The Greatest Fisherman I Have Known

The Greatest Fisherman I Have Known

Alvin D. Vroman officially entered my life forty years ago. I had known him for a few years before, and actually met him several years before that. In 1976 he became my official Step-Dad and Grandpa Al to my kids.

While researching family history, I found the 1930 census. There, next to the Laleman family with 8 year old Freddy (my Dad Fred) was the Vroman farm with 9 year old Alvin, nick named “Buck”.

 As a young boy he lived in extreme poverty during The Great Depression. His Dad, like so many, lost his farm. They moved to a cabin along the Rock River. Fishing put food on the table, so it wasn’t recreation, it was survival. He developed a feel and understanding for fishing that was amazing to watch.

 His parents scraped together enough money to start a food trailer and they began to travel to carnivals and fairs. Al became a cook, and learned to make lemon shake-ups and corn dogs. Grandpa Al’s lemonade is a family favorite, and even in his nineties, he is asked to make some for every family gathering.

 Al Vroman was a successful entrepreneur. He and his wife Gladys farmed outside of Hillsdale, IL. Al had a good job at the John Deere plant, and he and Gladys saved every dime until they could buy a farm.  He and Gladys were also terrific cooks, and had a dream of starting a nice restaurant in his home town.

 The key to a successful restaurant is a great cook,  a well-stocked bar, and an owner who makes everyone feel like a friend. Al and Gladys were all of these things and their business was extremely successful. Al had to fight all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court to get the dry town of Hillsdale to grant him a liquor license, but the town fathers didn’t realize they were fighting with someone who never gives up.

Connie and I had eaten at “The Rustic” several times and my Dad and Mom had also dined at the restaurant owned by my Dad’s old neighbor.

 Gladys and Al traveled with the Restaurant Association on multiple trips abroad. A depression era kid was driven to see the world. They went to Europe, Asia, and often to Hawaii. It was almost like they were making up for all the Al had missed growing up. Unfortunately it did not last.

Gladys developed cancer and died in a short time. She suffered greatly as did Al. In his early 50’s, with more success than he could imagine as a kid, he lost his love and his partner. Without Gladys, he sold his highly successful business and returned to farming part time, but his life was unfulfilled. He had two teenage sons still in school. He had money, but Al had so much energy, he never really could retire.

 My Dad had died in his early 50’s. My two sisters and my two youngest brothers still lived at home.  One sister was to marry in a few months, but the others were still in school. With only older farm machinery to sell, a small life insurance policy, no savings, and nothing but a work ethic to market, my Mom was in a bind. She got a job, bought a house in town, and went to work raising three teenagers. She made it work, but her life was unfulfilled.

What Al brought to our lives is so rich it is difficult to describe. He brought stability to my Mom and my youngest three siblings.They built a new house in Hillsdale. He and my Mom created a life where they and their five  youngest children could become family. 

They were not to live without further tragedy. Al's granddaughter, Dawn, was killed while riding her bike. Her father, Greg, Al's middle son, would die in a traffic accident. His daughter, Eileen,  would die from an extended illness. In spite of all of this they would continue as a comfort to those who remained.

Al brought travel and adventure into his new family. He took the family to Hawaii, took my Mom to France, and most often he took them fishing. They made annual trips to Wisconsin and Minnesota. Retired from his restaurant business, Al and Mom began to spend winters in Florida. Ten years after their marriage, they built a house on Pine Island, outside of Ft. Myers, FL.

While in Florida, Al and Mom developed a friendship with Tim and Patti. Both were commercial fishers. Al would fish with Tim and learned the waters around Pine Island Bay. Patti taught him to catch crab.

 Al took us bank fishing on our early visits. He had a spot, “The Point”, where fish would pass into a canal. The point was an undeveloped lot about a quarter mile from their house. We would fish in the evening and everyone eventually was successful. Al, calmly sitting on an old bucket, would catch dinner every day.

With Tim’s help, Al bought an old boat hull and turned it into a fishing boat large enough for family. All of our immediate family, and many of Mom and Al’s extended family members, would plan to vacation with Mom and Al in Florida. They had many friends back home who came to visit. Mom had to keep a schedule, like a hotel, to keep from overbooking. Sometimes we had so many family members there, some had to sleep in the garage.

After several years, they moved back to my home town and Al built a third house, while keeping the winter home on Pine Island. 

 Every trip involved multiple hours on the water. We would look for seashells and sand dollars. We would travel to white sand beaches. Mostly, every day, we would go fishing. On every trip, no matter what else happened, Al would catch fish.

 He is remarkable at locating fish, especially the desirable Speckled Sea Trout. He carefully watched the tides and located the passages the fish used as they moved through the bay. Most of the time we all caught fish, but sometimes we were too slow or not sensitive enough, but Al never was. If he had a strike, he had a fish.

Al was so successful, he caught more than all of us could eat. Every year he filled their freezer with enough fish for the return to Illinois. So Al reverted back to a skill he learned from surviving on the river as a kid. Al began to barter. He started out giving away fish. Then, when offered something in return, he would develop a regular route. With Sandy, he traded for pies and cakes. He traded the “Orchard Man”, fish for fruit. He provided the restaurant owner fish for her business, and got a free lunch every day.

 In addition to his successful Florida adventures, Al and his sons would take an annual Father’s Day trip to Minnesota. Here, Vroman family tradition was established for Mile Lacs Lake in norther Minnesota. They fished for walleyes and always bought back fish. I made the trip with the one time. I wasn’t as successful as the regulars.

Eventually they sold their house in Florida, and became permanent northern residents once again. He continues to remain active making wood working projects like cradles for babies and benches for newly weds. At age 95 he gets more done than people half his age.

 Al’s fishing prowess is legendary among all who know him. In addition to all of the skill, he is just an enjoyable person to be around. He remains a great cook, and a skilled craftsman with wood. He stills calls me “boy” and I love it and I love him. We are so fortunate that he has come into our lives and become a father to me and Grandpa Al to all of our kids.