HomeMy WebLinkAboutGalveston Seawall
Ike stirs memories of grandfather
hen I was a little
Wgirl and visiting my
grandparents in
Dickinson, I remember that
my grandfather, Domenic
Victor DePasquale, would
go to work every weekday
morning, usually driving a
pickup truck as he backed
out of his long gushed shell
driveway.
He dressed nicely, some-
times in a sports coat, tie
and straw fedora. He had a
little pencil-thin mustache
across his upper lip that
tickled when he kissed me.
One of my favorite things
to do was play in the dark,
dusty workshop he had in
his garage. It smelled of oil
and gasoline. His tool sharp-
ener whined like a siren if
you had the energy and
muscle to crank it hard
enough. That entertained
me for hours.
But it was much later,
after my grandfather's
untimely death in 195a that
I was old enough to under-
stand what he actually did
for a living. He was county
engineer for Galveston
County. He had graduated
from A&M College in 1924
with a degree in civil engi-
neering and had gone on to
Cornell University in
Ithaca, N.Y., for his masters
in civil engineering. That's
where he met my grand-
mother, Genevieve "Jean"
Elizabeth Teti.
My grandmother told me
one time that Grandma
nant with my grandfather
when the Great Storm hit
Galveston on Sept. 8, 1900.
Jean recalls Grandma
DePasquale telling the story
of crawling through the
muddy, rain-soaked fields
with little Mary Ann in tow
and my grandfather in her
womb. They were trying to
escape the rising waters and
devastation of the Great
Storm.
Later, they moved to
Steel's Store (Mudville) in
rural Brazos County to farm
cotton. My mother told me
stories of her grandfather,
Rosario DePasquale, carry-
ing my grandfather on his
back through the mud to
school each day. So impor-
tant was their education
that he thought nothing of
the effort. He did this for all
three boys and for Mary
Ann.
The family fmally settled
in Dickinson. My grandfa-
ther must have heard the
same stories time and again
in their family's Sicilian
dialect. The story must have
made quite an impression
on him in later years.
As county engineer, the
first series of projects he
directed were the Galveston
Seawall extensions and
additions during the late
1920s through the 1950s. He
also created the first water
district for Dickinson. And
as a private citizen, he saw
to it that African-Americans
in the area had their first
real school buildings and a
decent chance at education.
During the summer of
2007, I revisited Galveston
and brought my grandchil-
dren to see their great-great-
grandfather's work. They
walked along and played on
the seawall. Later, I showed
them how his work had
been commemorated by a
series of bronze monument
plaques that list his name.
So here I am, awaiting
another great storm and
thinking of my grandfather
and his dedication to the
well-being of citizens in
Galveston County.
And, that, is the rest of
the story.
Take care of yourselves
this weekend, and thank
you to all who give of them-
selves in times of need.
Anne Boykin manages the
city of College Station's her-
itage programs.
~r
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My Take
Anne Boykin
Photo courtesy of Anne Boykin
Domenic Victor DePasquale with his granddaughters, Anne
Boykin (left), 6, and Karen Boykin, 8, at the East Gate
Memorial on the A&M campus, about 1955.