Mom-Part 1

Carol Sue Rackley

1938-2007

Carol Sue (she hated her middle name)Rackley was born t 9:58 am on September 23, 1938 at Buffalo Memorial Hospital. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz. She was the daughter of John Henry Rackley and Corrie Doris Lucas. Mom had brother-Gary John born on August 11, 1941. To the best of my knowledge, she is German, French, English, Czechoslovakian and Russian. Mom described her father as a "very loving, caring sentimental person." He worked for Exxon on the barges, was a bartender at the 300 Club, drove bus for Greyhound and later was a dispatcher for Greyhound. Her mother worked later in her life at 7Up and at Hodge Florist. Her parents loved to play cards and enjoyed riding their motorcycles. She lived on Richmond Avenue in the city of Buffalo, NY and attended Pilgrim St-Luke's Church.

Growing up, mom remembered spending summer weekends in Alden, NY at her Uncle Jake's farm. Their landlord on Richmond Avenue was the director of Fort Niagara so mom and her friend Ginger spent time there as well. Once in a while, mom would take a 16 hour bus ride to Wheaton, Il to visit her cousin Mary. She made it through the Brownies of the Girl Scouts. I still have her Girl Scout first aid tin. Most of us have probably heard of Skippy-the Rackley's beloved parakeet for 14 years. We heard stories of how Skippy talked, ate mashed potatoes off of people's dinner plates, took a bath under the kitchen faucet and sipped beer and got drunk. Mom told the story that one night her mom got so mad at the bird for eating off their dinner plates that she put him in his cage and shut the door-which was never done! Skippy flew around the cage and died instantly.

Mom attended Lafayette High School. She was a cheerleader and a member of the Gamma Epsilon Sorority. She still kept her sweatshirt and owl pin from her sorority days. She enjoyed planning activities associated with the sorority such as dances, hay rides and camping trips, although her parents would never actually let her go on any of the camping trips. Mom enjoyed working on cars and eventually even raced at Lancaster Speedway in the powder puff race. High school was also where mom learned shorthand. I remember her taking notes for dad in short hand and writing it on those big, yellow legal size pads. She graduated in 1956 and was voted "Most Realistic." Some of her close friends were Gayle Durham, Joyce Jones, Daryl Sugarman, Patty Poole, Lorraine Balsdon and Ginger Schlee. Most of those people mom kept in touch with throughout her life.

Mom had many jobs during her life, often multiple jobs at one time. In 1954-1956, Mom worked at Equitable Life Insurance as a clerk and typist. Also during this time she went to NYC on some weekends to model. She started work at Niagara Mohawk until 1960, then again from 1964-1965. From 1965-1966 she worked at Kenmore Lanes as a waitress. 1966-1969, she worked at Kelly - a temp agency. During her time here, she worked at U.B., Marine Midland Bank, a steel company and a piano business. Mom started work at Taylor Devices on Tonawanda Island in 1970-1978. She was the administrative assistant to the President. While here, she did some modeling as well for the shock absorbers that Taylor Devices made. In 1978, mom worked at Spaulding Fiber, then she went to Tayco Developments for 1 year. Mom eventually went back to night school and got her 2 year degree. She started working for the Tonawanda School District in 1983 as a Teaching Assistant. She retired from here in 2002 and subbed for a few years after that.

Mom really found her nitch as a teaching assistant. She loved her job, the people she worked with and especially the kids. The staff and kids loved her too...so many of them attended her funeral-even kids who had not had her for many, many years. One guy who came told me that mom taught him how to read. He remembered her long finger nails following slowly under each word as she helped him sound out the words. I've heard many stories like this over the years.