Mike Suba and Mike Suba

00:06 My name is Mike Suba. I am 82 years old. He's seven.

00:13 Today is Sunday December 15th.

00:17 2019

00:20 We're in fuel, Arizona.

00:26 Interview

00:30 The name of my my son's name is Mike Suba. He's going to be interviewing me.

00:42 My name is Mike Suba Junior and I'm currently 62 today is Sunday December 15th, 2019 and we are recording here in Yuma, Arizona. The name of my interview partner is my father Mike Suba and looking forward to the interview.

01:03 Okay, Dad. I really wanted to find out a lot about Grandpa you I don't know as much as I'd like to so can you just share with me and everybody that I will be listening to this recording about our namesake Mike Suba and where he came from and how he wound up in Tucson, Arizona?

01:25 My dad Mike Suba left Romania at the age of 16 years old.

01:31 His mother put him on a boat because there was so many of her men killed in during those in Wars back way back there in the night before 1900.

01:42 He got on the ship and he met a couple of children from Argentina.

01:49 And from from Romania to Argentina these two little children taught my dad how to speak Spanish.

01:57 By the time they got to Argentina in my dad and run out of money and didn't have enough money to continue to go to the United States wet which was his ultimate goal.

02:07 So my dad was hired by these children's father who owns a cattle ranch in Argentina. He spent a couple years are working for him.

02:17 And they want to retire so they sold the ranch and my dad did not care for the new owner. So he went to work for a while in the gold mines in Argentina.

02:27 Every earned enough money he boarded the ship again and he got as far as I think near Brownsville, Texas, but it was for Mexico.

02:39 He found out that the quota for immigrants to come in the United States on Ellis Island.

02:45 Have been filled and he couldn't get in so he decided Well, I'm going to go to the United States anyway, so he crossed the border.

02:54 Enterprise Lewisville, Texas, and from there. He went to Toledo, Ohio because he found out that there was a group of Romanians in the neighborhood and he went there to feel good. Anyway, he got a job in the phone for foundries are in Toledo.

03:13 After a while

03:16 The day of the big flu epidemic hit my dad was sick. So we went to see a doctor.

03:24 The doctor told him, mr. Suba.

03:28 You're going to have to get on boat. We are on a ship. I'm Siamese the train and go to California and I would advise you to do it tomorrow morning. And I lost a lot of people in this flu epidemic and this is the only thing that can help you get away from having the flu.

03:49 My dad then.

03:51 Went back up all of his clothes the following day. He was on a train heading for, California.

03:59 After a long time on that train, they landed in Tucson, and they had to stop train and it's been about an hour cleaning up.

04:08 My Dad decided

04:10 To go for a walk and in that walk he with a German gentleman by the name of a box. That was his last name is vagrancy. But anyhow, I guess I better get back to the train gets going to California mystery box is okay. Hope to see you again with dad walked over to the

04:33 Train station and the train was gone clothes and everything.

04:37 So we went back to where mystery block wasn't told him the sad story about missing his train losing all of his clothes Mystery Box who was pretty well established in Tucson Mike. You can stay in my house with me. I'll give you a job tomorrow morning. Mister Reebok old only automobile repair Lumber Company a grocery store and he owned a couple of bars one being a Spanish. Well on South 6th Avenue and the open door on the old Benson Highway. Anyway, dad went out there and he went to work the following morning at the radio automobile shop and he was talk how to work on radiators after a while. He was working at nights also at the Spanish well bar.

05:33 Overtime. He met a gentleman there at the bar in the evening and this guy had a chicken wraps on Mission Road.

05:43 And he and dad got together for a while and he said why don't you come up and look at my chicken farm, mr. Tsubo Soledad went out there.

05:52 And it was a small small business and

05:57 This gentleman said you don't like it be kind of nice. If you would you like to buy into my chicken ranch Pieces by half of it so Dad got to thinking about that following evening or two. He talked to Ibaka nebox if that's a good idea Quinn buying it. So eat bok Lennon the money, which was a very little amount of money. I don't recall all of it, but I think it was around $150 and $50 for so Dad bought into that chicken ranch.

