The Things You Learn…

Just one of those that come up talking with relatives. My uncle Terry passed away a few years ago. Terry was a huge, black-bearded, pirate of a fellow who ran and eventually inherited my grandfather’s transportation & shipping company. He was jovial and warm fellow and I have fond memories of him. I knew that he remarried at some point later but I was not familiar with his new wife and, to my shame, loss track of many family events in those parts. However, I had no idea just how out of the loop I was until my mother casually drops the following tidbit…

Terry’s second wife was Ildiko Katalin Izabella Henriette Alice Maria, Gr?fin von Habsburg, Princess of Hungary, daughter of Archduke Albrecht Franz Josef Karl Friedrich Georg Hubert Maria, Duke of Teschen, Prince of Hungary.

Just a side snippet, I found:

Moving together separately

At the dawn of the 20th century, Conrad Fortier would hitch his buggy to two horses and haul supplies from Reedley to Fresno and back. His rig — called a “dray” because it moved things, not people — was built low to the ground, making it easier to handle cargo. Fortier would lumber over dusty roads to Fresno, unload and load, then head back to Reedley.

In 1911 or 1912, that was such a long journey that Fortier and his team had to rest overnight — in Parlier.

Today, at the twilight of the 20th century, truckers can make that roughly 30-mile round trip in two hours — including time to load, unload and load again. Human ingenuity has produced planes, trains and automobiles and the promise of faster transport in the 21st century.

In the Valley, the Fortier family has been synonymous with transportation for nearly 100 years. Terry Fortier, president of the trucking company Commercial Transfer Inc., can trace his family tree on local roads — starting with grandpa Conrad.

Three generations of Fortiers have driven those byways — even building some of the roads radiating around Fresno. Fortier, 60, now flies the family flag from the CTI yard west of Fresno off Belmont Avenue.

There, he looks back and measures changes partly by the time saved — roughly 34 hours — on the round trip between Reedley and Fresno.

“That’s progress,” he says…

Picking up speed: Terry Fortier keeps a museum of classic trucks used over the years by his family. Fortier Transportation Co. was started in Fresno by his grandfather, Conrad Fortier, in 1906, and used a dray and horses to transport goods throughout the Valley.