We'll miss you, grandpa Koester...

My mom's dad, Oscar, was born in 1914. His great grandfather was the first to leave their little town in Germany when they were conscripting boys for the war against Russia... and was the first to settle in southern Illinois (Red Bud).

Mom grew up on the dairy farm with 7 siblings; there are a lot of us grandkids...and so far, 12 great-grandchildren. Quite a family legacy...

As you can see, he always got a collared shirt of some kind for Christmas (his birthday the day after Christmas too..) The photo says 1998, but that was actually around 2002 or so..
He was great at Scrabble. He had one of those boards where each letter tile had it's own little box to sit in.. and I think the board would even spin around to the next player.
It was good to see the whole family there this weekend - we'll see you at Thanksgiving,