"The grass is always greener on the other side." This would be an appropriate quote for Alfred Hoh, my grandfather, for two reasons. For one, he loves quotes and constantly uses them. Also, he grew up in a poor family and this probably applied to him as a child.
Alfred George Hoh was born on May 13, 1922, in St. Rose, Illinois, to George and Julianna Hoh. He was the youngest of seven children: Verana, Rose, Albert (who died before Al came to be), Celia, Helen, and Eleanor.
His family got their first radio when he was about five or six. He remembers listening to it every night. Some of the programs he listened to: "Skippy", "Jack Armstrong the All American Boy", "Jimmy Allen", and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." "Skippy" was about a young kid who loved to get in to mischief, and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was about space.
Al has always said that the Depression is harder for people in the city than it is for folks in the country. Although his family actually lived in a town, back then people in small towns raised chickens and pigs and other livestock. Also, their family didn't have much to begin with.
As a child, Al enjoyed feeding the chickens and pigs his family had. Right out of grade school he worked at the town store for about five or ten cents an hour. Then at the age of 14, his father died.
On October 31, 1942, Al enlisted in the Navy. He went on active duty in December of that same year to St. Louis, Missouri. He remained there until about mid 1943. From there, he was tranferred to North Island, which is near San Diego, California. He was there until about the end of 1944, then he was selected for the V-12 Program. First, he went to Denison University in Ohio, then transferred to the University of Kansas.
In February of 1946, Al was dicharged from the Navy. He went back home, and married Linda Holtgrave, who he had known since grade school. They got married on June 19, 1946.
In August of 1946, Al and Linda returned to Kansas so Al could finish college. They lived in Sunflower, Kansas. A daughter, Judy, was born on June 30, 1947. Then, Al graduated on February 23, 1948.
After graduation, Al and Lin moved back to Illinois. They lived with Lin's brother for about eight months. While they lived there, Al worked at Union Electric. Then they moved to Belville, Illinois.
On August 22, 1949, he began to work with the I.R.S. as an auditor. His post of duty was Du Quoin, Illinois, so in September, they moved to Du Quoin. Two sons, Ron(May 25, 1950) and Jim(May 20, 1952) were born in Du Quoin.
In July, 1955, Al was transferred to the East St. Louis office of the I.R.S., so they moved back to Beleville.
Al was transferred for the last time in September of 1958, to the Decatur, Illinois, office of the I.R.S. He then was doing large cases, like big companies, exclusively as a large case coordinator. He retired in 1979. Throughout his career he found a few mistakes that were for several million dollars each.
Now, Alfred and Linda still live in the same house in Decatur, and will probably never move. They have been married for 51 years. They have four granchildren, Phil, Amy, Adam, and Ashley. He enjoys bowling and golfing on his spare time.
