Olla Albert 'Al' Kessler
Born on; 17 Nov 1921 in Independence, Kansas
Died on; Sep 06 1993 in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, CA
On a personal and sentimental note. . .
I hardly know where or how to begin to talk about my Grandfather. He was a great many things to a great many people but to my family he was the best of men and someone we all looked up to and loved dearly. Though almost 20 years have passed, we still see him in the faces of men driving old cadillacs and wearing golf hats. His memory floats to us on the breeze, as it carries the smell of a nearby cigar or pipe. Every so often when I catch the smell of chlorine from a swimming pool, I can not help but think of the times he tried to teach my sister, brother and me how to swim and dive.
He was the quintessential strong silent type, looking like a big Humphrey Bogart, but far more handsome. He never once said a harsh word to anyone, I ever heard tell of and he could fix, repair or rig anything.
Grandad always smelled wonderful to us, like pipe tobacco, Old Spice, hair pomade and on special occasions, Christian Brothers all mixed together in the best possible way. He is in ALL of these singularly small things around us and many years later, these and so many other things set us to remembering that big, gentle, giant that was our Grandad.
The Tree above, is one of the beautiful Oaks on my Grandfather's Ranch in San Juan Bautista, CA.
I WILL walk on that ranch again one day, bank on it!
