What stood out most about Henry Orval Lord? His kindness and common sense. Everybody loved him. He drove a truck after mother died, and that helped him keep company.
He would not drive at night, so the family never got to go into band concerts at night. One time we all held a rope to keep him in the hay maw till he promised to drive us in. When we went, we had a wonderful time. They had five gallon drums of ice cream and everyone got to have some after the concert.
Orval was was a deacon. He would always keep his eyes closed during the sermon, and we'd joke around and accuse him of falling asleep. But when we asked him question, he could remember everything from the sermon. He was paying attention, even with his eyes closed. We went to Christian Church in West liberty. It was a brick school building. We didn't have a regular preacher, so we got students from Butler who would come and teach. Our family would take them back to the interurban to get them back to Indianapolis. (Can't remember what town it was where the interurban was located, but we'll find that out.)
One time his young son Frank was sitting on the preacher's lap, and he spilled all the jelly beans. He turned to his dad and said, "The pastor made me do it!"
But sometimes, he was too good for his own sake. During the Great Depression, he signed the loan note for Charles Walter Conway, who didn't repay it, and lost the farm. An old attorney in Kokomo bought the farm, and Orval paid him back. Yes, sometimes he was too good for his own sake.
The saddest thing, when Grandfather Lord died, was when the family all got together and decided someone should move in with Viola Jane. They decided Orval and his family should go live with her and take care of her. After the family decided it, mother cried. It was very hard for her to live there, because she felt she had to keep the kids quiet all the time for Grandmother Lord's sake. Plus, Mother had just put strawberry plants out at her other place.
They didn't have lawyers in those days and Orval Lord would be the mediator. They'd put up chairs in the big room in the house, and a group of men would come over and discuss it. If there was a dispute over a fence row, or if somebody's dogs killed someone else's sheep, he'd help settle it. He was quiet, but wise.
If he and mother had a spat, he'd give her a kiss on the cheek and go to the barn till she cooled down. "Making up is the best part, anyway!" he'd say.
He thought Frank was something else. He had three girls, and, finally, one son.
They'd often have company over, but he liked to go to bed early. He'd say, "Stay as long as you want, I'm going to bed!" They'd tease him about it and repeat it.
Steve, Orval, Linda
