George N. Kaneff

1905 – 1962

 

 

George Nevius Kaneff, father of George Warren Kaneff Sr., was born in 1905 to Manford Warren Kaneff Sr. and Lillian Baxter Kaneff of Huntington WV.

 

George was the oldest 3 boys, younger brothers John N. (also Nevius) and Manford W. Jr. (aka Shorty)

 

George N. was quite a character.  I don’t remember a lot about Grandpa except he had a crippled arm and was very gruff.  Grandpa fell out of a tree when he was young and damaged his arm quite severely

 

I remember a few of the sayings Grandpa used, especially when talking about me.

 

  1. “You no good for cotta “  I’m not sure what that means (or meant). 
  2. “You’re making more trouble than a Kinka Jew “

(I finally looked it up and it’s Kinkajous.  Here’s a biography….


‘Kinkajous are noisy animals.  They scream shrilly when feeding and bark when disturbed. ‘

 

Here are a few facts about Grandpa George….

 

  1. He was in fact known as “Wing’ through most of his life due to the bad left arm.
  2. He worked hard during the depression, buying gold for the government from private citizens.  (Dad said he even bought a few teeth.)
  3. He had a gas station in Huntington, and was known to deal a bit in black market tires and gas during WWII.  (Dad called it a ‘fillin’ station)
  4. He was a staunch Democrat and electioneered quite a bit.
  5. He was an elected Constable in Huntington.
  6. Late in life, he was on oxygen.  Dad used to carry the oxygen tanks up the many steps at 1856 Marshall Avenue where Grandpa and Muzzy (Maxine) lived.
  7. Grandpa succumbed to Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) in 1962 at the age of 57.