The Stories Our Photos Tell: Meet Buddy
Who is the kid with the giant smile?
Recently I told you about my quest to tame the photo monster in the corner of my office.
I started organizing and scanning my grandparents’ photos and came across one particular person who really sparked my interest.
He was a young boy/man in several photos with my Grandpa Phil.
Tall, lanky, big giant grin. The kind of kid you want to know. He just looks fun to be around.
I’ve seen quite a few photos over the years, but it wasn’t until I really started this recent organizing project that I started to figure out this question.
Meet Louis Frank Tormohlen, Jr. AKA Buddy
My branch of the Tormohlen family came over from Germany in the mid-1850s and settled in Dubois County in southwestern Indiana, specifically Holland, Indiana.
You may have heard of the University of Tennessee/NBA star of the 60s, Gene “Bumper” Tormohlen. He also came from the Indiana Tormohlen stock. (2nd cousin, 2 times removed, if my calculations are correct. My 3rd great-grandfather is his great-grandfather, I think.)
Sorry, I digress.
My great-great-grandfather, and namesake of my grandfather and dad, Daniel Tormohlen was the postmaster in Holland and later the veterinarian. (Apparently back then you could make those kinds of career shifts.)
Several of his children relocated to Oklahoma City, OK, and that is where we meet Buddy.
Buddy was the only son of Daniel’s second son, Louis, born in 1923. (We are first cousins, twice removed). He was a tall, lanky kid who, even as he became a young man, had a babyface.
But that smile! Have I told you about his smile? It lights up every photo he’s in.
Most of the photos I have of Buddy are from visits my grandfather’s family took from Illinois, where they lived, to Oklahoma City.
But then he’s gone…missing…MIA. I was confused.
That’s when I turned to my research background and started doing some genealogical digging.
That’s when I learned the hard truth.
Buddy, who graduated from high school in 1941 looking like a 12-year-old, was drafted into World War II.
Buddy had only been in England for 3 months in 1944 when he flew his first mission.
Buddy was a tail gunner in a B-17 that was shot out of the air over Regensburg, Germany, on his very first mission.
Buddy was only 19 years old when he died.
Buddy’s body wouldn’t be returned to his parents for almost 5 years.
He wouldn’t be buried at home in Oklahoma City until 1948.
Source: Yearbook (1941 Classen High School, Oklahoma City, OK); Obituary (10 Nov 1948, The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, OK)
How do you mourn a person you didn’t even know existed 6 months ago?
How do you mourn a person you’ve never met? You haven’t even met any of their family.
How do you mourn the life that person should have had?
I don’t know how, but I know that I did.
Even now as I type this, I have tears running down my cheeks.
This, my friends, is the power of our photographs.
Photos give us the power to love people from our past, our present, and our future.
Photos give us the power to connect with people we’ve never met.
Photos give us the power to have a sense of family that transcends time and place.
And I, for one, am a better person for having met Buddy.
About the Author
Andi Willis started Good Life Photo Solutions after searching for photos of her late father and realizing how easily a family’s memories can slip away. Now a Certified Professional Photo Organizer with more than 15 years of experience, she helps families across the country bring order to overwhelming photo chaos and preserve the stories that matter most. She works from Smithfield, Virginia.
If your own photos feel like too much to face alone, that is exactly the kind of puzzle we solve.
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Thank you for sharing. Such a sad story, but it is wonderful you could find so much information. I was given an Ancestry membership from my kids for Mother’s Day. It is so much fun researching my ancestry. I will focus on my Dad’s family to see if I can get more information from my dad’s dad, who died when my dad was 12.
Ancestry is such a fun playground! Good luck on your search.
Wow, what a beautiful and yet sad story. Such a light snuffed out so young. I’m glad you were able to figure out what happened to him, and this post really honors him. I love his smile as well, Andi. I imagine he had a huge and positive impact on those around him, even if his time here was brief. This shows how taking our time to learn the stories behind our photographs can really enrich our lives!
Thanks, Seana! I really enjoyed getting to know Buddy a little better.
Photos are so powerful. I love that finding a few of Buddy encouraged your curiosity to find out more about him. By doing that, you shined a light on his life, added to its meaning, and made a connection with a family member whose life was cut short way too young. Sending you extra love and hugs as you honor Buddy’s memory and grieve his loss.
So true! I’m proud that I was able to uncover Buddy’s story but I know there are so many more out there.
Love this story!
Thanks, Lisa!
I loved reading this! I am so early on my family history / photo organizing journey that I can’t imagine making this type of discovery, but I did learn my paternal grandfather’s date of birth, parents’ names, and a bit about the circumstances of his birth, which my dad never knew, so that was pretty exciting.
That’s amazing that you are already making progress, Janet! I’m sure you will find more over time.
What a great story. I have to admit, I have a few pictures of my parents when they were in their youth. I would love to know the story behind their poses (both were in bathing suits). I wonder if my mom was married yet? I know my father wasn’t. The beauty of old photos is never lost on me.
Those old photos have some of the best stories. I have several that I need to ask my mom about.
Wow, what a powerful story, both about the meaning of photographs and the short life of such an important person. Thank you for sharing. And this is yet another reason I included you in my blog post today as an expert!
Thanks so much, Julie! Our photos are so important and the stories give them context and even more meaning.
Such a powerful story, Andi and a vivid reminder of the web of connections that holds us all together.
Thanks, Lucy! It’s such a small, interconnected world.
Awwww…..I missed this one. But I’d seen your quote floating around: “Photos give us the power to love people from our past, our present, and our future.” I just Googled it because I want to use it in my new book, and I wanted to make SURE it was YOU who said it. I, too, find myself in tears sometimes over people I “meet” doing genealogy research!