Father: George Frederick SEYMOUR Jr, (son of George Frederick SEYMOUR Sr), b. 12 May 1916, Kansas City Kansas, d. 8 May 1982, Kansas City Kansas, bur. Johnson County Memorial Gardens
My father quit school in the 8th grade and worked most of his life for the Union Pacific Railroad. He also was a bricklayer. He was in the army in World War II and was inducted into the army in Feb of 1941. Thinking he would get his 18 months over with he went right in and in Dec of 1941 war was declared. He spent time in training in North Carolina and Enterprise , Alabama. He served in Europe mostly in England at Tavistock and Plymouth England as he was a quartermaster and handled supplies .However after D day he moved into France and Germany. where the aftermath of the war , particulary the human toll and the treatment of the Jews in concentration camps greatly troubled him. He was an outgoing, humorous, kind, decent man who was nicknamed “Red” in his youth and later at work and among his nephews, “Big Daddy.” He was very family oriented . After his service in World War II, he came home to build a home and be with his family and he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had to have part of his vocal chords removed and it gave him a raspy voice. But he survived and went on to live a full life. He loved to fish and he liked sports. In an ironic note he had a dislike of all things English which he said he got from his grandfather who got it from his grandfather. It is ironic in that nearly all the research points to the family being of English descent as far as the Seymour surname went. His family roots can be traced to probable English puritans who were very disaffected with the English crown. Many English Puritan families were thrown off of their land and even imprisoned in England around the time of the English civil war when my fathers first ancestor probably hit colonial shores in the Virginia /Maryland area. Adding to this many English familes disavowed their English heritage after the Rev War as it was not a popular bloodline to have. While many colonial British descendants stayed as loyal as they could to the English cause until the break of the Rev War when their own interests were at risk, the Seymours probably fell out of favor with the Crown much much earlier in the 1600's. My father always told me he was Scots Irish, which he is indeed probably on the Williams/ McEnally maternal line of his family. However his mother , my grandmother Erna Kitchen once told me that his lineage was English , German and Scots/Irish and that he and his father never acknowledged his English blood.. (Scots Irish being not half Scottish and half Irish as most erroneously suppose but Scots transplanted in Ireland and later came to colonies as conditions were not favorable for the Protestant Scots in Ireland ) . Indeed it appears that my grandmother was probably closest to the truth and his Seymour surname ancestors were English malcontents.! However as you can see because his family were English Puritans they had cause to dislike that heritage. Cause of death for George F Seymour Jr. Lung Cancer pneumonia. Below induction notice Seymour, George F., Jr. Inducted 25 February 1941, Army 37002813 Registered, order # 2258 Kansas City, Wyandotte Co. (Board # 4) Also my father got his red hair and grey eyes from his great grandfather Robert Coleman Smyth the father of Elizabeth“Lizzie” Smyth Seymour, It is on Robert's pension papers that his eyes are described as blue gray and his hair as sandy red. His complexion is fair as was my fathers and he was 5'10. My father was 5'11 at most.
Mother: Ann Ernestine WHALEN, (daughter of David Edward WHALEN), b. 28 Feb 1919, Kansas City Kansas, d. 3 Sep 2000, Lenexa Kansas, bur. Johnson County Memorial Gardens
My mother was the only child in her family to graduate from High School. She was more introverted than my father, though not by any means a quiet person. She was an excellent cook and I don't recall her working much as a child, as she took care of the home. She met my father in the neighborhood in Wyandotte County, where they lived about a mile apart, . She recalls him as cocky and loud! Nevertheless they were married when she was 19. As a young bride she followed him to the South where he was in training in North Carolina and Enterprise Alabama My mother did not like the South, speaking mostly of the bugs, the heat and the rampant racism, which appalled her. .. She also lived in Pasedena California for a time with his mother and stepfather, Erna Kitchen and Robert Wessley. while my father was in the War. My mother was one of those people that did not like it when people were ganged up on or teased a alot. She did not likw cruelty of any kind and stressed this when I was a child.Cause of death advanced ageKansas City Star, The (MO) - September 4, 2000 Deceased Name: ANN E. SEYMOUR Ann E. Seymour, 81, passed away September 3, 2000, at Delmar Gardens of Lenexa, KS. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, September 6, at D.W. Newcomer's Sons Johnson County Funeral Chapel, 11200 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS; burial in Johnson County Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be 6:308:30 p.m. Tuesday at the chapel. The family suggests memorial contributions to American Cancer Society, 5960 Dearborn, Suite 100, Mission, KS 66202-3361. Ann was born in Kansas City, KS, on February 28, 1919, and was a lifelong resident of Kansas City. She was preceded in death by her husband, George F. Seymour Jr. in 1983. Ann was a homemaker and leaves four children, George F. “Rick” Seymour III of Olathe, KS, Suzanne Budy of Tonganoxie, KS, Cynthia K. Robinson and Julia A. Seymour, both of Overland Park, KS; her sister, Alma Piersee; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Ann was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She rests tonight at peace with a satisfied mind, held closely by her beloved husband George. (Arrangements: D.W. Newcomer's Sons Johnson County Chapel, (913) 451-1860) Kansas City Star, The (MO) Date: September 4, 2000 Edition: METROPOLITAN Page: B3 Record Number: 10066755 Copyright © 2000 The Kansas City Star ******** Note George died in 1982 not 1983.
Married 17 Mar 1939, Kansas City Kansas
Children: