Economic conditions can really affect family history.
Just as George Dixon moved his young family from rural Albion, Illinois to the city of Anderson, Indiana to find work in the growing auto parts industry, many of his grandchildren left Anderson to find work or start careers in the economic downturn of the 1970's.
The generation in between, my parent's generation, was the definition of stability. My uncle Warren Thacker (Wilma Dixon Thacker) owned and operated a service (gas) station on Hwy 67 near Mounds Road. The Thackers moved when the boys were older... but only Rich finished high school in Anderson... to a farm in Spencer, Indiana.
My dad, Jerry (Mary Alice) attended Purdue for a semester, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco and later became one of the last non-degreed engineers at Delco. We lived on Alexandria Pike until my brothers and I moved away. Mom and Dad then moved to Wooded Ridge addition off of Pendleton Pike, just north of Huntsville and Pendleton.
Uncles Jim and Don both went to the General Motors Institute, a college operated by General Motors in Flint, Michigan. Uncle Jim (Lois) became a plant manager at Delco. They lived in a home in town and then moved to a new home off of Rangeline Road near Indiana 32.
Uncle Don (Janet) was a plant manager and then a corporate executive with Delco. They lived in an addition across from the current Walmart Shopping Area, west of Scatterfield Road (was Hwy 109 bypass; now Hwy 9). Then they moved to a new house in the Edgewood area.
For most of our growing years, except for the younger Thacker kids, the entire extended family lived within a few miles of our grandparents, George and Della Dixon.
My generation, the Baby Boomer cousins, enjoyed stability.... until we had to find work!
After Rich graduated from Madison Heights, he attended Vincennes University for one year. He then joined the Air Force and served in Viet Nam. Upon his return from the Air Force, he resumed his education at Indiana State University and graduated from there. He received his Masters Degree from Ball State University and found a teaching job near Muncie in the town of Matthews.
Curt went to Madison Heights High School through his junior year then to Spencer High his senior year after the family moved there. He attended Purdue University, graduating in 1972. After teaching school for one year, Curt joined Wilson Foods and in 1980 moved to the company's headquarters offices in Oklahoma City. Curt's job took him to Houston in 1990. He later left Wilson Foods and joined Knight-Ridder Financial News in Kansas City as a senior reporter on agricultural markets. This position eventually transitioned to Dow Jones Newswires.
Jay attended GMI for almost two years, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco. Because his seniority date tracked back to the day he started at GMI, the day after high school graduation, his seniority allowed him to retire last year without leaving Anderson. The company (Delco) was sold during these years, but his UAW contract offered security until the buyout came in 2007.
Bruce worked for GM also, but being just two years younger than Jay, he spent many years in Iowa and eventually transferred to a Saturn plant in Tennessee. In the process he earned a degree in Psychology. More on his career travels and a couple of other things in Bruce's own words via email:
Just as George Dixon moved his young family from rural Albion, Illinois to the city of Anderson, Indiana to find work in the growing auto parts industry, many of his grandchildren left Anderson to find work or start careers in the economic downturn of the 1970's.
The generation in between, my parent's generation, was the definition of stability. My uncle Warren Thacker (Wilma Dixon Thacker) owned and operated a service (gas) station on Hwy 67 near Mounds Road. The Thackers moved when the boys were older... but only Rich finished high school in Anderson... to a farm in Spencer, Indiana.
My dad, Jerry (Mary Alice) attended Purdue for a semester, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco and later became one of the last non-degreed engineers at Delco. We lived on Alexandria Pike until my brothers and I moved away. Mom and Dad then moved to Wooded Ridge addition off of Pendleton Pike, just north of Huntsville and Pendleton.
Uncles Jim and Don both went to the General Motors Institute, a college operated by General Motors in Flint, Michigan. Uncle Jim (Lois) became a plant manager at Delco. They lived in a home in town and then moved to a new home off of Rangeline Road near Indiana 32.
Uncle Don (Janet) was a plant manager and then a corporate executive with Delco. They lived in an addition across from the current Walmart Shopping Area, west of Scatterfield Road (was Hwy 109 bypass; now Hwy 9). Then they moved to a new house in the Edgewood area.
For most of our growing years, except for the younger Thacker kids, the entire extended family lived within a few miles of our grandparents, George and Della Dixon.
My generation, the Baby Boomer cousins, enjoyed stability.... until we had to find work!
After Rich graduated from Madison Heights, he attended Vincennes University for one year. He then joined the Air Force and served in Viet Nam. Upon his return from the Air Force, he resumed his education at Indiana State University and graduated from there. He received his Masters Degree from Ball State University and found a teaching job near Muncie in the town of Matthews.
