet in height. It’s amazing it could be moved.…truly an engineering marvel.

I made the following photo in April 1982 of the lighthouse in its original location, from 1870.

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Ruby Whisnant Ivester:

A tribute to My Mom…who was the mother of six-boys and a wonderful mother she was.

She was extremely intelligent, excellent in math, very artistic, beautiful handwriting and well read. And this was many years before the internet. She would purchase one encyclopedia every month, or sometimes each week, from the Shelby Winn-Dixie, where we got our groceries on either Friday nights or Saturday afternoons.

We received the National Geographic Magazine, during the entire decade of the 60’s, and even beyond. With the addition of our grocery store encyclopedia’s, what more could we possibly need to learn about everything….beyond our dirt road?

How my Mom saved me from going to prison when I was 9 years old!

I sent off for a free stamp collection, or maybe it was all for a dime I’d sent them. Then I started receiving more and more (worthless) international stamps and more and more books. The company was located in Garden City, New Jersey. I then received a bill for $35!

I just ignored the letter, but a month or so later, while sitting on the edge of the porch, barefooted…I read, this time a legal letter.

They advised me to seek legal counsel, as they would be sending their attorney to meet with me and my attorney in Shelby, NC, within the month. But my stamps and books were suppose to be free…or covered by the dime I’d included in the envelope!

I showed the letter to my mom…it scared her to death!

She quickly looked in our “savings” drawer and counted out $35, and put in an envelope. I’ll never forget the both of us cramming the stamps and books into a box with the money. Yes…cash in an envelope! That’s the way country folks did business back in those days.

This was the last we heard from “that bunch of Sleaze-Ball Carpetbaggers” in New Jersey.

Relief…my life was saved! My Mom just couldn’t let her baby son go to prison for $35, which was a lot at that time. This would indicate just how much she loved me.

Taking inflation into account that $35 would be the equivalent of $363.38 today! And we needed that money to buy groceries and the essentials of life!

Ever since that event, I’ve always had a bad opinion of anything to do with New Jersey…even today!

My mom also taught me so much about the Bible when I was really young, which goes with me, even today. I’d say she gave me the foundation to expand my knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Bible.

I remember so well her reading to me: Luke 16:19-31 KJV: She talked with me about eternity and said: “can you imagine, constant torment that never ends?” Even at a very young age, this for sure caught my attention. Read the Bible….don’t be deceived, Hell is a real place!

Warren standing in the backyard…1984:

An interview by Chadwick Ivester, of his grandfather when he was in the 4th grade and nine-years old…circa 1981.

Page 2:

The following is the story for easier reading. Only a few spelling changes were made and paragraphs for “again” easier reading.

One word in particular: Stem was changed to Steam in my keyboard typed version, but will remain “original” of course in his grandsons report.

I would consider this a historical document: Roger

Warren Ivester was born on Feb. 4th, 1913. The first school he attended was White School and then went on to Casar School. He started when he was six years old in 1919. He walked about a mile and a half to school in weather conditions as rain, sleet, or snow.

Later in 1926 Casar School got a 1925 Ford T-Model Bus. White School was a single room building that was stem heated. It used coal to heat. Then when he went to Casar School, the school had two rooms and was heated by the same stem heater. The desk were made of steel frames with tarnished wood.

The subjects he had were spelling, arithmetic, writing, and english, they had spelling books, arithmetic books, and writing books. For lunch he usually had fried pies, baked sweet potatoes, or some biscuits and ham.

Demerits were given for disipline, and if you got five or six, you would have to clean the chalkboard, wash windows and ceiling lights, and for strong boys, they would have to dig up big rocks and cover them back up.

The sports they played usually played was called Round-Town Ball which was simular to baseball. They were never given any homework to do. Warren went to school until the 9th but it went to the 11th. He made A’s and B’s and he liked school very much. The reason why he quit school was to drive the school bus for the school. He got paid 7 dollars a month, he said it would have been better making 7 dollars than no money at all.

The length of the school year was 6 months and vacation was six months. There were usually about 60 to 75 students enrolled in school and he was the smartest of all. Chad Ivester

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