06:28 This whole damn started working part time on the chicken ranch. The only problem was mr. Lee. Davis was an alcoholic and he wasn't showing up and dad was take care of the chicken ranch by himself.

06:41 Sometime later.

06:43 Mr. Davis said do you know I'd like to sell at chicken ranch. I don't want anything to do with it.

06:49 So he's offered to sell to my dad. I think for $100 so Dad went back to mystery block and talked about a CID.

06:58 You know Mikey said that's a good idea. Go ahead and buy the guy out so Dad bought him out.

07:03 And as time went by dad had to leave the job of working at that Spanish well and the automobile repair so he was working full-time out there to chicken ranch and he decided well, why don't I start butchering and barbecuing chicken? So he had a little BBQ Sandy put out there with barbecue chickens.

07:28 Later on either side as well when we get a couple of calls. So he got a couple of cows out there in the next thing, you know, he had a little bit of beef to barbecue.

07:38 And you got to say can you do?

07:41 Beef takes a long time to grow and it's hard to you. No use them to make any kind of money. So we bought got rid of the cows. He had quite a few calls at the time, but he replaced them with a bunch of pigs. So he had a hard rain shower and

07:58 He then build a slaughterhouse, but now the depression that hit and he had many people coming to him and they needed work and my dad so well.

08:11 Tell you what, I need to I got some Corrals and needs to be built for if you go to work out there working. No Corral. I'll give you meet so that was giving them for the work that they were doing so that and they went home to feed their families.

08:28 And later on it went into something else like building a big ole shed to cover the keep the pig from getting too hot.

08:37 Vinny built a slaughterhouse

08:40 And he started butchering in a large scale.

08:46 And that thing he grew and grew and grew and dabbed it pretty good.

08:52 There was he did a whole lot to help many people some of these people were in they were reading it and dire need because the Depression was so bad.

09:07 And they just didn't have to work.

09:10 So dad helped them as many people as he could he was my one thing about my dad. He had a very generous heart and he about the most honest human being I have ever met in my life.

09:24 Yeah.

09:26 I don't know. What else is saying for Dad, but I just want to get the the time the sound of what you just told me. Is that during the Great flu epidemic of 1919. That's when Grandpa left Toledo and then he wound up in Tucson and just missed the train and there was there then I think he told me that he became a partner in the chicken ranch in 1923 and then eventually bought off the the his partner and that became the eventual hog hog farm that grandpa had so why is it sounds like it was I didn't know him. I knew him up until he passed away and I believe I have already left to son of that time. I was in 1981, but I do have fond memories of Grandpa Suba and it was nice and that you're sharing this with me. When did Grandpa super meet your mother?

10:26 Do you remember what year and how they met?

10:32 I think my dad Mel the best way I can say the date would be when Dillinger was captured in Tucson.

10:43 I think probably a month or two before that Dad met my mother.

10:48 They were married the day. The Dillinger was on the airplane leaving Tucson that gives us nice little time Mark. We can look that up on Google and figure that out. That's kind of interesting. So that's what Grandpa told you is that that was the day. They got married and Dillinger was taken back to I guess Illinois to face the consequences. Yeah, I believe so. Wow. Okay, and so how soon did you come along after that was is that might have been 1936 and you were born in 1937?

11:24 Okay, so

11:27 In 1937. I am when I was born it was

11:32 We were still in the depression I believe but anyway, my dad.

11:40 He was one of jealous people. I knew and he I went everywhere my dad. He was my John Wayne hero.

11:50 We go.