Curt went to Madison Heights High School through his junior year then to Spencer High his senior year after the family moved there. He attended Purdue University, graduating in 1972. After teaching school for one year, Curt joined Wilson Foods and in 1980 moved to the company's headquarters offices in Oklahoma City. Curt's job took him to Houston in 1990. He later left Wilson Foods and joined Knight-Ridder Financial News in Kansas City as a senior reporter on agricultural markets. This position eventually transitioned to Dow Jones Newswires.
Jay attended GMI for almost two years, then finished an apprenticeship at Delco. Because his seniority date tracked back to the day he started at GMI, the day after high school graduation, his seniority allowed him to retire last year without leaving Anderson. The company (Delco) was sold during these years, but his UAW contract offered security until the buyout came in 2007.
Bruce worked for GM also, but being just two years younger than Jay, he spent many years in Iowa and eventually transferred to a Saturn plant in Tennessee. In the process he earned a degree in Psychology. More on his career travels and a couple of other things in Bruce's own words via email:
Like Jay, I did get to take a year's leave from work as GM began to decline. I used that time to finish my college degree and started my graduate degree at the University of South Dakota. To keep working for GM I had to move from Delco-Remy (Anderson) to Muncie Chevrolet to Sioux City, Iowa and then to Spring Hill, TN as plants closed behind me ( I don't think there's a correlation with that.) My last ten years at GM I was a production supervisor. Now I work with Linda's father at his coin laundries, play golf and play piano once every 8 weeks at a couple of local Assisted Living Centers (a great audience, they never walk out on me).
Tim, after finishing high school in Spencer, worked as an electrician and machinist, and has been employed by the Indiana University School of Optometry for many years in that capacity. Tim is a Mr. Fix-It for anything that needs repairs and installs new equipment at the school and some other facilities at the Bloomington campus and occasionally at the Indianapolis campus. Tim and his wife are very active in the community and he has coached youth league softball.
Lee attended IU, then found that he and Teri could not find employment in Indiana as teachers, so they moved to Okeechobee, Florida and raised two kids of their own while educating a generation of kids. After Lee retired, they moved to Gainesville to be nearer to family.
Jim also finished high school in Spencer. Soon afterward, he was employed with the local power company and became a lineman. Later, Jim became a trouble shooter with the power company. He is the person who tracks down the specific location of problems with the lines, often caused by ice, wind or downed limbs and trees. In this position, Jim travels over most of the southern half of Indiana. Jim has become an avid golfer in recent years and has one hole-in-one to his credit so far.
Kent attended IU and then moved to Houston to work for Exxon. He still works for Exxon, but has lived in faraway places like Alaska and the Middle East.
Todd finished a two year program in accounting in Fort Wayne, then began work for a company that was bought by Scott Paper Company. Finishing his 4 year degree at St. Francis, he changed jobs several times (and sometimes changed companies without changing jobs), and eventually became an employee of Raytheon. Based in Fort Wayne until recently, he and Jill travelled the country for a 3 year period installing software in various Raytheon locations like El Segundo (in California near the LA beaches), Texas, and Boston. They finally settled in Raleigh, NC, where he became the CFO of a Raytheon subsidiary.
Joni became a full-time mom and moved with her husband Bryan to Houston. They spent several years in New Jersey, and finally moved back to Carmel, Indiana as he worked for large home builders.
Tonia attended IU and became a nurse. She worked mainly in Indianapolis and she and Wayne settled in nearby New Castle.
Cary graduated from Purdue in engineering and moved to Kentucky, where he works on large highway projects.
John finished high school in Spencer and has worked in the agricultural field throughout his career. He has been the manager of three farm cooperatives, and currently holds that position at the White River Co-op in Worthington, Ind. John also does some farming of his own plus enjoys refurbishing old tractors and other farm equipment.
Perhaps you noticed we have a serious IU/Purdue split in this generation!
Another thing that stands out is the change from stay at home to working moms. Both of my grandmothers, my mom, and all of my aunts on both sides of the family, were stay at home moms. Aunt Lois became the school secretary at Chesterfield Elementary for several years and mom worked at the Chesterfield Bank for a few years, but basically they were at home until we became adults. In our generation, Joni may have been the only truly stay at home mom. Teri was able to stay home until our kids entered Kindergarten (and was ready to go back to teaching when they went to school).
Although not a 100% change, most of the baby boomers, mainly for economic reasons, were not able to stay in the Anderson area. Jay was the only grandchild to spend his adult life in Anderson. I have noticed that Tim, Jim and John Thacker were able to stay closer to home in southern Indiana.
