MY BROTHER

I am the youngest in a family of four children.  The first-born was Jeannette and she was born fifteen years ahead of me.  [Debbie taught me to use the term 'first-born' as opposed to 'oldest'.   :-)]  I'll write about Jeannette someday, but it'll have to be a long blog!  Ira was the second-born and he was born twelve years before me.  Then came Beverly, who is seven years older than me.  I was born in 1952.

From July, 2014

Obviously, Ira was twelve when I was born.  Most of us don't remember much before the age of four or five.  Our family moved from Beaver Falls, PA to New Brighton, PA (across the river) when I was about five.  I have few memories of the old house.  Ira was a senior in high school when we moved;  I was in kindergarten.  I started school in Beaver Falls, but finished in New Brighton.  Because Ira was a senior and had a driver's license, he was allowed to finish his high school in Beaver Falls.

I have no recollection of Ira living at home with us.  When he graduated, he moved to the Rochester, New York area and began taking classes at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  I believe he also took classes at Roberts Wesleyan College.  I remember our family driving to Buffalo, New York one day to watch him play in a soccer game;  he was the goalie - I was impressed!

I have two memories of him still being at home.  The first is of us sleeping in the same room at the new house.  One night, he came in and fell asleep on his belly with his arms hanging over the sides of the bed.  I was in the other twin bed and was still awake.  He was wearing a diver's watch with an illuminated dial.  I laid for a long time looking at that watch and at him.  I admired him so much!  He was my big brother!  I could hardly believe it!

The second memory is of him coming into the new house with a friend while we were eating a late supper.  Ira always was a joker and comedian.  He and his friend had been at a carnival and he had won a large clown (about three-feet tall).  I was so impressed!  Before he and his friend left, he gave the clown to our sister, Beverly!  Wow!  There was no jealousy on my part;  I was too busy admiring him for his kindness and generosity!  I knew I wanted to be like him.

Eventually Ira married Joyce and they moved to Philadelphia.  During those years, my folks and I made occasional trips to visit them and they made occasional visits to New Brighton.  Ira became very invested in leadership in his local Free Methodist Church;  as did Joyce.  For a while, he studied at the Philadelphia College of Bible.  

After that, he faded from my life until I graduated from high school.  At that time (1969), he was married and he and Joyce had two young children:  Sandee and Lee.  Good-paying jobs for newly graduated seniors were scarce in the Beaver Valley at the time.  He called and told me that Joyce's father would hire me to work as a helper for his roofing/air conditioning crew and pay me $2.00/hour!  I couldn't find anything close to that around home.  I needed to make money to help pay for my college costs.  

With my parent's blessing, I left home three days after graduation and headed for Roslyn, PA in my 1963 Chevy.  I had just turned seventeen four months earlier.  He and Joyce had prepared a room for me in their attic where I was very comfortable.  Twitch's (Carlos Twitchell - Joyce's dad and my new boss) was just a mile away.  I started immediately working alongside two other future ministers and RWC alumni:  Bill Rushik and Carl Stiglich.  

Twitch also hired me to do his lawn work in the evenings and on Saturdays.  In addition, I was encouraged to work with Jerry Rushik (Bill's dad) in the metal shop in the evenings banging duct-work together.  It was a great situation for me and I learned so much!  I grew strong from carrying bundles of shingles and buckets of hot tar.  One day, I shoveled a full dump truck of gravel into buckets and handed them up to the roof .  That same evening, though exhausted, I began hitch-hiking home for John and Joan Mitchell's wedding.  :-)  [That's a story for another time.]

During this season of life, my admiration for my brother grew.  He had a small machine shop at Twitch's and worked there almost every evening.  He usually had a couple of cars;  often one of them was an older car that he had worked on.  Later in life, he had a Corvette - one of my unfulfilled life dreams!  He knew about cars.  He talked a language that my Dad understood, but I did not.  When he would visit, they would talk 'shop'.  Again, I envied him for a relationship with our Dad that I did not share.  

