Wednesday, December 2, 1936
- Jill Johnson Tewsley
- Dec 2, 2020
- 2 min read
FOOTBALL
Morse went to G.R
Went to L.A.S.
Good attendance.
Good dinner.
On this day in 1936, Morse went to Grand Rapids. A few days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, he went to Saginaw with some friends to see a football game.
After reading Edna's Thanksgiving Day entry noting that Morse went to see a football game by Coach Finch's team, I was curious. Who was Coach Finch? A brief mention in the Dec. 3, 1936 edition of the Lowell Ledger gave me an answer. Morse and his friends once played football for Coach Finch.
There must have been a bond between these young men, who were a few years out of high school by this time, and their former coach that compelled them to make this journey on Thanksgiving Day.
The Johnson men have a history of playing football.
Both of Morse's brothers, Bob (my grandpa) and Hank also played in high school.
It is interesting to note that all three of the brothers, despite living in the same location, attended and played for different high schools. The difference in their ages, changing district boundaries, and school closures must have been at play. My grandpa played for Alto. Morse played for Lowell. Hank played for Caledonia.
According to my dad, Hank had to quit football in high school after sustaining a serious injury during a game ...he ruptured his spleen.
My dad (Dick) and his brother Paul both played football and baseball in high school. My dad was a star pitcher for his high school team. I will tell you more about that some other time.
The photo below is the 1948/49 Caledonia High School football team. That's my dad under the red arrow sporting the number eleven. It just so happens that the guy I married always wore the number eleven on his jersey.
Two of Hank's sons, Jim and Steve played football in high school (about 20 years apart). Jim was a star football player. He went on to play in college for Michigan State. Jim was a freshman in 1987 when MSU won the Rose Bowl. He started for MSU in 1989, 90 and 91. In 1992, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos.
That's Jim with his mom Maxine.
You haven't met Maxine in Edna's journal yet because in 1936 she hadn't quite made her way into the Johnson family. Hank and Maxine marry in 1946 and make their home on the farm with Henry and Edna.
Edna and Maxine, both incredible women, each resided on the farm for over sixty years. Their stays overlapped by twenty years (1946 - 1966).
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