Roy Vernon Albea, Sr (52 Ancestors)

     I'm participating in the 52 Ancestors Challenge in Ahnentafel order, so week six is about my maternal grandfather (Grandaddy).  And once again, I'm getting behind!

   They say that twins run in the family, and if so my Grandaddy, Roy Albea, Sr, is the reason that I'm a twin.  He and his brother, Ray, were born in 1926 to Charles Vernon Albea and Auline Witt in Greenwood, South Carolina.  He and his brother contracted pneumonia when they were only six months old.  His brother succumbed and the doctor told Auline that Roy would not survive either.  Auline wasn't willing to loose both of her sons, so she told the doctor to leave and took care of Roy herself.  Thanks to his mother and older sisters' care, Roy survived.

     His parents worked in the textile mills throughout the area, and, against his mother's wishes, he quit school at 16 to work full time.  When he was 20 years old, he first met Betty Huyler and that very day declared that he would marry her.  The couple moved around for a few years, with Roy moving from job to job (as his father had always done) before Betty put her food down and demanded that Roy find a job and stick with it.  He found a job as a truck driver in Atlanta and stayed with the company until retirement.  He had a perfect safety record.