Ira's expertise as a machinist was extreme.  He later had his own shop in Canton, PA where he employed a number of people.  He designed and made a very complex part for the first space shuttle!  He navigated the transition of his trade into the computer age - a major feat with massive implications!  

Even though I spent a couple of summers (and Christmas seasons) in Philly living with him, we never really developed our relationship.  I did get to know Joyce a lot better and we spent some nice time together.  Sandee and Lee were really young.  It was fun for me to be around them during that stage of life, although I'm sure neither of them remember it.  Joyce made my lunch every day;  she made me boiled ham sandwiches - which was something new for me.  I loved them!  

After I was married, Debbie and I tried to go and visit them at least once a year.  By then, they had moved to north-central Pennsylvania and were living on a farm with Twitch and Ethel (Joyce's Mom).  Ira had his shop and together they all raised Angora goats.  It seemed to be a good time for all of them.  One year, Joyce had the whole Haire family come for a Thanksgiving feast - it was WONDERFUL!!!!

Our kids always loved going to visit Uncle Ira.  Of course, it helped that he had two four-wheelers!  He would put them in first gear and allow the kids to ride them around his house.  They were thrilled!  He had a 'bread-and-butter' job at the time making lawn mower pulleys in his shop.  He would pay Travis a penny to put the screws in the pulleys.  In doing so he helped to cultivate Travis' entrepreneurial spirit!!!!  

One day, when Troy and Tracie were young teens, we visited and they rode the four-wheelers almost non-stop!  When we were leaving, Troy asked me if Uncle Ira would sell the four-wheelers to us.  I told him to ask Uncle Ira.  Ira explained to Troy that he had just spent a lot of money to get them both running again and that he would have to ask for $1,500.  Troy asked me if we could buy them.  We had just moved to Spencerville, Maryland that summer.  The kids were having difficulty making friends and we were all missing our East Liverpool connections.  The church had hired Troy and Tracie to take care of cutting the large lawn around the church;  so they had some income.  I asked if they could each chip in $33/month?  They said, "YES!"  I told them that I would add $34 to make it $100.  That's how the quads became a permanent part of the Haire Family legacy!

A few weeks later, we took a trailer and brought the quads to Spencerville.  Within days, they had made dozens of new friends!  I still have those quads today and they still run!  :-)

Every time we visited Ira, he would stick a twenty-dollar-bill in my hand or pocket.  When I was ordained, he and Joyce bought me an expensive set of International Bible Encyclopedias that I used heavily during the next forty years!  He would fill my trunk with things he thought I could use.

Over the years, Joyce has hosted the Haire family over the Fourth of July several times.  These times were essential in helping us to stay connected after the passing of our parents!

Ira and Joyce have always made a deep investment in their church.  When they moved to Leroy, PA, they became United Methodist since there was no Free Methodist Church nearby.  Later, they transitioned to the Mennonite Church and played a role in growing that congregation and helping to build a new, contemporary building.  Ira's influence and opinion has always been respected;  people respond to his humor and his integrity!  His investment as a trustee has been appreciated by every church that he has been a part of.  I've accompanied him several times while he did small jobs around his church.

Over the years, I made a practice of having annual retreats at a place near where Ira and Joyce live.  I would always carve out a morning to have breakfast with Ira.  It was something I looked forward to.  Sometimes I would have a meal with them at their house, too.  He repeatedly took me to breakfast groups with some of his friends from the community.  I became accustomed to him introducing me as his "kid brother".

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina did so much damage in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Ira volunteered with the Red Cross and ran one of their shelters for an extended period of time.  During this time, he led several teams from his church and area to assist in the recovery efforts.  He also took the initiative to personally link families from his area to families that had been displaced.  These connections provided prayer, resources and assistance at a time when it was severely needed!

Bottom Line:  Although we've not had a close relationship like some brothers, I've always loved, respected and admired my big brother - and I still do!