My Dad

Floyd O. Flom
1918 to 2000

His mother died during childbirth when dad was a toddler.  His father lost the family farm during the Great Depression when dad was a teenager in rural Minnesota. Grandpa Samson Flom was left with ten children.  Dad was the only one of the siblings to finish college, which is probably why seeing his own kids get a college education was so important to him.

During World War II, the Army was segregated and dad was Commanding Officer of an African American company of soldiers. It must've made an impression because afterwards, in grad school, he fought to integrate his all-white fraternity. This was in the late '40s before it was fashionable to be civil rights minded. He was a state legislator in Minnesota, winning a second term unopposed.  Once in grade school I used a derogatory term about a minority group that I'd heard at school, and it was as angry as I had ever seen my dad.

When my parents separated and then divorced, he lived in NYC. I remember once he declined to give money to a homeless person. He said that there are services available for people on the street. I didn't know it at the time, but my dad was one of those services. President Ford started the National Alliance of Businessmen to create job opportunities for ex-offenders, minorities, and people on welfare. Dad was Executive Director of the New York office. He earned a commendation from President Carter (or was it Reagan) for his work.  Whatever social justice values I have I come by honestly.