(April 10, 1916-June 26, 1979)

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Vernon Presley was born in 1916 to parents, Jessie D. McClowell Presley and Minnie May Hood Presley. He was known in his younger years for his singing voice, frequently entertaining friends, but he never went any where with it. He married the love of his life, Gladys Love Smith on June 17, 1933 and moved into a house with her in Tupelo Mississippi. Two years later the couple gave birth to two little boys, the first, Jessie Garon was stillborn, the second, Elvis Aaron was born alive and well. When Vernon was filling out the birth certificate for Elvis he misspelt his middle name 'Aron'. Elvis later had it changed.

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Life was tough for the young family in Tupelo, times were so desperate, Vernon and a friend forged a cheque to try and make ends meet. Vernon ended up doing time in prison for the offence. (stick to the law kids!) A young Elvis and his mum would make the trip to the prison each week to visit dad. When Vernon was sentenced, they lost the house, Gladys had to work, life got harder.

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After his release, Vernon struggled to provide for his family. He didn't have the required education for many jobs and so they made to move to Memphis, and well the rest is history!

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Elvis always referred to Vernon as Daddy and had his daddy take care of the money side of his work. This suited Vernon fine, he was afraid that they would lose the fortunes Elvis was earning and end up back in Tupelo broke again. Vernon was constantly trying to get a hold on Elvis' spending. We know Elvis, he was excitable! If he saw something he wanted he got it. If he saw something someone else wanted, he got it for them!

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In the end Vernon died of heart failure in 1979, many people think that after losing the love of his life and then his one surviving child, he could take no more and decided his time was up. What ever the case was, he was a brilliant daddy and Elvis adored him. He now rests with his son and first wife at Graceland, where they can forever be together.