September 6,1982
I REMEMBER DADDY---Edward Charles Steinway 
My father was Edward Charles Steinway. His father was of the same name,his mother was Kate Louise Mahoney, both born in California. He in San Francisco, and Kate in 
They had two children, Edward and Minerva. Edward born in 1882 and Minerva in 1888.
My father said his father was a very mean man who beat him all the time, so he ran away from home.Where he went at that time I don't know, he always said he ran away and joined the circus and this is true, but I think this happened at a later date.
He married Annie Christensen on Jan.30, 1908 and had three living children, Edward, Roy and Edith.
I remember going to Neptune Beach in Alemeda, Ca. where he worked in the men's locker rooms.
He then became a steveador on the waterfront, he became a foreman and then he was made walking boss. He worked on all the docks, but in later years worked as walking boss for McCormick's line at pier 40. I have heard he was a hard man to work for, always out in front of the pier with his whistle in his mouth waiting to blow it right on the hour. He was a company man, always on the side of the big-shots, but he was a fair when it came to the time on the men's time cards. This I know because I was the one who fixed up the time cards, and I know that is the men worked one minute over-time, they were paid for one-half hour. He was a concerned walking bossfor his men.If one man got so much as a little cut, he made them go to the doctors, even if they didn't want to go. Something he didn't do himself. His nick name was "Hungry Joe". I have heard many stories of how he got this name,but I believe thi sone.if a case was broke or broken into, my father always wanted his share. I have heard that he used to tell men to break open a case, but that is hard to believe as he was such a company man. I can't see him giving that order.
He used to make Sunday breakfast for Mom and I, we would eat breakfast in bed.He used to make the stuffing for our turkeys and it was really good. I still make my stuffing the way he did. He talked about the apple pies he made, but I don't remember this.
He didn't talk much at homewanted no talking at the kitchen table while eating.He said you came to the table to eat--not talk. After dinner he would read the paper and then go to bed.
He was always at the docks. On Sunday mornings he would get dressed in his suit, put his white silk scarf, his hat and take off.My Mom used to say, he had to make sure the rusty nails were holding the docks together.
He would bring home phonograph records, especially Al Jolson's as they know him, five pound boxes of candy, bouquets of flowers, cakes and pies but never a full paycheck.The only thing I ever heard my father and mother have words about was the pay check.He always said, I couldn't bring home the full check because Mac wasn't there to give me my check." and get his pay, which wasn;t a full check, but it was more than he would bring home to my mother.
One day, the story goes,he got a chip of steel in his eye and didn't go to the doctors. The eye, finally became blind, he was told to have the eye removed as it would damage the other eye, but he said "I'll be dead before that happens," and wouldn't have anything done. He was wrong,the other eye developed a cataract and he had to have surgery on the eye, and it didn't work, he was blind. Before he was totally blind and still working, he almost walked off the pier, the men sent him home in a cab and never worked again.
I remember a fire on the Navy pier where he now worked, my father and many other men worked to clear the pier and help put out the fire. He received a certificate from the Navy for bravery beyond the call of duty. He was very proud of that. Had it framed.
In those days before the hiring hall, the walking boss would go to the front of the pier and choose the men he wanted. He started many people from the neighborhood at his work including my two brothers,
He took his blindness very hard and never did adjust to things, couldn't do much for himself, but could always find the biggest piece of wreath cake. We all got a big kick out of that.
He was very sentimental, could cry at almost anything, he was always good for a hand out or a loan of money. I remember every birthday he would cry and say," this is my last birthday, I won't be around for my next," he said that every year that I can remember except his last birthday. Everyone in the family noticed his missing words, but no one mentioned it at the time.Had he said these words, they would have been true, as he wasn't here for his next birthday. He died of a heart attack on March 31, 1950.