This is my Great Grandmother Effie Leona Pentecost Akridge, raising a roast beside her husband, my Great Grandfather Robert Hugh Akridge, at their 60th wedding anniversary party. Granny Effie passed in 2012 at the age of 95. Papa Bob held on until 2021 when he passed at the age of 99.
When Papa was 93, he went to dinner with his son, Bobby Akridge, my biological grandfather. He unfortunately choked and aspirated some of his food, rendering him unable to swallow. He lived for 6 years on a feeding tube. My mother, Pam, had been taking care of him and Granny for as long as I could remember. She ensured that their lawn was mowed and clean, their groceries purchased and put away, and took them both to doctor appointments. It made sense, with them living so close down the road, and their only living children much farther out.
With Papa now on a feeding tube and needing round-the-clock care, his son stepped in to "care" for him. While Bobby did the care tasks as he should, he did not show any care for his father in his remaining years. During visits, Bobby would often talk disrespectfully toward or about my Papa with the excuse that he couldn't hear or see well enough for it to bother him. Later, we would find out that he had been stealing money from Papa's accounts to pay his debts. My mother tried to convince Papa to take some action to protect his assets, but being a traditional man, he chose to leave everything to Bobby, as their only living child. His sister Linda followed Granny in death in 2014.
As we predicted, when Papa passed, Bobby attempted to take as much as possible from it. My mother was able to keep one account out of his hands, most of which was used to create a debt payment plan in order for my mother to attempt to purchase their home. (Another part, she sent to me to pay off my car when my family hit financial struggle, with the agreement to pay it back to her in full.) My mom genuinely wanted to keep that home and live in it for the rest of her life, when it would be passed onto another caring family member who wanted it. We had no legal power in this situation as only Bobby was named in the will.
Just last night, my father called me and during the span of the call, he informed me that Bobby had sold their beloved house on Arcadia Circle. In doing so, he also sold off their belongings, many of which were full of sentimental value. My mother had requested Granny's rings, all of which were given to her as gifts by Papa, and her shell collection from their travels. She had also informed me that her sister, Kelly, wanted the kitchen stool that they had used as kids to help Granny cook. I had also wanted to copy and preserve their photo slides from their travels.
Unfortunately, he's blocked the entire family, including my brother and I, who have never attempted to butt in or hold him accountable.
Today, I'm choosing to hold him accountable for the elder abuse he carried out, as well as appeal to the #thrifting and #secondhand communities in north Alabama. I am primarily seeking in the Arab area in Marshall County, but I have no record of where these items have gone or if Bobby has kept any. We have no way of finding out. We are asking for help in recovering these items and I am personally willing to buy them back in order to return them to my family.
William Robert "Bobby" Akridge of Canton, GA. You are a thief and a coward.
In 2011, just one year before your mother died, you let her live without power while your daughter rushed to Tennessee through storm damage and gas shortages to get her husband to MEPS to swear in. We brought them back a generator when you didn't lift a finger. Your daughter took care of them when they needed help. You only stepped in to squeeze as much money from your father as you could. I'm ashamed to know I share blood with you. You are not our family, and your actions over the years have proved that.
For those who are willing to help, I will attach whatever images I can. We are searching for pieces of a large shell collection, and a vintage Costzon kitchen helper stool in yellow. The images I currently have are low quality, and I wish I had better, but I am working with what I have from Colorado on a wild goose chase happening in Alabama.
If you are in the North Alabama region and frequent secondhand shops, thrift stores, or anywhere a greedy old bastard could take a bunch of curios to sell. They would likely have been sold locally, though some may have been taken back to Georgia. I'm contacting other family members to find out what items to request help in searching for in addition to the ones above. There were a handful of furniture items in the house that had also been built by Papa as well.
We have no idea where the projector slides are, if they were kept by him or sold. They would have been the type to fit a slide projector circa 40s to 50s, I will confirm with more info when I have it. Papa and Granny took photos along their travels after WWII before they settled down to have a family. Papa served in the Navy after being drafted.
I am just an illustrator living in Colorado with my USMC husband and 5-year-old daughter at Peterson SFB. If you are in the area and wish to help us in this quest, these items could be anywhere within the secondhand and thrifting network. I've been asking friends to call theirs and enlist as much help and grapevine gossip as I can find, with my local friends as my proxy. I mean it with my whole heart when I say that I will personally pay to back back any that are found in order to return them to my family.
Granny and Papa lived at 385 Arcadia Circle, Arab AL, 35016. The house was sold in May of 2023 and will be demolished for a subdivision. The items we seek were likely sold from the house or in the surrounding areas, most likely by William Robert "Bob" Akridge, pictured below with my then 1-year-old daughter.
Bob, the coward who sold a bunch of sentimental items under his own daughters' noses and sold the beloved family home to be demolished. This man valued money more than his own family's attachments to his own parents. My brother has no solid memories of him, and I have only two before these visits at Papa's before we PCS'd to California. None of those memories are pleasant. I hadn't even recognized him when he greeted me at his mother's funeral. He always had a habit of showing up at odd times, tried to impress folks around him and flirted shamelessly with nurses rather than caring for his father.
I would have loved to have discussed this politely, but you chose to block the entire family.
