James Francis Joseph Hand

PHOTO: With war bonds bought from proceeds from concession stand "The Handy Spot," 9/26/1943 (Joe [seated], Fran, Pat, Ardie, Dick, Jim, and Jerry). PHOTO: College photo, 1952. PHOTO: Wedding photo, June 15, 1963. PHOTO: At 1969 family reunion, Evergreen, Colorado. (Jerry, Jim, Dick, Pat, Joe, Ardie, Mary, H.R., Fran). Born 8/30/1932 (Wagner, SD) Like all of his brothers, took the name Joseph at confirmation in honor of his paternal grandfather. Attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (an experience he remembers as being extremely humid), where he studied anthropology with an emphasis on native Americans. Served in the Korean War in the Army Corps of Engineers. After returning to the United States, he worked as a logger in the Pacific Northwest, to earn money to fund his return to Japan to take up residence there and marry Kiyo, a woman he met while serving in the army. He did so, but Kiyo died after nine months of marriage (she is interred in Casper, Wyoming), and he returned to Wyoming. According to his sister and brother-in-law, Tom and Ardis Heuer, he was extremely distraught and constantly depressed by this tragedy for many years until meeting Sharon Ryan, at which time the depression that they had thought would be eternal was instantly banished. Married 6/15/1963 in St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Casper, WY, to Sharon Ann Ryan, who he met at that same church. Their first date took place at the Goose Egg Supper Club outside Casper. Worked for Western Airlines (the champagne airline whose slogan was "The oooonly way to fly!") at the Casper, Wyoming airport. He was "noticed" by the company and relocated to the corporate headquarters at Los Angeles International Airport. There, he resided at 3766 Aviation Blvd. (which is now a runway of the expanded LAX). He became Vice President of Flight Scheduling for Western Airlines. Disliked life in Los Angeles, and after his first three children were born, he returned with them and his wife to Wyoming in 1967, taking up residence in Laramie to attend the University of Wyoming Law School. After graduating from UW Law School, he passed the Wyoming Bar in 1969 and immediately went to work as Deputy Albany County Prosecutor in Laramie under the multiply-elected Democrat Lynn Rees. He prosecuted criminal cases at trial. After many terms in office, Lynn Rees was replaced by the voters with the Republican candidate Zimmers. Rees and Hand set up a private practice, but neither were used to or comfortable with billing clients for their services. Moved in 1975 to Douglas, Wyoming, to work with his three lawyer brothers in their firm Hand, Hand, and Hand. Laramie was missed, however, so the family returned there in 1976, and he commuted to work in the state Capitol as a Legislative Drafter, writing the text for bills to be introduced by State Legislators. Tiring of the 45 mile commute after about a year, he began working for the University of Wyoming, first in the Physical Plant, then in the Print Shop, and finally in the Office of Registration and Records. He was made the University's first Magistrate, and rose to the office of Assistant Registrar, which he held for nearly twenty years until his retirement. Inventor of the Sword in the Stone wooden insertion-extraction puzzler, Patent number 3,958,807. Created company The Grail, Inc. to market the puzzle and other games, such as "Treasure Hunt," "Stacks," and "CrosSwords." Known as "Himself" to his grandchildren. This originated from his custom of signing "James Hand, Himself" to letters written to solvers of the Sword in the Stone puzzle (or confused attempters, appealing for help). Persons who solve the Sword in the Stone are initiated into an informal organization known as the Keepers of the Secret, and once joined to the group, each member merits the "Himself" or "Herself" appellation.

	Hand	Rose	Martin	Whetham	Smith	Gearhart	O'Donnell	Brooks	Clark	[?]	[?]	Chrysler	Clark	Douglass	Cottringer	Crossin	Wallen	Thomas?	Wanner	Smiley	Meyer	Bradford	Baxter	[?]	Moore	Ecker	Ross	Schneider	Curland	Bauch	[?]	[?]	Buchanan	Ackerson	Doyle	[?]	Breaks	Braun	Wilson	[?]	Atkinson	Whithorne	Sylwy	Wilton	Hooper	Weinmuller	[?]	Peare	Mantell	Hickes
Hand	James Francis Joseph HAND
Hand	F (Bernard) Homer Robert ("H.R.") HAND	M Mary Fern ROSE
Hand	FF Joseph Daniel ("J.D.") HAND		FM Mary Magdalena Gertrude ("Lena") MARTIN
Rose		MF Charles (Charley) Pennington Lippincott Gearhart ROSE		MM Mary-Ann WHETHAM
Hand	FFF James (Jimmy) HAND				FFM Catherine ("Kate") SMITH
Rose		MFF Mathew Tomas ROSE				MFM Martha Tryphena GEARHART
Martin			FMF Patrick (Pat) James MARTIN				FMM Elizabeth (Lizzie) Thomas O'DONNELL
Whetham				MMF (James) Joseph Calvert WHETHAM				MMM Susan Mary BROOKS
Hand	FFFF Patrick HAND								FFFM Mary CLARK
Rose		MFFF Mathew ROSE								MFFM Mary [?]
Martin			FMFF James MARTIN								FMFM Rose [?]
Whetham				MMFF William WHETHAM								MMFM Rebecca CHRYSLER
Smith					FFMF Philip SMITH								FFMM Ann CLARK
Gearhart						MFMF John Nyce GEARHART								MFMM Mary Mills DOUGLASS
O'Donnell							FMMF Peter Paul (Jr.) O'DONNELL								FMMM Louisa Victoria COTTRINGER
Whetham				MMFFF Thomas Bradford WHETHAM												MMFFM Mary CROSSIN
Gearhart						MFMFF Peter GEARHART											MFMFM Mary Elizabeth WALLEN
O'Donnell							FMMFF Peter Paul (Sr.) O'DONNELL											FMMFM Catherine THOMAS?
