A WACKEY MACKEY

To poke fun at ourselves, we Mackeys liked to call ourselves the "Wackey Mackeys". Fun was the focus of Dad's life. He was an easy-going, happy man full of love for his family and friends. He enjoyed playing all kinds of games such as badminton, volley ball, even golf occasionally with some buddies from work. After we three kids finished our homework, Dad would go to the end of the dining room table and spread out the board game of the night.  "All right, everyone, time to play Monopoly! Come on, Mom. Put down your sewing. Clear your books off the table, Phill!" More than anything else, I think those games kept us five together, playing together...us Wackey Mackeys.

Dad was born in Manhattan in 1908 , where his dad had a business making canvas auto tops for the new Fords appearing in this most populous city of the United States. His family's apartment, on West 90th Ave., was close to Central Park where Guy bagged up a huge bunch of fall leaves when his three kids were little. He emptied the leaves onto their big front porch to let Helen, Tom and Bobby romp around in them to their hearts' content.

When Guy's business started to fail because of Ford's newer models sporting glass windows and enclosed bodies, not needing canvas tops any more, the family made a move to Newburgh, NY in 1915. This community was a bit less noisy with fewer people and Guy's business necessarily catered to the Newburgh folks who still needed auto tops and repairs for their older model T's.

Meanwhile, Tom needed to get his college education and made the move to Akron, Ohio to attend Buchtel College's fine chemistry classes, in preparation for his goal to be a pharmacist. In 1920, the rest of the Mackeys joined Tom there.  This is where Dad and Mom met! They said it was love at first sight at the youth dance at the Congregational Church. Sure, they were awfully young to fall in love, but they did. They had some very fun times together canoeing on Summit Lake, attending movies at the many movie theaters on Main Street, sledding, skating, tobogganning, and participating in the Central High School activities. You can bet they played board games, too!

 Mom's family moved to Ellet in 1926, to get away from the soot in Central Akron (rubber factory pollution), Dad felt completely lost. He rode the streetcar to Ellet as often as he could, only to find Mom with other guys. Naturally he was jealous and upset. He quit school and took off for Kansas City, Kansas to make some money. Before he left, he gave Mom a parrot, saying, "Take care of our baby (the parrot). I'll be back as soon as I have enough money for us to get married."

Well, Kansas City didn't do it for Dad. So, he came back and helped his dad at his upholstery business in a building behind the Mackey house. Dad eventually got a job at Goodyear in the pit, as they called it...a dirty, physically strenuous job for all the young, new employees to start at. When Kick and Bob turned 21 by September 1929 and didn't need parental signatures to marry, they got their marriage license. Their quiet marriage ceremony took place at the Phillips' residence.

Immediately they found a lot in Ellet to build their house on and started digging their basement. But 1929 was the year of the stock market crash that caused the Deep Depression!! The crash affected everyone's lives. Folks learned how to help one another, even though no one had money to spend on anything but essentials.  Bob and Kick stayed at the Phillips house occasionally, then the Mackey house, or other relatives' or friends' places until their house was all finished in late 1931. I was born in 1932 and lived in that sweet house for a month or two. Then, the house was taken over by the bank just like so many other houses of that decade.

By 1940, Dad was hired at General Tire and Rubber Co. and worked himself up to an office job as a tube and valve designer. In 1942, Dad could then afford to buy the Phillips house where we Mackeys lived until 1958.
 Dad made a big move up the ladder when, in 1947, Bridgeport Brass Co. hired him to be their Sales Engineer at their branch office in Akron, OH. He loved this position and travelled to many places in the U. S., selling his valves and helping companies use the valves efficiently. He especially liked having Mom along on those trips and the two of them had fun entertaining Dad's customers at dinner parties.

Dad retired in Fall 1973 and spent some time travelling to foreign countries with Mom and sometimes some of their Pinochle Club friends joined them. Yes, card games and board games were still a very important part of Dad's life. Perquackey became a favorite. He and Mom would have a special daily afternoon appointment  to play their game over a Manhattan or two...becoming "The Perquackey Mackeys".

Robert Lincoln Mackey .....Sources: Robert's birth, death and marriage certificates. Newspaper and city directory ads about Guy's businesses and Federal censuses: 1940, 1930, 1920, 1910, 1900. Also, many interviews with family members and family letters, photos, and a 1924 diary by Kathryn Phillips. 
Born: 5 Sep 1908 in New York, New York, NY
Married: 12 Sep 1929 to Kathryn Lewis Phillips ("Kick") in Akron, Summit, OH
Died: 14 Aug 1991 in Akron, Summit, OH
Children:
Marjorie, living 
Linda, living
Phillip, living