Can you guess who this one is about? Come on...give it a try. You are right, Lou (Lewis Ross) Cornell!
I don't remember him personally although I was in close proximity. You see, my dad, worked for Lou at times, was friends with Clair, his son, and my mother's sister Evelyn Lounsberry married Clair. We grew up calling Janette Streeter Cornell, Grandma Cornell. I don't remember ever calling Lou, Grandpa.
I am going to start with content that came directly from a handwritten letter from Jeanne Cornell (Fisher) Coddington to my Aunt Ezzy in August of 2020 in response to my request for stories about Lou and Janette (Streeter) Cornell. And, as always, when valuable for furthering a story, commentary will be interwoven...
"Dear Ezzy,
My Dad was very well liked. He had a wealth of friends and loved to get together with his friends and laugh and tell stories and have good times." I have to butt in here. Many in Greenwood have shared about Lou at the Hotel and Lou off on gambling trips or just out and about over the weekend, doing just that, having good times.
"He loved his family including his brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, everyone. He would visit his brother Harold on the farm in Whitesville, and especially enjoyed joining in at milking time when Dad and Harold would sing together. They were both good singers and sang in harmony. It was a pleasure to hear them. They laughed and carried on and had a wonderful time together. And the same happened when he visited his brother Leo near Ulysses PA. He loved them dearly." Here I go again. I guess that is where Uncle Clair got his musical talent. I remember listening to and even dancing to Clair's country band growing up. I also spent many a weekend at the Cornell's with Karen (Clair's 2nd born) when the band was off playing a gig somewhere.
"Dad loved music. Mom would play the piano and Dad would get everyone to sing. He just loved it!"
"Dad's Uncle Bob lived next door to us one time and Dad learned their heat was not keeping them warm enough at night. So Dad took the blankets off his own bed and gave them to his Uncle Bob. He loved all of his family deeply."
"In the late 1950s, Dad started a cable TV business so he could provide TV for Greenwood folks. A lot of the men around town helped with the project by giving him right of way for the lines and poles. As Dad's feet were fractured in a fall doing welding work in a factory previously, Clair, Glen Moore, and others from outside Greenwood were on the crew that did the work. He started with a small group in Greenwood, then made his company with Addison and Campbell, before taking on Andover." John Murray here. I worked for Lou in the late 50s, early 60s, doing installations and repairs in Greenwood, Addison, and Campbell, and helped with the new build in Andover.
"He loved animals. We always had a dog and Dad would nap on the couch with his arms around whatever dog we had." John back again. He loved all kinds of animals, he even loved snakes. He would walk around with garter snakes in his pockets to shock people. In Addison, the cable tower was at the top of Rattlesnake Hill. You know where this is going, right? The office manager had never seen a rattlesnake. Well... while we were working there one day, Lou and I were driving up to the tower and a rattler slithered across the road. Lou said, "turn around", so back we went. The snake was gone. Lou hopped out of the car and went searching for that snake in the high grass. Not me. I stood solidly in the middle of the road and waited for him.
"He also had a large parrot at one point. The parrot, BOBO, would perch on a chair back at the breakfast table and enjoy scrambled eggs with Dad. It was a large, brightly colored bird and Mom tolerated it well." Jumping in again. As noted by others, Lou walked around town with that bird perched on his shoulder and taught it to swear. People loved to see him coming and couldn't wait to hear what old Bobo had to say, s$%, h*&^.....
"However, Mom put her foot down when Dad came home with a monkey." Me again. Lou the Master Trader. He traded someone for that monkey. He loved to get the best of people in a trade. Of course, it was his definition of best. I mean, a monkey in Greenwood? He once even traded a car for a cow. Back to Jeanne. "The monkey had to go down to Dad's shop to live." John Murray here. The shop was on Fenton Ave where he also had a welding school for a time. Lou was also a Master Welder. One of my biggest regrets was not taking him up on free attendance at his school. I missed out on learning from a Top 10 Welder in the World in the early 1950s. Me again. Remember the anecdote my dad shared in his story about that monkey relieving himself all over his new jacket and also all over Janette's curtains. I think she was justified, don't you?
A quick story from his grandchildren. Now, Lou was known for taking off on trips with his friends. This one time (okay it may have been more than one time), Lou was gone a few days. His friends got in some serious trouble when they returned; but, as she always did, Janette just exclaimed, "He is such a stinker." And of course followed that by buying all new carpet for the house. So Janette.
"When Dad passed away, Russell Wildman, the funeral director in Whitesville, said it was the biggest funeral he ever had. Even the nuns from St James Hospital came to pray. Blanche Goodno, a lovely lady from town, said "The sunshine has gone out of Greenwood." And, it had for many of us who had the pleasure of being part of his life."
"This makes me cry to remember all of these things. I probably better wash my face and put new makeup on." Me. And, to all that know Jeanne, that sounds just like her, too.
"Love and Hugs,
Your sister, Jeanne"