William Woodcock Sr. #2

I was 20 years old when my father casually mentioned that he was an adopted child.I was stunned, here he is in his early teens posing with his blood father Clarence Messer who was a Luthern Minister. The story goes that the Messers were in the Territory of New Mexico to establish the Lutheran Church and while in Portales my father's mother died giving birth to him leaving Messer with three sons on his hands. Charles Woodcock suffered from an asthmatic condition and would spend part of each year in Portales for health purposes where he was also part owner in a haredware store. Being childless he and his wife Matty adopted my father. The picture above was taken in Hot Springs on a brief occasion when Messer and my father's two older brothers were traveling East and stopped so the boys could meet and he never saw any of them again.