his name was ivan roycox and he was my grandfather's brother. ivan grew up in my small town of fairview. i thought he was a quirky old guy, a prosthetic arm and only three fingers on the other hand. at christmas, he would come to our house and sing christmas carols alone with a tape recorder of his own voice so he could harmonize with himself. [laughter] >> when i was 15 he passed away. it was at his funeral when i realized how truly unique he really was. you see, it turns out that ivan was the closest thing to a real life george bailey from the film it's a wonderful life, of anyone that i've ever met. i know that now. my great grandfather purchased the fairview telephone company in 1919. in 1939, a terrible snowstorm came through and ivan bundled up to restore phone service. unbeknownst to him, way down the line, a high voltage power line fell onto the telephone line so when he cut through the wire with a pair of old, uninsulated pliers, 6,000 volts of electricity shot through his body, as he lay smoldering in the snow, everyone assumed he was