Alvin Knight Kestner

I often think of my Dad. Papa as I called him most of my life until I went to school and everyone else called their fathers Dad. He will always be my Papa. I vaguely remember him. Yet he played such an important role in my life and the life of my three older siblings.

Mom has always said he married her for the children, and she was just an extra bonus. I think he was madly in love with her too. He was indeed a very special man. He met Mom on a date to Rehoboth beach in 1956 or 57. I think he was smitten immediately. Mom, I think, was hesitant at his Pennsylvania dutch way of speaking and his being "so much" younger than she is. He was 7 years younger than she. I'll have to let her clarify that one for me. He met and I think fell in love with the trio as Mom has always called them. Mike, Kitti (who Dad called Kate as Kitti was a bar maid) and Holly. He married Mom on December 13, 1958. It was the first wedding he'd ever been to, his own.

He took the challenge of 3 budding teenagers head on. He was wiser and more street wise than our Mom who grew up in Westerville, Ohio. Our dear friend Pat says she grew up in Shangrala! Dad was on to teenagers and kept a level head in dealing with the 3 of them. They lived in Arlington, VA for awhile. The 5 of them moved to Rockville, MD where I joined the family. I know I was the apple of my father's eye. He always told me I got my curls from him. He went bald young in life and as little girl I believed he actually "gave" me his hair! He called me Poochy pants. Pooch for short. I do remember that. Mom called me Marigold for all the flowers I ate that summer I was 20 months old and crawling past her flowers. Life was idyllic in Rockville. When I was about 5 Dad decided Mom needed to be closer to her work at NIH, so he found a house closer to Bethesda and moved us Kate's senior year. An event she has never quite recovered from. Mike was mostly gone by the time we moved to Kensington. Kate did graduate from Einstein. Holly became a pom pom girl and quite popular. I was in a preschool near NIH. Dad had numerous jobs. He always had a promotion when he moved jobs. He once worked east of where we lived and had to drive home into the sunset every night, that job did not last long. He had beautiful blue eyes and driving into the sunset did not sit well with him.

Dad loved babies, baby anythings. We often had kittens from Mikes cat Suriotha. Dad loved the kittens and all the fun they brought to the family. Dad loved family. I do remember going on a genealogy vacation with him to Pennsylvania. To the Dairy area! He was from Butler PA and love to make a good pun. We often went to the Watkins reunions and did lots of genealogy there. Here are Mom and Dad at a Watkins reunion, probably about 1968 or so.


My Dad was a smoker. He often was trying to quit. I remember that. He never smoked in the house, but fought a bitter battle with smoking that took his life. I think he was sick in this photo. This is my dear friend Tracy and I and Dad. I think he was learning how to use the self timer on his new camera in this photo.



My Dad lost his battle with lung cancer on February 10, 1971. How can that be 40 years ago? He was only 41. Next year if he were alive it would be twice his life time that he has been gone. I remember being 41 and feeling so young. Now at 50 I almost feel mature, and yet revert to my little 10 year old self when I think of the loss of such an important man in my life those long 40 years ago. I now have a husband who I think is a lot like my Dad. And I am blessed to have him in my life, it was my Mom who said: "I needed to give that guy a chance. He is a nice fellow." Perhaps he saw in him what she saw in Alvin Kestner.

I miss you Dad. I'd love to have lunch with you, or take another road trip with you, or do some self portraits with you and I and chat and get to know you better.

I love you Papa.