The Family Story

Cover image: Taken at The Pogonip Club on the occasion of Phil and Alma’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, July 6, 1965

The married life of Phil and Alma began in California just five months before the attack at Pearl Harbor and the U.S. involvement in the Second World War. Phil, who was a manager at Western Union, wrote a letter to the U.S. government describing the inefficiencies of the government’s communications strategy. He was immediately offered a job in Washington, D.C., which he accepted. Phil and Alma packed up their belongings, had their farewell party at work and waited for instructions about where to report, which never came. They moved anyway and Phil reported to work at the Federal Communications Commission and was told that after offering him a job, they had discovered that Phil did not have a college degree and the job required one. Phil talked himself into the job anyway and began to attend night school to meet the requirements.

Alma was not happy in D.C. and Phil wasn’t so enamored of the job anyway, so they went back to San Francisco after several months and Phil joined the army as a radio operator. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater. He never saw action, but he did monitor calls from fighter pilots who were in trouble. This memory stayed with Phil his whole life

While he was away, Alma gave birth to their first child, Gary. Phil did not see him for the first few months of his life. After the war Phil was offered a job at The Farnsworth Radio and Television Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The young family moved there, where their second child, Nancy was born. Alma again missed San Francisco and did not at all like the harsh winters in Indiana.

At an electronics convention, Phil met a couple of young men who were starting an electronics company in the Bay Area. Phil suggested to them that he could promote their business better than they had been doing and offered to prove it by working for them for nothing for three months. The growing family moved back to California, this time settling in Redwood City. Phil made himself invaluable and was not only hired full time, but named Vice President of marketing. He worked for Lenkurt Electric Company for the next twelve years.

Redwood City and Palo Alto stories and memories

Phil and Alma bought a little house in Redwood City and soon welcomed their third child, Richard. Life settled down to a happy family routine. Phil went to work at the telecommunications company where he was happily engaged. Alma stayed home with the three children. Visits with relatives from both the Patton and Bracken sides of the family were common. Vacations were usually road trips, taken at Etna Springs, at Yosemite or to Reno where Phil’s sister lived.

Phil became a rather clever film maker, leaving a legacy of many wonderful family movies complete with special effects. Phil was also a handyman extraordinaire. He was especially skilled with electrical projects. He made Gary a wonderful model train table in the basement and created a doll house for Nancy that had actual electrical lights. His shop was always beautifully arranged and kept tidy.

This video shows Durward and Alma Bracken, the parents of Alma Patton, pushing Gary and Nancy in the swings at Redwood City. The children called their grandparents Nana and Papa. Papa was a very jovial person, extroverted and engaged with life and people around him. He tended to call all of Nancy’s friends “Susie.” Once when Nancy was playing with a neighborhood friend, Papa said to her “Hi, Susie.” Nancy explained to him that the girls name was actually Laurie. Papa took in the information, considered for a moment and then said “Hi, Susie.”

When any of the children went driving with Papa, they were always embarrassed because he would routinely yell out the window to other drivers, who he often disapproved of. He was a very fine gardener and when the family came to visit, they always left with hand grown vegetables. When Nancy was small, her Papa would make her ballerina flowers out of hollyhocks. One flower in full bloom, upside down became the skirt and a bud, attached became the head with a colorful turban. This was completely enchanting.

Nana was more serious and more mysterious. She was quite close to Alma, but her grandchildren never felt as if they knew her.

In the early days of the family, most holidays and some vacations were spent with relatives. As the family grew, these visits became less frequent.

Phil’s responsibilities at work grew and as they did, the family switched residences, moving to bigger houses in nicer neighborhoods. In 1956 the family purchased a very large house with a swimming pool. From then on, there was much more entertaining with business associates, neighbors and less socializing with relatives. Elizabeth was born while living at that address.

Phil’s career

Lenkurt Electric Company became very successful and even hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design a new building for them. This project was never finished, but we have the photo below to memorialize the original meeting. Phil told his children that the reason Frank Lloyd Wright stood out in this photo was that he was clever enough to wear a rather usual hat which set him apart from the other men. Phil seemed unimpressed with the man.

At this time Phil set up both a photographic studio in the backyard and a ham radio station in a closet, both of which Gary used. There was a ping pong table in the family room and an entire room dedicated to a pool table. Outside besides the swimming pool, there was a badminton court. Phil and Alma were living a very successful life, one which they hardly could have imagined in their youth. None of their children grew up to live such a comfortable life style.

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Family adventures, vacations, activities

Phil’s work took him around North America. Occassionally Alma or his whole family would accompanied him. There was a trip to Mexico City when the first three children were quite young. It made a strong impression. There was also a trip to British Columbia.

Alma’s Activities

While Phil was working hard and enjoying an engaging career, Alma stayed home. She had been a dynamic and happy office worker before the marriage, but afterwards the idea many people of her generation had was that the woman’s place was in the home. She wasn’t fully satisfied to just be a mother and house keeper, although she certainly performed those roles very well, so she developed a very active civic, social and athletic life outside the home

Vine Hill Road

In 1959 GTE (General Telephone and Electronics corporation) acquired Lenkurt Electric and all the principles, including Phil left to set off in new directions. There is no record of how it was decided that Phil and Alma would buy a 40 acre piece of property in the Santa Cruz Hills, but that is what they did. Phil had it in his mind to become “a gentleman farmer.” the property certainly gave Phil the opportunity to explore the notion as there was a huge orchard and several out buildings to maintain.

Life changed significantly. There was apple picking, avocado harvesting, a foray into drying apricots and lots of repairs and improvements to be made. Phil joined the school board and enjoyed the country life style for several years

Meanwhile the Vietnam War was raging and Phil had two sons. He and Alma became very passionate anti-war supporters. In 1964 Phil decided that he would attend law school and have a new career as an attorney. The family kept the Vine Hill Road property but also purchased a house in Palo Alto so that Phil could attend law school in Santa Clara without having to commute over the mountain highway that Alma considered too dangerous. He was 50 when he made this change.

Phil worked very hard to have his degree, telling his children that he had to study twice as hard as everyone else since he was older and the young minds were quicker. He graduated second in his class. Phil set up a practice in Santa Cruz, selling the second home in Palo Alto. One of his first jobs was as a lawyer in the deregulation of the Bell Telephone Company. He worked for one of his old friends who had the case. Afterwards Phil took on anti-war cases, including his son Gary’s who was drafted and refused. Phil was successful in extricating him from the army without penalty.

Politics

The Bracken-Patton family have always been very political. This may have originated with Durward Bracken, who was an impassioned FDR democrat. The depression hit him and his family hard. Roosevelt was the champion of the people, of the little guy.

Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary

The Children