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My grandpa, Tom Shell is my dad's father. He was born at Methodist hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 27, 1942.

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Tom grew up in Anderson, Indiana. He had one sister named Jan. He said he was closest with his mom, Mary because he spent the most time with her throughout childhood. His parents were divorced and he lived mostly with Mary after she gained custody of him and his sister. His dad, William, was living in Indianapolis working for General Motors and his mom worked several jobs in Anderson. Tom and his sister lived with a lady for about 5 years during childhood because his mother had to work a lot of hours during the week. Tom was able to spend the weekends with his mother or father.

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My grandpa went to Madison Heights High School where he loved to learn about government, history, geography, business, and book keeping. He was the student manager for the wresting team throughout high school. He had many jobs throughout childhood including making potholders, delivering newspapers, and selling donuts.

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Went to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana for about 6 weeks. He went for teaching and shop class but dropped out and decided to go to the Navy.

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Was in the Navy for 4 years, ages 18-22. He went to bootcamp at the Great Lakes for about 10 weeks. He wanted to join the navy because he enjoyed watching victory at sea and learning about the famous battles the Navy was involved in. His job in the Navy was an interior communication electrician. He worked on different kinds of switches, phones, and telegraphs.

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Married Carolyn while he was still in the Navy in 1963. They lived next door to each other for two years when they were sophmores in high school. They still remind each other every year that their first kiss as on Thanksgiving Day. They lived together in Philadelphia for many years before moving home to Anderson, Indiana.

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Tom and Carolyn had three children. The oldest is Mary, middle is Marcy, and the youngest is Mark. Tom and Carolyn worked hard to support their children. For about eight years Tom would work night shift at Allison Transmission. 4 of those years, he would work throughout the night and then take classes during the day to become a teacher. Carolyn would work third shift as a nurse aid throughout the years and went to Anderson University during the day to get her Bachelor's in nursing.

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Tom became a teacher in 1970 and was a teacher for 30 years. He taught 5th and 6th graders at Anderson Community Schools and taught all subjects but his favorites were science and math. Tom said "My favorite part of teaching was the challenge of trying to help kids become better people and to help them get better jobs." He enjoyed having Marcy and Mark as students in his classes and was bummed that he did not get to teach Mary.

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Tom said his favorite place that he has visited in the Navy was the Italian Riviera. He still loves to travel to Florida and loves to go camping with Carolyn at different State Parks around Indiana.

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Tom said that his favorite memories are getting together with all of his family for the holidays. Tom and Carolyn always host Christmas Eve and Easter at their houses. They go to all of their grandchildren's events like soccer games, choir concerts, dive meets, and likes to visit them at college. Tom wishes that his mother could have gotten to know his children and grandchildren and that he could have enjoyed more memories with her because she passed away 41 in a car accident. Tom cherishes time with family more than anything else in the world.