Poppy & Gangy

June Taylor Locke (shown on the left in the picture of June, Anne, & Martha Ann) responded back to Linda with the priceless information shown below. You probably know that June lived in Shelbyville for most of her life.

FYI: Poppy and Gangy moved to Warner Robbins, Georgia shortly after the death and funeral of their only son, Bobby, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Shelbyville as he made his way home from school on his bicycle on the day that they were originally scheduled to move to Georgia for Poppy's new job as general contractor for a large construction project there. When that project was completed, they moved to Hollywood, Florida to do other construction work for a business associate of Poppy's. While there, they opened up A1A Bait and Tackle Shop on the intracoastal waterway and operated a successful business there for many years. All of us visited them there from time to time and I spent part of my summer vacation with them a couple of times as a teenager. Poppy and Gangy eventually sold their business and returned to Shelbyville, where they bought three mobile homes....living in one and renting out the other two for income. They later purchased a duplex house in Shelbyville, where they lived together until Poppy passed away. Poppy was pretty active with "swap shop" activity and did all sorts of "horse trading" throughout his life to make extra income. He could fix just about anything and was always fixing up used and broken items to re-sell for a profit. After Poppy had a heart attack and passed away, Gangy lived alone in the duplex for years, but eventually Gangy moved in with June and lived there until health issues required professional care in a senior housing facility.

Practically all of the family events in Shelbyville were enjoyed at June's house for many years. June now lives in Florida. Her message below speaks for itself.

Love / John Wheatley in Montgomery


From June:

The picture of Mother, Martha Ann, and I was made at my house when we had the surprise birthday party for Gangy--her 75th, I think. And we really surprised her! Course, the one of Poppy and Gangy was their 50th wedding anniversary. Daddy told me he would pay for the cake as his contribution--when I told him it was $75.00, he said: "Next time we will have cookies!"

Love, June