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a. Note:   Source: Ellen Sue Foster Perdue (daughter) February 2000 Raised on or around Chapman Ave., SW, Roanoke, married Iva Golda and moved into a large home on Patterson Ave., Roanoke that was also occupied by Orman L. Foster and his wife Jessie Kincannon Foster. After the birth of their 1st child, the family moved to 1910 Warrington Rd., SW, Roanoke, VA in 1936. He spoke of many dances he attended at the Fisburn home which became later the Department of Parks and Recreation. This was located just across the street from his home. Raymond Foster was a WW I veteran and served in France during the war and attained the rank of Corporal. He joined the Army at the age of eighteen during the famous flu epidemic that took many lives here in the states. I have been told he was one of Roanoke's most eligible bachelors in his younger days (and could have been in his golden years, if he had so chosen) ... a very handsome man. He told many old war stories and in his later years he relived his Army days, sharing stories with anyone that would listen. He had much pride in having served in the Army during the War. He landed in Brest, France after a very rough crossing with waves too high, he was forced to tie himself to one of the ships post to keep from being tossed overboard ... and of course everyone on the ship was very sea sick. While in Paris, France (and during the bombing), he spent the night in the ruins of the Rheams Cathedral and brought back a piece of glass from one of the cathedral's blown out windows. There were other fox hole stories that remained with him until his dying day. Upon returning to the States after the War, and attending National Business College in Roanoke, VA, he began his forty year service with the U.S. Postal Service, attaining the position of Assistant Post Master of the Grandin Road Station in Roanoke. He met and married my mother, Iva Golda Poff, a school teacher, from Check, VA. I suppose you could say they had a marriage made in heaven and upon her death at age 58, his health steadily declined. The sparkle in his eye left and only returned when he was in the presence of his grandchildren. He was a jolly man that really enjoyed people, jokes, fishing, music, singing, camping; but most of all he enjoyed his role as that of a husband and grandfather. His laugh was contagious and could carry for miles on a windy day. He loved working with wood and was a excellent craftsman, as well as gardening. He had little or no patience with a car that wouldn't run and even less patience when I would go to the beach in the summer and burn myself up in the sun. Of course on occasions, he would let the old sun get to him as well and be in worse shape than myself. On one such trip to Virginia Beach, a wave knocked him down, causing him to loose not only his glasses, but his teeth and trunks as well. I remember him as one of the best dancers I have ever danced with and I loved to dance with him. On the night of his retirement from the Post Office, they gave a dance and party in his honor at the Rockledge Inn on Mill Mountain. He danced all evening but oh, what a headache he had the next day, swearing never to partake in such enjoyment again. He took much pride in his association with the Masons and belonged to the Lakeland Lodge in Roanoke, Va. In 1972, he had surgery for an aortic annurisum and could not return to his home, and made his home with us for a short while. This was the first time in his life that he had even been in the hospital or sick and he had a very hard time adjusting to it. He needed specialized care and died two years later at the Veteran's Hospital in Roanoke. He wanted to go there and did not adjust to the nursing home environment. I would guess he felt as if he was back with the men of the "fighting rank." What I remember about him the most, was what love he had for his family. He tended to the sick better than any nurse could and would often care for neighbor's children it they were ill as well. He very rarely caught anything and claimed that he had a natural immunity to all diseases. I think he must have, or the Lord was watching over him to see that he stayed well to look after the others.


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