On September 13, 1936 a young boy named Keith Randolph Proudfoot was born in Philippi, West Virginia over top of a grocery store. His parents were Glen Battle and Emma Daugherty Proudfoot. Keith Proudfoot,  my grandfather, is better known to me as Pop-Pop. He has no brothers or sisters and moved from West Virginia to Maryland in 1937, when he was six months old.
    Pop Pop was very busy as a child. When Pop Pop was young he attended Edgewood Arsenal in the first grade. This was the same time, as World War II and they had to learn to wear gas masks. In second grade he transferred to Edgewood elementary school and stayed there up through the sixth grade. During this whole time he would walk to school with the other kids in the neighborhood. Then Pop Pop advanced to Bel Air High School where he was bussed there from Edgewood.  Bel Air High School had just opened and he played on the schools first football team and was in the first class. Growing up he was always involved in sports like baseball, football, and basketball. "As a boy the only thing I knew was sports, if you had a ball whether a baseball, or football you could always play a game with the guys in the neighborhood."
    Yet he was not too busy to go on vacations. Every year Pop Pop and his family would travel to Ocean city the week before Labor Day, which was a wonderful 10-day vacation. These trips lasted awhile until he was too involved in sports in high school.
    As a teenager Pop-Pop did one thing he would never forget. One night after a basketball game at Bel Air High School it was snowing and the starting five went over to a friend's house thinking school was going to be closed the next day. He never did call his parents to tell them where he was, so his mom called the coach and he came to his house and stayed there until he came home at 4:30 in the morning. "I was so embarrassed to come home with my coach sitting at my kitchen table." It turned out that he did have school the next day, and that night at practice the coach never let him sit down on the bench."
    Most of my grandfather's friends were on the sports team. He had twelve friends and they called themselves the "Dirty Dozen".
    Pop Pop had a wonderful experience playing baseball. In 1949, he started to play Little League baseball, and he got to play in the Little League World Series. He also played on a special team called Johnies. The coach chose this team and really good players were on this team.
    Growing up through high school Pop Pop was still very involved in sports. A matter of fact he played football, basketball, and baseball for Bel Air. Pop Pop also lettered eleven times, and he was the captain of the football, and baseball team! In sports he received the nickname of Chief. He is still in contact with two friends from school. They are Tom Ensor and Jeff Cahill.
    All through Pop Pop's life he was so good at sports that he thought that that is what he wanted to do when he grew up. Pop Pop attended college at the University of Maryland, from 1954-1958. In college, he studied transportation and accounting. Pop Pop also played one year of football as a guard and two years of baseball as a catcher. At the end of four years he needed another semester for accounting so he took a degree in transportation because he didn't care. "My mom and Dad always wanted me to get a degree since they never went to college". Right after college Pop Pop volunteered in the army. Usually when you apply for a job they ask you if you have served in the army. So Pop Pop spent two years in the army hoping it would give him a better chance to obtain a job.
    This degree led my grandfather to a great job as an insurance agent. He currently works as a State Farm Insurance Agent, and he has held this job with the same company for fifty years. Pop Pop currently lives in Bel Air with his wife and mother in law.
    "My most significant accomplishment has to be our strong family". Pop Pop met Eleanor Simmons when she transferred to Bel Air High School. Then they married at the age of 22 in 1958. He has been married for 43 years now and he has three daughters (one of them my mom). With his wife he would travel down to Cancun or the Yucatan peninsula. They did this for 15-16 times until Ellie, my grandmother, would not fly anymore.
    Pop Pop's family loved to have pig roosts and make apple butter. A matter of fact, the night before they made the apple butter, they would have a big party and everyone would help peel and slice apples. Then they would look for pennies with kid's birth year on them. The next day they would put the pennies in the kettle with the apples so the apple butter would not stick to the bottom. The pennies would be nice and shiny afterwards.
    Pop Pop had an active lifestyle until he had some problems with his body due to all the sports he played.  He had one hip replaced and is looking to have the other one replaced too. "Sports does wear and tear on your body". Even though he has bad hips Pop Pop still loves to do one hobby and that is he likes to play golf.  Also he likes to collect decoys and he has 150! He also enjoys woodworking.
    Growing up Pop Pop had a personal hero. That person was Yogi Bera, since he was a great catcher in baseball and Pop Pop liked his famous quote; "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!" His parents were very involved with his sports and schooling. His mother kept a very detailed scrapbook of every news clipping that his name appeared in. Later in February of 1973 his father died because of colon cancer. Ten years later in September his mother passed away from a stroke.
    My mom said, "Dad came to all my games throughout high school. I could always hear him on the sideline yelling. My friends knew who my dad was very quickly! Living with dad was hard only because he was the only male in the house with four females. I loved working around the farm with Dad helping with the chores and tending to the animals."
    As his grandson, I love it when he comes to my sports games and gives me advice about how to improve my game. I always know that I am learning from the best! I admire Pop Pop for his hard work in school and sports and I hope to be just like him someday.