Superhero Day 2021

Superhero Day is April 28, 2021. This year, we asked our clients at Tarr Financial to nominate someone they looked up to. This is one of those entries from Cal Devitt:

My superhero is Matthew Devitt, my paternal grandfather. He was born in Ontario in 1856 to Irish immigrants. His father died when Grandpa was 10 years old, and his mother died when he was 15. When Matthew was about 22 years old, he and his two sisters, brother-in-law, and his very young niece and nephew, started out for Michigan with a team of horses and sleighs. On the way, the snow melted, and they had to switch to a wagon.

They made it to Elk Township, Sanilac County, where Grandpa carved an 80-acre farm out of the wilderness, built a log cabin and farm buildings. The Great Fire of 1881 swept across the “Thumb” of Michigan, causing massive destruction and many deaths. Grandpa’s farm buildings burned, but they were able to save the cabin.

Grandpa spent several winters Up North in logging camps to get back on his feet again. His farm prospered. He married, and he and Grandma raised four children, including my dad. They built a new house and barn. For many years, they took care of three grandchildren left motherless b y the death of their mother.

Grandpa died at his home in 1929, exactly four years before I was born in that same farmhouse. Sadly, he died a painful death from cancer. But he left a legacy of hard work, and loyalty to family…of which I am mighty proud.