The topic for this week is “Solitude”. My grandfather’s brother, my great-uncle Ollie. Ollie was six years younger than him. Most of what I know has come from a few stories from my grandma, and what I’ve found from records research.

Ollie was born in Elba, New York, the fourth child of Freeman and Minnie Barber.  He spent most of his life between Elba and Byron. He never married, living with his parents, or other family members, and working on family farms.

A high school graduate, he joined the Army in January of 1942, and was discharged in 1945. He was 5’9”, brown-haired and blue-eyed, according to his WWII draft card.

I remember my grandmother telling me he had some issues with alcohol, particularly after a girlfriend had passed away.  What I remember is a quiet, hardworking man, who was our school janitor. He never complained and was devoted to my grandmother after Grandpa’s death. He passed away after a long illness in our local VA hospital and is buried next to his parents and some of his siblings, in my hometown.