My father had two brothers, Edmund Clayton (Ed) and Ira Paul (Paul), who died young. When I was a girl, Unlce Ed and his family lived closeby in Scituate, R.I. . I have warm memories of our frequent visits and the summers when I'd spend a week with Uncle Ed and Aunt Lou and my cousins Teddy and Louise.
Part 2 -- My father's brothers
Ira Paul Nye
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| (Left to Right) Edmund Clayton, Charles Vernon, and Ira Paul Nye |
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| my father with his big brother, Paul |
My father's memories of
his brother Paul, who was six years older than him: He was very head-strong. When he was only 16, he quit school and worked for an insurance company in Boston. At 16, he was "old" for his age. He smoked like a chimney. He was very popular with the girls.
He was a very talented artist.
One day, he went out in the rain, got his feet wet, and was sick for weeks. Because his lungs were weak from smoking, his cold developed into pneumonia. They had no antibiotics in those days. They "tapped" him -- drew water from his lungs, which caused an embolism which went right to his heart. "He died just before his 18th birthday, when I was twelve. He didn't like me too well. He'd raise hell with me. I'd say, 'I wish you were dead'. I regretted it. I had pneumonia at the same time. The doctor told me, 'There wasn't enough of you to be sick.' They embalmed him at the house; you could smell the formaldehyde. He was laid out in the dining room.....It ruined my father."
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| Paul and my father |
Edmund Clayton Nye
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| Ed with his big brother, Charles Vernon |
My father's memories of his baby brother,
Edmund: "Ed was 4 years younger and used to follow us and we'd throw stones at him so he wouldn't follow. He always wanted to tag along. He had very beautiful curly golden blond hair. We shared a bedroom."
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| a friend, my father, his brother Ed |