11:52 He put me in that big truck of his some way to go downtown down to South 6th Avenue and we'd stop at the Ozark bar where Dad would get a cup of coffee and get me a little cup of chocolate milk and I remember standing there in a seat and we're driving down South 6th Avenue and we cross Five Points. They all I had was a stop sign there. I think I couldn't read it outside but Dad stopped and we continued and we came over to one of the main streets in Tucson. I believe it was Broadway and dad says look at this sunny.

12:28 First traffic light in Tucson eyes will what's it for? He said will win this red, you got to stop he's and when it turns green he's so you can go is okay and I just love being with a man. He he he was great to be with and I was always with him and probably in the way a lot. So what were you doing with him in the truck? Just riding? Okay, why aren't you picking up food to feed the Hogs and things like that? Yeah. He was jealous about that that we we stopped at these different places and get the produce at these stores and he'd stop at somebody's restaurants and get some of the garbage that was left over and this is what he was feeding the pigs with and

13:15 I was too young or too small to help him at all. But I was always there. Right and and later on is I got older I helped him in the slaughterhouse and I helped him makes make a sausages the big sauce easily made with chorizo.

13:37 And my job was to peel a garlic.

13:41 For the longest time and my fingers would actually burn from that garlic and then the garlic was mixed in with it with a fork and a panda chili and I think Dad use some vinegar and stuff, but he sure turned we sure turned out some great tereso and then we would also taken hang Bacon's up in the end ham to smoke.

14:09 And talking about smoking two hands one night. Dad had to go down for something and he told me to tell you sonny. So you make sure that you go check that those logs. It's in the SmokeHouse there smoking. Don't let them flame up because we don't want to have a we don't want to burn anything. So I said, okay. Well we had just gotten a TV.

14:33 And I'm sitting there watching TV and all the sudden the lights hit the wall from an automobile coming in. I knew it was Dad and I hadn't checked at that Bulldog on logs and I ran over there and I'm telling you what they were Flamin up out here and I dad was mad at me. That's the first time that I ever recall him being mad at me. He's a look at what you have done. He said these hams Isa.

14:59 I would have to sell them for $0.03 a pound because they're worth worthless now, but you know, I think I invented a barbecued ham.

15:07 He didn't think that was very funny. But I thought it was awfully good and the ham we ate it though. Great. That's about how old were you at the time I guess I might have been eight or nine years old. Big enough to do a lot worth a hoot, but that always appreciated what I did or he acted like it now did your younger brothers Ted and George help out like you did with the grandpa on the hog farm not very much. I was always there with Dad. So, you know, I'll be reading honest. I think I took more of dads time than any of my brother's dead. So I really can't swear to that. But I do know that though, we had a milk cow and I used to milk that rascal.

15:54 And I got kind of upset when one day I've been milking that call all along and she was a sweet little animal and I told Dad to see you don't want this time that George Tedder Jordan needs to learn how to milk this cow. That's what why don't you teach him and I'm okay. So I took my brother out there and I said, this is what you got to do put the kicker's on the couch so that she doesn't kick proof. We went to flies bother cows which which brother was this was the best thing to do is take the hair on her tail and tie it on the stickers and that way she can slap you in the face while you're milking the cow.

16:32 And Ted's had a different idea to know I'm not going to do that. He picked up this little to buy for a block maybe six or seven inches long and he tied it to attala county jail.

16:43 I just said that so I could work. He said if I'm going to milk this call do it my way. I should go right ahead Buster. I turned around to walk away and she slapped her tail one time hit him upside the head with that flew off to buy for block and he started hitting up hit my call. Well, I guess I went back to milking the cows a full-time. So now when did Grandma Sue believe you guys to be nice? Cuz she went into a institution, right? Yeah. That was how old were you then?

17:14 I think I was.

17:16 Between 8 and 9 years old when she went into the mental institution in Phoenix. My dad got blamed for putting her there in that wasn't he did not do that. My aunt Rhoda and Aunt Louisa were the ones that had my mother committed. Why was that well mother had left the home there on the ranch and moved in with I think Aunt Louisa Aunt Louisa was she drank a whole lot.

