Friday, March 24, 2006

In Profile: Archie B. DeRamus

Archie Bracy Deramus was the eigth and youngest child of John Archie and Sadie Mae Goodson Deramus. He was my mother's favorite uncle,they were more like Big brother and little sister. Born in 1931, Archie was the baby of the DeRamus clan. He was always a sickly child and suffered from polio, which left him severely weakened as he grew up into adulthood. I remember my uncle as a very slim, sort of tall(but he wasn't really, he just seemed tall to me), dark-skinned black man with s;eek gray hair. My mother told me that he went completely grey in his twenties. Archie Deramus was apparently a whiz-kid, he knew how to ace any multiple choice test you could give him, especially with a.b.c choices, and he also--like Aunt Bertie and Uncle Lawrence, skipped a few grades. Uncle Archie spent twenty years in school and recieved seven different degrees in fields varying from Biology to Social Work. He started off as a teacher and by the time I came along, was a social worker. He pulled my mother into the profession.

My mother loved Archie harder than I think she loved anything else in the whole world. When he got sick, she took care of him and worked hard to help him live. He died in 1987. I remember Uncle Archie as firstly smelling like cigarettes and then later, in his sickness, of smelling of sickness. Now that I think of my uncle during that time period, I can remember and think of the things that went on then. My Uncle had apparently had a falling out with some of his sisters and when he got very ill, they didn't do anything at all to help him. My mother would go over to his house every day and cook for him, bathe him, help him get dressed--and if he were going--to go to work. My Uncle's wife, Aunt Carolyn, apparently wasn't much of a help either. I know that there were two people in this world that loved Archie Deramus very very hard, and that was my mother and Uncle Lawrence. When he died, my mother spent years grieving over him. His name could not be mentioned without her breaking down into tears. I think his death caused a great rift between my mother and her aunts. He and Uncle Lawrence grew up very close, were running partners, intellectual sparring partners, and respected and loved each other immensely. Uncle Lawrence also grieved for Uncle Archie a long time. I wasn't there to witness that however.

I remember my uncle as a man with a beautiful spirit. He always doted on my sister, my mother says that when she was born he wanted to adopt her(he had step-children, but none of his own). I always enjoyed going over to his house, but really and truly hated going their for holidays. It never failed that my sister and my cousins would turn on Thriller and I would have to leave the room, even though I was too frightened to do so. He and Aunt Carolyn lived very well, but I dont know how much they got along. They stayed married though. I remember very well the night Aunt Carolyn called my mother frantically telling her to come over to their house--quick--that Uncle Archie had gone crazy, that he had shot the dog. My mother says she got over there to see was was wrong and she found Archie sitting in the basement by himself. My mother went down in the basement to talk to him, followed by Aunt Carolyn. My mother says she asked him "Archie, whats the matter, why did you shoot the dog?" My mother said he told her, "The bitch wouldn't keep her damned mouth shut." My mother said she looked at Uncle Archie and she looked at Aunt Carolyn, put her coat back on and went home. Archie DeRamus was nothing to play with.
Although I knew my uncle, I didn't him as well as my mother or my sister did. I did feel his presence though, and I knew him well enough to remember many things about him--I was seven when he died. I hope his spirit is resting well.

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