My dad was a huge fan of hard work, family and saving money for a rainy day. Never one to waste time, for him time was money. He barely graduated high school, having to go to summer school to retake English, to get his diploma.
I think that is why he always preached about getting good grades and continuing your education as far as your talents could take you. Set goals, work hard, be honest and never give up on your dreams. These are the lessons I learned from my dad, these are the values I pass on to my children and grandchildren.
As soon as he finished with all that school stuff, he scraped together enough money doing odd jobs to buy himself a truck, a used one that he paid for all cash. He worked for an oil company for the first few years after he married my mom at age 19 but always had the plan to be his own boss.
Dad and I on my wedding Day.
He started doing landscape work after hours and on weekends, slowly buying tools of the trade, always in cash. By the time he hit the old age of 21, he had set his sights on buying a backhoe which allowed him to branch out to larger jobs, planting trees and building sidewalks and paths throughout gardens.
The dump truck came next, which was followed by a roller and a grader, which is a multi-purpose earth-moving tool. This helped him branch out to paving walkways and then driveways, where the real money was to be made.
By the time he was 25 he had earned enough to give up his day job to become his own boss as a paving contractor.
He bought several acres of land and built his own home with the help of his father who was a master carpenter. His brothers and brother-in-law, who were younger than him, came on board to join in the adventure.
He also used the land to house the equipment he had purchased for his small paving business.
As the years flew by, his business grew. Never carrying much debt, he paid cash for almost everything he owned, he hated paying interest on anything. I can still hear him say, "In God we trust, others pay cash."
Another one of his sayings was "a penny saved is a dollar earned". It's not what you make, but how much you save, he would say.
His motivation for all this hard work was to provide for his family. But he also enjoyed being the boss making the big decisions. He was very demanding of his crew but always paid them well for their commitment to the company.
For a man with so little education, he was unbelievable with numbers and foresight. By the time my dad was 60, he had invested in more land and built an industrial complex with 9 rental buildings which would provide a nice retirement for him and my mom. They traveled the world in his semi-retirement, I say semi, because he never actually retired, even after my brothers took over the paving business, he would pop into the office or on a job to check things out, he called himself "the consultant". He truly loved the work.
The man was a genius, however humble he was, his story amazes me to this day.
He was born in 1930 which dropped him into the silent generation as seen in this chart. That generation lived through World War 2 and the great depression; they were also known as the Traditional generation.
I have often wondered how he managed all this, We were a family of 9 including my parents, we all went to private schools, wore good shoes and as he would joke, had good teeth.
After he passed away, we were all dumbfounded by how much money he had tucked away, a bunch in cash of course, all his properties were debt free, providing all of his children with continued yearly incomes, who thinks of these things so young and dumb brilliant?
My dad, what a corker!
Always up for a good time and a really great storyteller, he could command a room, getting laughs left and right.
I still miss him every day but I am so thankful for his wisdom, example, and love. He truly left an incredible legacy for his seven children, his 18 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, with probably more to come.
Big hugs Robert H. Rapp & company, your legacy lives on.
Thanks so much to the #silverbloggers community, this was a wonderful #silverprompt. Wishing the community HAPPY BIRTHDAY, what an incredible journey, I am so proud to be part of this glorious party.
Much love,
Big hugs,
Jackie o
