History
In World War II my grandfather Frank Paris was a pilot. One of the requirements of being a pilot was to know the plane inside and out mechanically. One of his training exercises was to fly the plane to a specified location, disassemble the motor, then reassemble it and fly it back to the original location. I thought this story was so cool and inspiring when he told it to me. I wanted to share the picture of him and the plane he flew in the war. My grandfather, among others in my life, is a good thinker and great person.
This is a picture of the man who had previously owned most of the equipment in my shop. He started his machine shop in the 1960′s in Chicago. This picture was given to me by his family and shows him turning a piece on the lathe, on a railcar in Germany in the 50′s when he was in the service. When I visited his shop and saw what he had accomplished throughout his life, I wanted to show my respect for him and how much I admire his craftsmanship.
This picture of my great uncle, Arthur Stutz, was taken in 1952 at the Fairbanks Morse Scale Company. Scales were a crucial to business because marine and railroads charged for shipments by weight, and Fairbanks Morse was the leader in manufacturing scales.
A true craftsman, Uncle Arthur was able to solve any problem that came his way, whether it be scales, machining or mechanics. Uncle Art eventually left Fairbanks Morse and went to Central Steel and Wire where he solved different problems for the corporation. I never met Uncle Arthur but with the history I have of him, in pictures and some art pieces he left behind, I imagine we would have gotten along very well.
This is a picture of my dad, Tom Woods, taken in the early 70s. He was always in the garage when I was young, working on cars or doing body work to make ends meet. I always admired that my dad was able to solve any problem that came along. As you can see, he did have some specialty tools on the wall for more difficult tasks.
Here is my dad Tom Woods working on a 1968 Ford Galaxie.
This picture is of my great grandfather, second from the right. This picture was taken around 1910. My grandmother said that he loved riding that motorcycle and he, along with all the others on this page, was always tinkering with things and problem solving along the way. I thought the picture was very interesting and I really enjoy looking at it. I hope you do too.
