The Effect of Family Friends

The Lisle family and its corporation impacted us from a personal point of view. This happened to very few people. Gong-Gong was a family friend first, I think. She and Edwin Sr’s wife Edith Crane Lisle were longtime companions after Ed died in 1936. This friendship started well before we used to call her Aunt Edith. (My sister Edie was named after her.) When I knew her, she was amazingly old.

The Lisles were a very large part of my childhood including some very strong friendships with Helen’s kids, the Greenlees, and the Arthurs, various Lisle branches, and so forth. My Aunt Doris married Charlie and the grandchildren of Edwin Sr. were my friends. They were easily, all of them, innovative and eccentric people.

I remember these in Daddy’s workshop. A lot of people had them. I can still hear Daddy whistle Jeepers Creepers frequently throughout the day. I don’t know if many people knew these creepers were once named after the 1938 song by Johnny Mercer.

Dad also had this. He and Eddie, Jr. were fast friends.

This was Aunt Edith’s house. All of her 4 children were born and raised here. One of her children, Charles Vernon, nicknamed Vern, became a well known Iowa state senator. That impacted me later in life as I studied international law and used that knowledge overseas.

It then became Mama’s home for a few years after she and Daddy divorced. She sold it to a couple before she died who graduated high school with me. I lost track of it after that.

This was Eddie Lisle’s son. I knew him as Freddie. His older sister Nanette and I used to hang out together. She raised an owl from a baby, and knew everything about them. Usually when you were at their house you learned to duck.

I would never tell her, but he was an adorable little boy. Nanette picked on him mercilessly and I did the same. Kids do that. Honestly, he came the closest to the brother I didn’t get to have.

Freddie grew up to become the President of Lisle Corporation. I didn’t get a chance to tell him I was very proud. He died at the age of 57 from the complications of pneumonia in 2018 long before COVID reared its ugly head. It was fast and furious. Everyone was shocked, including me.

The dynasty didn’t end there. I hope they all live long and prosper.