Chrysler												MMFMF Adam CHRYSLER							MMFMM Elizabeth WANNER
Douglass														MFMMF Joseph Robert (Sr.) DOUGLASS						MFMMM Margaret ("Peggy") SMILEY
Cottringer															FMMMF John J(ames?) COTTRINGER						FMMMM Ann MEYER
Whetham				MMFFFF William WHETHAM																		MMFFFM Jane BRADFORD
Gearhardt						MFMFFF Johnies GEARHARDT
Kreussler												MMFMFF Balthasar KREUSSLER											MMFMFM Elizabeth BAXTER
Douglass														MFMMFF Joseph A. DOUGLASS										MFMMFM Rosannah [?]
Cottringer															FMMMFF James COTTRINGER										FMMMFM Elizabeth MOORE
Wanner																			MMFMMF Christian WANNER							MMFMMM Gertrude ECKER
Smiley																				MFMMMF Thomas (IV) SMILEY							MFMMMM Margaret ROSS
Meyer																					FMMMMF (Benjamin?) Lawrence MEYER							FMMMMM (Anna) Regina M. (Rachel) SCHNEIDER
Whetham				MMFFFFF Paul WHETHAM																									MMFFFFM Anne CURLAND
Kreussler												MMFMFFF Johann Hieronymous KREUSSLER																		MMFMFFM Maria Margaretha BAUCH
Douglass														MFMMFFF James (Jr.) DOUGLASS																	MFMMFFM Mary [?]
Gatringer															FMMMFFF John GATRINGER																	FMMMFFM Catharine [?]
Smiley																				MFMMMFF "Old" John SMILEY													MFMMMFM Margaret BUCHANAN
Meyer																					FMMMMFF John (N.?) MEYER
Baxter																							MMFMFMF Ryer BAXTER											MMFMFMM Apollenia ACKERSON
Moore																									FMMMFMF Capt. John MOORE										FMMMFMM Elizabeth DOYLE
Schneider																												FMMMMMF Henry (Harry) SCHNEIDER								FMMMMMM Barbara [?]
Whetham				MMFFFFFF Joseph WHETHAM																																	MMFFFFFM Denis BREAKS
Kreussler												MMFMFFFF Johan Philip KREUSSLER																										MMFMFFFM Anna Catherina BRAUN
Douglass														MFMMFFFF James (Sr.) DOUGLASS																									MFMMFFFM Jane WILSON
Smiley																				MFMMMFFF John SMILEY
Meyer																					FMMMMFFF Christopher (or Henry?) MEYER
Bauch																														MMFMFFMF Christian BAUCH										MMFMFFMM Anna Dorothea [?]
Doyle																																			FMMMFMMF Thomas DOYLE						FMMMFMMM Elizabeth ATKINSON
Whetham				MMFFFFFFF James WHETHAM																																						MMFFFFFFM Ann WHITHORNE
Kreussler												MMFMFFFFF Hans (Johannes) Friedrich KREUSSLER																															MMFMFFFFM Anna Maria SYLWY
Douglass														MFMMFFFFF (Lord) Archibald DOUGLASS
Smiley																				MFMMMFFFF Thomas (Jr.) SMILEY
Doyle																																			FMMMFMMFF Thomas DOYLE
Braun																																						MMFMFFFMF Benedict BRAUN
Wilson																																							MFMMFFFMF James (Jr.) WILSON
Atkinson																																									FMMMFMMMF Stephen ATKINSON			FMMMFMMMM Anne WILTON
Whetham				MMFFFFFFFF Thomas WHETHAM																																									MMFFFFFFFM Dorothy HOOPER
Kreussler												MMFMFFFFFF Leonhart KREUSSLER																																		MMFMFFFFFM Elisabetha WEINMULLER
Smiley																				MFMMMFFFFF Thomas (Sr.) SMILEY
Wilson																																							MFMMFFFMFF James (Sr.) WILSON								MFMMFFFMFM Margaret [?]
Sylwy																																											MMFMFFFFMF Conrad SYLWY
Whetham				MMFFFFFFFFF John WHETHAM																																												MMFFFFFFFFM Edith PEARE
Kreussler												MMFMFFFFFFF Johan Hans Wilhelm KREUSSLER
Weinmuller																																														MMFMFFFFFMF Wendel WEINMULLER
Whetham				MMFFFFFFFFFF Thomas WHETHAM																																													MMFFFFFFFFFM [?] MANTELL
Whetesham				MMFFFFFFFFFFF John WHETESHAM																																														MMFFFFFFFFFFM [?] HICKES
	Hand	Rose	Martin	Whetham	Smith	Gearhart	O'Donnell	Brooks	Clark	[?]	[?]	Chrysler	Clark	Douglass	Cottringer	Crossin	Wallen	Thomas?	Wanner	Smiley	Meyer	Bradford	Baxter	[?]	Moore	Ecker	Ross	Schneider	Curland	Bauch	[?]	[?]	Buchanan	Ackerson	Doyle	[?]	Breaks	Braun	Wilson	[?]	Atkinson	Whithorne	Sylwy	Wilton	Hooper	Weinmuller	[?]	Peare	Mantell	Hickes