THADDEUS BYNUM, SR., a.k.a. "Saia" or "Pepper," was born in Brusly, LA.,
on April 12, 1915. He entered the
Armed Services in 1943 and retired in 1965 serving in World War II, the Korean
War and the Vietnam War. After
retirement from the Air Force he worked for the Veterans Administration (1 yr)
and Civil Service 17 years retiring again in 1984.
He married Esther Floyd in 1946 which produced four children; two
daughters Gloria Dean Younginer, Jo Ann McKnight, and two sons Thaddeus Bynum,
Jr. and Larry Jerome Bynum.
Grandchildren: Danielle Barr, Gregory Barrington McKnight, II (Barry); Victoria
Lynn Younginer (Vicki), Jacob McArthur Younginer, Jr. (Craig), and Carlus Bynum.
There are 5 Great grandchildren: Christopher Bynum, Sirhara Barr (deceased),
DeShant Cooper, Remington Alexander McKnight (Remy), Antoinette Cooper (Toni).
He definitely was considered “a year round Santa Claus” by his
grandchildren…if they asked for it, they got it.
If they couldn’t decide what flavor ice cream, then they got 2 flavors,
if they wanted something they didn’t think the parents would get for
them---straight to Papa!
He even had a sign on his bar. ”If I had known how much fun grandkids
would be, I’d had them first."
He spent his early retirement years enjoying his grandchildren and
2 great- grands, Sirhara and Chris… He was always hands- on with all of us,
helping with math homework, he coached little league baseball, and of course,
taught us card games, solitaire, whist, casino, tonk.
He could play a mean game of checkers also!!!
Always an avid sports fan, he loved his St Louis Cardinals baseball team
and the Denver Broncos Football Team.
Dad was also a handy man. He was always tinkering with some small
appliance or a car. He knew a little
about everything. We all called upon
him, even the neighbors for help with various projects, from automobiles to
ceiling fans, toasters, you name it!
Larry remembers a story when he was holding a light for him while
working on a car, when Dad asked him if he could see whatever it was he was
working on and Larry said,” yeah, I see it man” then Dad started with the &#@%*!
“Then hold the damn light on it so I can see it too.”
He was proud of the fact that he’d quit smoking.
During a football game he had asked Larry to go get him a pack of
cigarettes, when Larry said “you can’t even go five minutes without a
cigarette”, he took the challenge and carried around the few left in his pack
for a couple of weeks. He never
smoked again.
Dad was an avid gardener also, he had a vegetable garden in the
back yard, and another one in JoAnn’s back yard, not to mention Mom’s colorful
flowers he had to plant and tend...
Mom’s health failed in the late eighties and he took wonderful care
of her for more than 7 years while she was on kidney dialysis.
He had to bathe her, comb her hair, dress
her, and drive her to dialysis 3 times a week.
He prepared all of her meals and served her, counted out her medicines
into the daily dispensers, did the laundry, housecleaning, shopping, and
entertaining her. This was
remarkable since he was advancing in age. Mother passed away in February, 1995,
and he was 80 years old then. He was
lost without her; we all tried to be more attentive, and talked him into going
for a physical. He loved to brag
that he didn’t need any “sawbones”, that he hadn’t seen a doctor in twenty
years. When he did go, he was
diagnosed with an advanced stage of prostate cancer in June, 1996, he went
downhill very quickly and died on August 7, 1996.
The four of us will always remember the wonderful stories he told,
as I am sure many of you will, the sacrifices he made and the wonderful way he
took care of us. But we knew he was
where he wanted to be, with Mom again.
