Alan Crawford

The interest in the restoration of the Benedict house article resulted in a number of family genealogical inquiries and so on. The family was large by today’s standards. I won’t bother going into all the individuals, but would like to focus on only one, Alonzo (Lonnie) Benedict, b. 09-27-1914; d. 05-26-2005, this week which will also document another home in our community.

Lonnie was a close family friend and his wife, Evelyn Pressler, b. 04-23-1919; d. 08-07-2016, was a second cousin. He was a proud veteran of World War II, earning the rank of Cm2 in the U S Navy.

Returning to the Town of Newburgh after serving his country, soon to be blessed with three young daughters running around, he settled in next to his family’s home which I just wrote about. The “can do” attitude of this generation is reflected in how he transformed the garage, next door to the home he grew up in, into a comfortable home.

One of the major employers of the area during that time period was Fabrikoid, later becoming Dupont, where Lonnie was employed. In one of their company newsletters, an article was written about how Lonnie and his father converted the garage into the home I remember. Later, in the 1950’s, an addition was added with the help of his friends, including my father among others.

These are a few of the family’s photographs in the old garage of an accident prior to the transformation and a snippet of the article from the company paper, which shows Lonnie and his father standing in front of the house as it neared completion.

Today, housing is still difficult for a young family to obtain with skyrocketing costs, permits, and taxes. Somehow the “greatest generation” overcame the obstacles placed in their path and made our Town a place to be proud of, where anyone would love to live. And, they still carved out time for some fun and recreation as seen in photo of my father, with Lonnie and his plane in the old airport in Gardiner.

They worked with what they had, saved what they could, and provided for their loved ones. Gardens were carefully tended to provide fresh produce during the summer and, in the fall, canning preserved some for during the winter. This was a time where you couldn’t simply go down to a large supermarket and choose from a wide variety trucked in from not only from all over the country, but also from around the world.

I look back sometimes and long for this contentment and satisfaction from a job well done. Today’s mega mansions are impressive, but not as much as what the previous generation provided us with. Thank you for both the guidance on living a great life, and thank you for the things you gave us.