Today is my Daddy's birthday...

Hi, Ethan. Today I thought I'd tell you about my Daddy, your Mommy's Granddaddy and your Great Granddaddy. Today would have been his 93rd birthday. He was born on May 31, 1916 in McCool, Mississippi.The name on his birth certificate was J. D. Drane Mauldin. He was the only child of Lester Colby Mauldin (October 12, 1889 - May 11, 1948) and Ada Belle Drane Mauldin (September 18, 1891 - September, 1970). For some reason his Mommy (my Grandmama) wanted to have a "June baby" so she told everyone that my Daddy's birthday was June 1st even though it was May 31st.
During the excitement of Daddy 's birth the hospital didn't know what to put down as his name on the birth certificate. Someone said, "just name the baby for his grandfather." This didn't help much because - like everyone - he had two grand fathers: James Andrew Mauldin (October 1, 1845 - March 24, 1924) and Jefferson Davis Drane, M.D. & D.D.S. To solve the problem they used initials and let the family fill in the blanks later. His name could have been either Jefferson Davis Drane Mauldin or James Davis Drane Mauldin. As the years went by they settled on James Davis Drane Mauldin and he was called "Drane" Mauldin. It wasn't until World War II that the U. S. Marine Corps dropped Drane as his first name and for the rest of his life he was known as Jim Mauldin.
Daddy spent most of his career working for the Boy Scouts of America. He started in Nashville, Tennessee as a District Executive and was promoted in 1957 to the position of Scout Executive in the Middle Georgia Council in Macon, Georgia. From there he was promoted again and we moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1964 for 3 years. His final major promotion was to Oklahoma City's Last Frontier Council in 1967. Daddy should have stayed in OKC but eventually retired in 1978 from the Middle Tennessee Council in Nashville. He came full circle back to Nashville where he had started.
Over and above all the wonderful scouting experiences that he was responsible for providing to thousands of boys in Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama, Daddy's main accomplishment was the acquisition of Slippery Falls Scout Ranch for the Oklahoma City scouts. It had hundreds of acres and was located south of OKC about 60 miles. It provided a great "roughin' it" camping experience for the boys during summer camp.
Daddy never made any significant money working for a non-profit organization like the Boy Scouts but he did a lot of good for a lot of boys. His life made a difference. He accepted Jesus as his Savior just before he died in 1999. I can remember Aunt Mimzie and me praying for him in the emergency room the day he died in the afternoon. He was unconscious and his breathing was very labored but as we prayed a tear welled up in his eye... I'll never forget that.
I don't know where my pictures of Daddy are because they are still packed away in boxes but when I find some of them I'll scan them and post them here so you can see what your Great Granddaddy looked like. He would have been very proud of you, Ethan.
Oh, I forgot to mention... when he was a boy, Daddy became an Eagle Scout.I love you, Ethan,
Granddaddy
PS. Call me sometime 931-598-9160
PSS. Be on the lookout for a package addressed to you!