17:47 And my mother

17:51 Got pretty mad about not being there on a ranch. I guess. I'm not sure but people got into a physical battle there and she was arrested.

18:03 Grandma grandma was arrested.

18:06 And

18:08 The Atlantic wrote on that Louisa

18:12 Being sisters had the right to have her committed not my dad and she spent 10 years are in the institution. Why? Oh, I didn't realize that have been that many years ago. I was 18 years old when she came home. Wow, okay.

18:32 She would I feel so sorry for my mother and the past years because she had epilepsy and she really had the mentality of a child and her sisters could bamboozle her into just about anything.

18:50 And that was really a hardship on the marriage between her and my dad now, that's a shame. So so weird after your mom left, what did where did you tell him George that where you walking with all the ranch hands or where you in the house or we were we had a bunkhouse there which was a Smokehouse. Oh, okay, and we had a little house over there by the entrance to the branch and my brothers and I we slept just about anywhere we wanted to

19:24 And we had a pretty good life. My dad was all we were never mistreated there. That's a fact of life.

19:33 We had a great life.

19:37 My dad did a good job raising us. So the the main house which was I don't remember being very big only had the one bedroom and kind of the kitchen dining room and then look like the porch has been in close so that could be a little bit of a sleeping area. So that wasn't too big at all. And do you remember anything different that for the main house or no? That's pretty much that pretty much describes a house.

20:10 It was a comfortable house. It wasn't big at all in.

20:14 Back, then I don't think big houses were the thing and we were all comfortable.

20:22 And we had a great cook there. We had this Cajun Cook and he could cook anything and he could make people smile. But I mean in a food was always good and so I know you told me some fun stories about the revenuers and Grandpa Suva and that he didn't want to follow the rules as far as you know, not feeding people that needed food or giving people where he could get. I remember interesting story about sugar.

20:50 Oh boy, my dad. My dad has so many friends. And I mean they were from politics to

21:01 Colleges

21:03 One of them

21:05 The man was a hydrologist for the University of Arizona.

21:12 And his wife was a real nice little lady. She made white lightning and that also had another friend that he made white lightning and back then during the second world war. There was rationing stamps and

21:28 You had to have rationing stamps to buy a lot of things one of them being sugar. No sugar was used to make white lightning with her people like him know, we're not and dad had the advice sugar form course, they would pay him.

21:47 But the dad felt for from a good friend of his that Mike the revenuers are going to come over here because they know that they're sure that you have been

21:59 It's applying sugar. It's just some bootleggers.

22:03 And that's well. No, no, no. No, he's no Mike. He's as you got some white sugar there and brown sugar is your wallet brown sugar is what I use to make sausages.

22:16 And he said that's just the way it is. Nice isn't when you make healthy. So you got to make the syrup Kevin cold it till you pump into the hands and part of it is brown sugar.

22:27 And dad was telling the truth, but he didn't tell him that the white sugar. What what the white sugar was 4.

22:35 I sure enough dad hid the sugar to white sugar in here comes the revenuers and it came through nose around checking around dad hated those revenuers because they only work was this a problem for him?

22:50 Anyway life went on and we kept hanging bacon and sausage bacon and ham and making sausage.

23:01 And

23:03 I don't know what to

23:05 That that's pretty much it. Well, yeah, I remember you telling me to is even though they're what during the Depression they were trying to ration food. But your dad didn't believe if there was food available and people needed it he gave it to him. I had bargained for if they did they'd help out by building Krause is that mean? Yes and during the second world war there was supposed to be a shortage on foods and that there really wasn't as far as my dad was concerned and people would come to him to buy meats and dad would not

23:41 Take the ration stamps you so you can use that for other stuff. You don't need ration stamps here. Okay, so dad was breaking the law, but Dad didn't care for the log. I didn't think that the law was was honest. So that's what he did his business and it sounds like Grandpa was pretty well in tune with the Immigrant population of non-white value of a b a Chinese or Italian or whatever and they all kind of felt comfortable around 1 and they help each other. Some of them had stores some of them had restaurants.

