CRYSTALWIZ'S JIM'S PAGE


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Jim's Page


For your listening pleasure
I bring you "Wind Beneath My Wings"

James Noel O'Neal

Francis Marion O'Neal
and Wife
Olivia Roberson
1890's
(Jim's Grandparents)

This page is dedicated to:
Francis Marion O’Neal (Uncle Frank)
and Hettie Pollard O’Neal (Aunt Hettie) Gone, but never forgotten!
My name is James Noel O’Neal
and I was born on June 6, 1943 in Tiptonville, Tennessee.
I am the son of James Joseph O’Neal and Ethel Mai (Cantrell) O’Neal.
My Mother was my Fathers’ second wife
and they had 2 children.
I have a brother who lives in Clear Water Florida.
His name is J.D. O’Neal and he
is 3 years older than me.
My Mother was born in Sherman, Texas
somewhere between 1917 and 1919.
She was very young when she married my Father,
but she also died very young.
I don’t know much about her or her family as
there are no records to be found.
I was only 3 years old
when she passed away in 1946
and the only thing I have of hers
is two old faded photographs.
No one in my family seems to know
anything about her other than her name.
She was very ill and was unable
to care for me and my brother, so my Father
asked his brother and wife (Uncle Frank and Aunt Hettie) if
they would raise me and
they were very happy to comply to my Fathers request.
I was then taken to Piggott, Arkansas to live
with my Aunt and Uncle. My brother J.D., went to live with
our half sister, Mary in Tennessee.
My Father was born in Tennessee in 1880 and passed away in Tennessee in 1950.
I was 7 at the time of his passing,
but I do have some photographs of him with my Uncle Frank.


Uncle Frank on the left, my Father on the right

Life with Uncle Frank and Aunt Hettie
My life was great living with my Aunt and Uncle.
Even though they were
in their 60's when they took me to raise,
it was filled with love, happy times and stability.
They taught me in the ways of "the old school"
where a hand shake was better than a written contract
and a gentlemans word was gold!
As time went on, my Aunt Hettie got ill
and then she passed away when I was 13 years old.
I continued to live with my Uncle Frank
and his health began to fail.
Just before his death in 1958,
he had his Grandson, Tom O'Neal
from Kenosha, WI
to come for me and take me up north.
Tom asked me where I wanted to live
and I told him I wanted to stay in Arkansas,
but that was not to happen.
I suggested that maybe I could live
with my half brother, John Dallas O'Neal
and his family in Chicago.
He took me to their house and my
sister-in-law, Gladys Mae said I could
stay with them as long as I went to school.
Again, I have another home!
Well, school was a bore!
I told Gladys that I was moving out
and getting a job and my own place to live.
What dreams I had!
I found a place to get a fake I.D.
and I did get a job at J.P. Seeburg!
I was a welder there! I worked
there for the summer, then took a vacation
and did not return to work.
I joined the Navy!
My Navy Tour
I joined the Navy on
September 17, 1960 and was stationed
in San Diego for Boot Camp.
After I finished Boot Camp, I was assigned
aboard the U.S.S. Bennington CVS-20
with my home port in San Diego.
I spent 6 months there and 6 months in Youkuska, Japan.
During one of my leaves, I returned to Chicago
and married my girlfriend,
Sandra Jo Knight in August of 1962.
We had 2 wonderful daughters from that marriage,
Karen and Kelly. You can meet them on "Our Daughter's Page".
Well, back to my Navy experience.
I spent a total of 3 years and 3 months stationed on the U.S.S. Bennington.
We toured the South Pacific and
my duties on board were in the
Gunnery Small Arms department.
I played it real smart while in the service.
I would help the cook make sandwiches
for the crew and when I,
or my Petty Officer 1st Class got hungry,
I could get us something to eat!
I was always swapping a favor for a favor!
During one of our routine inspections,
the Captain saw how good my shoes
were shinning and he said to me,
"How can I judge your shoes when
they shine better than mine".
Needless to say, he appointed me
as his "shoe shinner" so he could tell
the other crew members to do a
better job at shinning theirs!
I was honored and glad to do
that for him as it enabled me
to get special favors from him!
I talked one of my buddies into
staying on board one weekend and help me
clean and paint our work area to get
it ready for inspection.
He reluctantly did and we cleaned,
painted and scrubbed! When inspection
came around, the Captain was so impressed with how it
looked that we won a week long trip to
Clark Air Force Base in the Phillipines!
What a beautiful place. We had a great time.
I was able to get my High School Diploma
while in the service and
finished my duty in March of 1964.
After My Navy Years

age 23
I returned home to my wife and had returned
to work at Seeburg.
After Seeburg terminated the position I held,
I went to work for the
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.
I was Sgt. of Police. During that time,
Sandra and I divorced. In 1979, I was the Driver for
Ex-Governor, John B. Connally when he was here in Chicago.
He was a candidate for The President of the United States during that time.
I changed jobs again to the one I presently have
with the City of Chicago at O'Hare Airport.
I have been there for 21 years and
during that time I met and married
Belinda Kay (Cagle) Grimes.
We have no children together
but we do have each other!
Our marriage has been fabulous and
filled with laughter, love and great times to cherish forever.
(Thank you Bea! I love you very much.)
I hope you have enjoyed my story and thank you for visiting.
Jim

age 3

age 13




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