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FAMILY HISTORY
This is an ever-expanding chronicle of my family. I’ll add new stuff to it when I can.
PARENTS
My parents met in 1962 at a drag race (I believe). Mom knew her way around cars and dad was already racing his own little dragster. They became close quickly, as evidenced by their marriage in April of 1963. That marriage might have been expedited by the fact that my mom was pregnant and in those days giving birth out of wedlock was verboten. That said, they adopted away the child never to be seen again. Oh wait just kidding, I met my sister later in life, BEFORE I KNEW SHE WAS MY SISTER. Here’s that story.
After marriage they settled into a house in Kirkland, WA where mom worked for Boeing and dad raced cars professionally. In fact, he won the world championship in 1973!
They tried to have another kid until 1971 when my brother finally materialized. When I came around 5 years later dad quit racing to be the regional manager for the National Hot Rod Association. We moved to Renton, WA and not long after that my mom got brain cancer and died and everything went haywire after that!
JILG FAMILY – MOTHER’S SIDE
The Jilg family originates in Austria and other European locales from a long lineage of sausage makers. Heinrich Jilg brought his meat knowledge to the US in the late 1800s and set up shop in Albany but after vandals burned his factory down he got fed up and moved as far away from New York as possible aka Seattle. Soon the Jilg Sausage Company, run by three siblings including Heinrich, was dominating the local meat scene and had a flagship store in Pike Place Market. During the hard economic times of the great depression they turned to my Great Uncle Bert, the person handling the finances, and said “We’re good, though, right? We have plenty in the bank?” at which point Bert likely pulled on his collar nervously. Apparently Bert gambled away all the cash reserves for the company and was in debt with the mob. He disappeared soon after, never to be heard from again, and the sausage company limped along until Oberto bought them out. The same Oberto that is now the sausage lord of Seattle, a title my family could have had!
*all this is according to family legend and I have no way to verify
Grandpa Henry was a detective in the Seattle Police Department for many years and the whole family loved guns. Guns guns guns! Supposedly there were pistols hidden everywhere in the house. In couches, in drawers, everywhere. My mom always had a pistol on her person at all times.
Jilg Sausage company ads from the early 20th century
HALL FAMILY – FATHER’S SIDE
The Hall family came to Seattle from the Midwest. I don’t know much beyond that! My dad and uncle grew up in the Wallingford area of Seattle. In fact, my Uncle Jim was the first customer ever at Dick’s Drive-In as they lived right across the street from the first one that opened in 1954.
Grandpa Warren was a coast guard guy, then did ~something~ for work after that. His brother painted the roof of the Space Needle when it was completed in 1962.
