Mary Angel

(2/2019) In this month’s In the Country article the author talks about the National Park Service, it’s employees, and the rest of the country as having a partial stake in all these common areas. I totally agree with this, but partially from listening to an amazing man describe and bring to life these many amazing locations, and dare I say gifts, across our country. The man I speak of was my father-in-law.

My father-in-law was a historian for the National Park Service and from my perspective was an amazingly fascinating man. His priorities in life were God, family and then making sure our countries history was maintained for everyone to enjoy. I remember when I first started dating my husband and thinking there was no more intelligent and no more humble man in the world. He was constantly travelling the country working on installations for the National Park Service, whether it be setting up rooms in a historic building with an infallible accuracy or searching the country for those historically accurate furnishings.

I would love to hear the stories of his trips and all that he would find to finish an installation and how he would just beam when he would talk about the history of each and every individual piece. I am also grateful how he doted over my mother-in-law after a long trip, as my husband now brings me flowers on his return from his own business trips.

My father-in-law loved everything historical, from movies to houses to books to furniture. In their married life my mother-in-law and father-in-law restored two historical homes, the second one they were living in when I met them. It was a gorgeous, Georgian style, 1876 home that was restored to period and on the National Registry of Historic Places. They spent so much time restoring old homes that according to mt father-in-law my mother-in-law was now an expert at repairing old plaster and horse hair walls.

He was an amazing husband who never missed an opportunity to brag amount his wife. He made a point of pampering her and dating her. He believed, until the day he was confined to a bed with cancer, that every man should date his wife at least once a month and more often if possible. Even in the slim years he would make her dinner (his specialties were bologna popups and grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and spend a quiet evening with her at home.

I will never forget this man who I viewed as super intelligent and very dignified pulling me aside and telling me that My husband and I only had a little time left to give him a grandchild, specifically a grandson. This is when I was informed that all of the descendants of the same name (my husband being the fourth) were each 30 years apart. I am sure it took me a good hour to recover from the actual bottom line meaning of the conversation. On a side note we did make the deadline and now our son, the fifth, has the pressure on him. Needless to say, as dignified as my-father-law was, he still had a sense of humor and knew how to have a good time. He was also an amazing grandfather. He loved all 6 of his grandchildren to the ends of the earth. There was a brief time when we were building a house and they blessed us by letting us live with them (we only had one child at the time). When my father-in-law would come home from work my son (who was about 18 months old) would be waiting at the door with what I thought was the biggest grin ever, until my father-in-law caught a glimpse of him and then I actually saw a bigger grin. They were truly inseparable.

His love of history didn’t start with the National Park Service, he actually studies history in college and during his time at Maryland Public Television he produced a national prize-winning drama about colonial Maryland called "The Inventory". My father-in-law also led the First Maryland Regiment, which according to their website is an 18th century living history organization. This is an amazing group of men and women who reenact Revolutionary War battles.

My husband and his brother spent much of their youth at historical forts running around playing and watching these men and women live immersed in history. May of the original members are known as uncle in our house, even though there was no blood relation. When they were at these forts, my understanding is that, they had many "uncles" watching over them. I love the stories my husband and his brother tell about their dad setting up army men and making historically accurate forts out of Lincoln logs and then using gun powder to blow them up. My mother-in-law loved the time he spent with the boys, but I think she would have preferred a few less explosions.

It will be 9 years ago this June that he passed away and I still miss him very much every day. My boys, who had much more time with him than my girls, often talk about how they wish they had been as interested in history back when he was alive as they both are now. They are both considering majoring in history in college. My mother-in-law used to comment how our second son could make him laugh quicker than anyone else. My oldest son, who is a major movie buff, loves knowing that his granddad was asked to be a historical consultant for several movies. He was an amazing man who did amazing things and loved the history of this country and loved his family and God even more!

I would not be honoring him properly if I didn’t end this month a little off topic. I have heard some comments, with the government shutdown, about maybe the national parks should be run by volunteers and we could save money by getting rid of the paid positions. My father-in-law would be very disappointed that people were dismissing the importance of the many paid positions and vital employees who keep our national parks as majestic and enjoyable as they are. I would encourage everyone to take advantage of our amazing parks and realize how blessed we are to have them.

Read other articles by Mary Angel