Anderson made the cover of Life Magazine, one of the largest weekly magazines at the time (owned by Time, Inc.) in the early 80's because the local economy was so bad. GM operations, which once employed about 17,000 people in two major divisions and about 25 plants (sites), will be completely shut down this summer. Even the buildings have disappeared as the company could not afford the heat bills and taxes. Much of the land has been donated to the city. An entire industry in a medium-sized city disappeared in one generation.
Tim, after finishing high school in Spencer, worked as an electrician and machinist, and has been employed by the Indiana University School of Optometry for many years in that capacity. Tim is a Mr. Fix-It for anything that needs repairs and installs new equipment at the school and some other facilities at the Bloomington campus and occasionally at the Indianapolis campus. Tim and his wife are very active in the community and he has coached youth league softball.
Lee attended IU, then found that he and Teri could not find employment in Indiana as teachers, so they moved to Okeechobee, Florida and raised two kids of their own while educating a generation of kids. After Lee retired, they moved to Gainesville to be nearer to family.
Jim also finished high school in Spencer. Soon afterward, he was employed with the local power company and became a lineman. Later, Jim became a trouble shooter with the power company. He is the person who tracks down the specific location of problems with the lines, often caused by ice, wind or downed limbs and trees. In this position, Jim travels over most of the southern half of Indiana. Jim has become an avid golfer in recent years and has one hole-in-one to his credit so far.
Kent attended IU and then moved to Houston to work for Exxon. He still works for Exxon, but has lived in faraway places like Alaska and the Middle East.
Todd finished a two year program in accounting in Fort Wayne, then began work for a company that was bought by Scott Paper Company. Finishing his 4 year degree at St. Francis, he changed jobs several times (and sometimes changed companies without changing jobs), and eventually became an employee of Raytheon. Based in Fort Wayne until recently, he and Jill travelled the country for a 3 year period installing software in various Raytheon locations like El Segundo (in California near the LA beaches), Texas, and Boston. They finally settled in Raleigh, NC, where he became the CFO of a Raytheon subsidiary.
Joni became a full-time mom and moved with her husband Bryan to Houston. They spent several years in New Jersey, and finally moved back to Carmel, Indiana as he worked for large home builders.
Tonia attended IU and became a nurse. She worked mainly in Indianapolis and she and Wayne settled in nearby New Castle.
Cary graduated from Purdue in engineering and moved to Kentucky, where he works on large highway projects.
John finished high school in Spencer and has worked in the agricultural field throughout his career. He has been the manager of three farm cooperatives, and currently holds that position at the White River Co-op in Worthington, Ind. John also does some farming of his own plus enjoys refurbishing old tractors and other farm equipment.
Perhaps you noticed we have a serious IU/Purdue split in this generation!
Another thing that stands out is the change from stay at home to working moms. Both of my grandmothers, my mom, and all of my aunts on both sides of the family, were stay at home moms. Aunt Lois became the school secretary at Chesterfield Elementary for several years and mom worked at the Chesterfield Bank for a few years, but basically they were at home until we became adults. In our generation, Joni may have been the only truly stay at home mom. Teri was able to stay home until our kids entered Kindergarten (and was ready to go back to teaching when they went to school).
Although not a 100% change, most of the baby boomers, mainly for economic reasons, were not able to stay in the Anderson area. Jay was the only grandchild to spend his adult life in Anderson. I have noticed that Tim, Jim and John Thacker were able to stay closer to home in southern Indiana.
Anderson made the cover of Life Magazine, one of the largest weekly magazines at the time (owned by Time, Inc.) in the early 80's because the local economy was so bad. GM operations, which once employed about 17,000 people in two major divisions and about 25 plants (sites), will be completely shut down this summer. Even the buildings have disappeared as the company could not afford the heat bills and taxes. Much of the land has been donated to the city. An entire industry in a medium-sized city disappeared in one generation.
The two pictures at the top show all of the baby boomer cousins. The second picture is with our grandparents George and Della at their house on Christmas Day. Thus the rifles, dolls and cowboy outfits! I'm at the top in front Rich. Jay is to my right. Jim is to my left, between Rich and Pappaw Dixon. Curt is in front of Jay. Bruce is in the center in front of me and Jim. Mammaw is holding baby John. Tim is in the center between the two cowboys... Todd on his right and Kent on his left. Down in front are Joni, Tonia and Cary. I was confused for awhile about the other person in the picture... the one on Joni's lap and partially hidden by the arm of the sofa... until I realized it was her new dolly!
The first picture was the last picture taken of all of the boomer cousins. Based on Curt's memory... and the hair color evidence, it was taken at the dinner following our grandmother's passing. The ladies at Noble Street Methodist prepared a dinner for the family. First row: Tim, Rich, Joni, Tonia, Lee, Bruce. Second Row: John, Jim, Cary, Curt, Kent, Jay, Todd.
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