24:23 And my dad always took care of them and they always took care of him.

24:28 And he never would allow a person to go hungry and knowing it.

24:34 He would help them out and it was hard to get people to work during the second world war because so many of them and we're already drafted but one of the people that my dad had working for him.

24:49 He like he like wine.

24:53 And dad bailed him out of jail 26 x 1 year, and if you've got to quit drinking Cliffs and Mike.

25:06 I like to drink that tea. Okay, that's it all well one of these days. I'm not going to pay the fine to get you out of jail.

25:15 He said well, they'll put me in their own to get into place to cook for the prisoners and he was pretty that that guy was what he knew what was going on and but 26 x 1 year and that's a lot of time to get bailed out of jail like every other week. Yeah. I remember one time Cliff was coming to the ranch and he's walking up Mission Road there and he went to the store at the end. He got a pint of tokay and he had it in his back pocket and the dogs ran out from the ranch to greet him just as he pulled the bottle of wine out to take a drink once dogs kind of got up against it by accident and he dropped that guy that bottle of wine, but he was sure mad at those dogs.

26:04 What is your fondest memory of growing up on their hog Ranch?

26:12 I think the fondest memory was the evenings because the work was over for the work was done for the days and you could you could

26:25 You can rest comfortably we slept outside in the summer time and we had a little radio there and we would listen to a radio station coming out of Texas. I can't remember the name of the radio station, but they did country western music and we listen to it for hours and it was it was really neat. And if it was real hot, we get the hose and we wet the sheet down that we are going to get covered up with and it was good sleeping. But those were good memories. Okay now listening to that station radio station out of Texas. Is that what you got you interested in learning how to play the steel guitar or a Hawaiian guitar, I guess. Yeah, that was it and one night coming home from I came home from the State Theater my brothers and I and my step brother Johnny anyway.

27:16 My dad said I got you a guitar and an amplifier and I'm going to have you get some lessons and it was this little little laps Hawaiian guitar and

27:30 His hand on the record how to tune it so light learn how to tune the guitar then I learned how to play a couple of songs now and then

27:38 And as time went by that guitar got to be in it was it was a good car, but I want to advance so I bought myself a a lap steel with 8 strings. I learn how to play that and my ear was so good. I can hear the steel guitar players on record.

27:58 And I realize I learned how to tune my guitar up to what they were doing. And I was good at it after a while. I got myself a 6/12 string double-neck steel guitar and it had legs.

28:15 And the next thing I know.

28:18 But Isaac made a recording with for Webb Pierce and he came out with the first pedal steel guitar and I told my god, I've got to have that so I bought a pedal steel guitar and I learned how to play at 10.

28:33 Man, I tell you what, I I've loved playing music. So other than the first guitar that Grandpa got you that that Hawaiian guitar you bought your cut all your steel guitars from the Chicago store in Foley Al and there was a guy named Phil or Phill. I mean he was reading a good guy and he had a brother named Joe but that those two guys I ran the Chicago store if you walk in the Chicago store for the first time if it would fill or if it was Joe that you met that was the permanent person that what you would be dealing with and they never were very to the other person.

29:15 I bought so many steel guitars from Phil. I just can't count them all but my wife and I we went to their big store, which they had moved into JCPenney store on the corner of Congress and 6th, I believe.

29:34 And we went upstairs and liefeld my first lap Hawaiian guitar there with my name on it. I never knew that and I was released when I saw it. Mean. I painted my name on there sunny.

29:51 And I was so proud to fight that thing there and the Chicago store have more musical instruments in any store. I think it was a biggest musical instruments.

30:03 United States, I think it was but well, I appreciate know we're running out of time. But thank you so much Dad for sharing these memories.

30:16 You really a lot. Thank you for asking me. Thank you, Dad. I love you. Love you, too.