Edmund Arthur Laurie Wickes - my maternal grandfather
I only knew one of my grandfathers, my maternal grandfather, Edmund Arthur Laurie Wickes. My paternal grandfather, James Alexander Hemera has been my brick wall for over 30 years and the source of my DNA dilemma. He’s another story. Edmund Arthur Laurie Wickes or Grandad Grandad was the first dead person I ever saw. I remember his death on 23 September 1970 well. He had suffered for many years with breathing difficulties as a result of being gassed in the First World War. In later years he hardly ever left the house as he was almost permanently attached to an oxygen bottle beside his bed. I never heard him complain even though he often gasped for breath. He was set up in his bedroom with a large radio, or wireless as it was called then, that he could twiddle the dials to hear, even if through crackle, every radio station in New Zealand. His passion was horse racing. He had a regular flutter, with my mother the go between him and the TAB. As children we all had to be quiet if Granda...