There
is an old adage genealogists will appreciate, “You can’t choose your family,
but you can choose your friends.”
And many times they become your family.
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Harry 'Hap' Fleming
and Nipper |
This
post began as a remembrance to an old and dear friend, Harry ‘Hap’ Fleming. (He
earned the name ‘Hap’ as a child because he was always happy.) But as I
attempted to put the pictorial elements together, I realized how many times, we
as genealogists, face the situation where all of the pieces of someone’s life
are gone! They’ve been discarded
after the person died - thrown away, given away or sold in hopes of making a
‘big’ profit. Unfortunately,
this was the case with Hap’s photo album and scrapbooks. This was Hap’s chronicle to his younger
days when he played with the Big Bands.
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| Tommy Dorssey |
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| Jimmy Dorsey |
Now,
granted, there were no pictures of Glen Miller’s Band or Tommy Dorsey’s
Orchestra in Hap’s album, though Hap did play gigs where the Dorsey Brothers
were playing. According to Hap,
“Those boys fought tooth and nail, day and night, until they went on
stage. Then they put all
differences aside and played “the music that satisfies,” (a reference to the
Chesterfield Quarter Hour program from 1932.) Jimmy broke off from his brother Tommy’s band and both men
went on to lead two of the most popular Big Bands of the era.
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| 1930's Ballroom |
No,
Hap Fleming started out in a dance band back in the 30’s as a piano
player. And Hap could PLAY! Although he did take lessons for a year
or so as a child, he refused to practice.
Finally his piano teacher told his mother, “Stop wasting your money on
that boy. He’ll never learn the
correct piano techniques.” And it
was true, he never learned the schooled method – but Hap could make a piano
come alive, playing swinging Big Band tunes that made you want to dance, or
quiet sentimental ‘sweet’ music, that made you remember and long for something
better. He was a natural, playing
it all by ear.
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| Lawrence Welk |
A
Pennsylvania native, Hap played with several bands including the Jimmy Simms
Orchestra. He joined fellow
Kittanning resident, Angelo ‘Angie’ Sgro’s swing band in the forties. They started out playing places like
the Alexander Hotel and graduated to the Sunset Grove Ballroom near Rural
Valley, Pennsylvania. The 13-member
group opened for the Big Band greats such as Jan Garber, Sammy Kay, and
Lawrence Welk. And once, Lawrence
Welk’s Orchestra returned the favor and actually opened for them!
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Band Leader Lee Angelo
(Angie Sgro) |
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| The Band's 36 Olds Station Wagon |
The
dance band’s popularity grew. They
played Pittsburgh and were ‘discovered.’ The group of hometown boys came to be
known as the Lee Angelo Dance Band. They toured the country, packing ballrooms, country clubs and dance halls from Pittsburgh to Denver, Chicago to
Mississippi. Hap’s stories of playing till early in the morning, then packing
it all up into a couple of station wagons and heading down the road to the next
gig, always captivated me. I could
just imagine those (always, in my mind) moonlit drives in the middle of the
night, still talking and joking about the evening’s show, until the first glimpse
of dawn, when everyone would settle down and sleep until the cars pulled in to
the next town and it was time to get up and do it all again – simply for the
pure joy of it!
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| Club Trocadero |
So
it would only make sense that Hap would meet the love of his life ‘on the
road.’ Annis Skaggs Fleming was a
singer with a local Big Band. She and Hap both were playing at the Club
Trocadero Club in Henderson, Kentucky when they met. Two months later they were married. They toured together with Lee Angelo’s
band for a short time, but Annis became homesick, so they returned to her
hometown of Robinson, Illinois.
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Guy Winger Combo with
Annis and Hap Fleming,
Florence and Guy Winger |
Hap
found a job in real estate, but a piano was always close at hand. He began
playing piano for the Guy Winger Combo.
Annis returned as the group’s singer and soon the quartet was traveling
around the Midwest. When the group
disbanded several years later, Hap continued to play. He would perform solo for restaurants, civic groups and
clubs throughout the Indiana- Illinois region. In fact, he was still playing piano for the public when he
was 90.
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| Crawford County Historical Society |
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SAR Logo for
Pennsylvania |
Hap
also had a love of history. He was
a proud member of the Sons of the American Revolution, having a maternal and
paternal Revolutionary ancestor who fought in the war. Hap worked countless hours as a
volunteer at the Crawford County Historical Society in Robinson, Illinois, and
helped establish a museum for county history and artifacts, serving as
president for many years.
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Author James Jones
and Desk |
Author
James Jones was a Robinson native and friend of Hap and Annis’. Both always had wonderful stories to
tell about him and the scandalous book he wrote that was a thinly disguised
story of the ‘good and bad’ in the little town of Robinson. Hap was instrumental in saving the desk
where Jones wrote “From Here to Eternity,” and having it reconstructed and
reconditioned for the museum.
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| Jimmy Stewart |
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| Carol Lombard & Clark Gable |
It
seems Hap and Annis always knew famous people. As a child, Hap and Jimmy Stewart played together while
their father’s fished. Author
James Jones dated Annis in high school and later wrote a short story, ‘The Ice
Cream Headache’ for her. Hap was
well acquainted with Lawrence Welk, and Ann B. Davis of
Brady Bunch fame was a frequent dinner guest in Robinson. Once, while dining at
a swank dinner club in Chicago, the maitre d’ approached Hap and Annis, asking
if they would mind sharing their out-of-the-way table with another couple. After saying yes, Clark Gable and
Carole Lombard were seated with them for an entertaining evening. And, unbeknownst to me, Hap was having
breakfast with Richard Geer when they shot the Mothman Prophecies in
Kittanning. True to his word, he
didn’t tell anyone until after the shoot was over.
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| Wine Painting by Hap Fleming |
And
the story of Hap’s life wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the oil
paintings he and Annis did.
Encouraged by Annis’ brother, they bought canvas, paints, easels, and
began. Both had an artistic eye
and the natural talent to paint interesting and captivating pictures. When finished they would gift their
paintings to people around the country.
I am proud to say that I own the only oil Hap painted that had to do
with wine. Since that is my profession,
it means a lot to me.
Unfortunately
when Hap died in November 2003 his estate was intestate. He trusted that what he said he wanted
to happen would. Somewhere along
the line his Big Band photo album and scrapbooks disappeared. My fear is that they were parted out
and the famous Big Band autographs and photos he had collected over the years
were sold for cash. Done so without a
thought to the fact that these books were a very meaningful record of his life.
Regrettably
this happens all too often. So a few
pointers; make sure, if you are the person designated to receive a loved one’s
memory books, it’s put in writing and you have a copy. If those items are truly gone, try to
recreate what you remember was there.
Contact anyone you can remember who might still have photos or mementos
of those earlier times. This
applies not only to those who have recently passed, but ancestors from
generations back. The Internet makes
detective work more possible and much easier now. You’ll be surprised what is out there.
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| Club Trocadero Menu |
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| Article on Lee Angelo Band |
EBay
is a wealth of old pictures, postcards, dance cards and menus from long
forgotten places. Check
newspaperarchives.com for any relevant clippings and articles. Although I haven’t located the actual
1930’s articles about his band, I did rediscover this write up done in the
Indiana, Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper.
This came out in December 2000 when Brian and I were spending the
holidays with Hap. He told me stories
about the ‘Big Band days’ yet again, and finding this helped to jog my memory
on other anecdotes he had shared with me throughout the years.
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We lost Hap on November 20, 2003.
He was 92. |
While
I do not have Hap’s actual photos and keepsakes, I have the memories of
countless hours spent pouring over his scrapbooks with him, and his enjoyment
in retelling and reliving the life that went with them. Those memories are the most wonderful
of all – and they are something I’ll always treasure.
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| Harry 'Hap' Fleming |
During
our last visit with Hap, he sat at the piano for well over an hour one evening,
playing song after song, taking us all back to another time when the music, and
life, seemed to be more straightforward and less complicated. And the fact that Hap could
convey that at the piano was just a part of his magical gift. It was, quite simply, just who he was. Hap Fleming was a man who enjoyed life
and making people happy with his music.
What a wonderful way to be remembered.
~
Joy
(Special thanks to Tim and Jane Attaway of Pulliam's Funeral Home, Oblong, Illinois.
And to Sue Jones, Crawford County Historical Society, Robinson, Illinois.)
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With
this being Thanksgiving weekend and families gathered together for a few days,
maybe this would be the perfect time to begin to assemble the lifetime story of
a loved one or ancestor. What a
special way to remember and celebrate someone’s life.
