His father: Today’s “Beatle Dads” is Richard Starkey Sr. Ringo never really knew his father. Richard Starkey met Ringo’s mother, Elsie Graves at the bakery in which they worked together. Reaching for the stability of marriage during the dangerous war times, they got married (1936) after a short courtship. Four years later (July 7, 1940), just a month before the worst of the German bombings, “Little Richy” (no “e” in the English spelling) was born in the upstairs bedroom of their house on Madryn Street. They lived in The Dingle, the roughest and most industrial section of the city, a bombing target. Ringo was told by his mother a few years later that due to his birth, WW II was started to celebrate the event. There are few records of “Big Richy’s” education or work documents about his life up to the point he worked at Cooper’s Bakery with Elsie. Three years after Ringo’s birth, the marriage was done. No official divorce, Big Richy just walked out in an agreed parting of the ways. The reasons are not known. Soon afterward Ringo would suffer three long stays in the hospital for various childhood ailments. Hearing that his son was close to death several times, Big Richy reappeared in his hospital room with a notebook in hand to ask the 7-year-old Ringo what he wanted for his birthday. He jotted down little Ringo’s desires but never delivered any of his wishes. Richard Sr. was rarely seen in Liverpool after that. Elsie would marry Harry Graves, a big influence in Little Richy’s life, (now 14 years old), as surrogate father and adult guide. It was Harry, a stable painter, and decorator, who bought Ringo his first drum kit as a Christmas present. Big Richy would eventually move to the town of Crew, marry a local woman, and work as a window washer. Ringo would not see his father again until his Grandmother Annie passed in February 1962. By now Ringo was 22, and he’d made some money as a drummer but it would be another six months before he joined The Beatles. His anger over the lack of his father’s presence had diminished. The funeral brought them together and they spent a few awkward moments together talking and admiring Ringo’s big Ford Zodiac car. When they departed, they would never meet again. When Ringo became world-famous two years later, Big Richy didn’t try to contact him or even tell friends or associates that his son was the drummer in the Beatles. Little was heard of him until a reporter for the Daily Express tracked him down in 1980 to write a story about Richard Starkey Sr. The only thing he would say publicly about his son was, “He’s done well, the lad, and good luck to him, but he owes me nothing.” Richard Starkey Sr. died in December 1981. The cause of death is unknown.
The Beatles' Mothers. I only see the resemblance in Paul's & Ringo's mothers. And we know where Ringo got his nose.
There's a wee bit extra here in Richard "Ringo" Starkey, his Parents and more. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_Starr
Oops, my bad, forgot I had these bookmarks... https://www.beatlesstory.com/blog/2020/06/21/fathers-day-blog
On April 1, 1976: On this day, Alfred "Freddie" or "Alf" Lennon died. He was 63 when stomach cancer claimed him. He's been portrayed in Beatle literature as a "Bowery bum" (John's words) or little more than an opportunistic grifter, who abandoned his son and only resurfaced after said progeny became an affluent success. That at least was the portrait sketched out by Aunt Mimi Smith and other Stanley relatives, amplified by John, who simultaneously forgave his mother's sins. (One can also make a point about family patterns repeating, but we won't.) As with people that resemble each other more than they care to admit, John tended to butt heads with his father during the sporadic contact they maintained during the elder Lennon's remaining years, in fact cutting him off completely in 1970. But by 1976, John's attitude had somewhat softened. Learning of his father's terminal illness, he pledged to take Sean over to England for a visit, but before that could be arranged, Freddie ran out of time.
Re: John Lennon and his father... There are a million and one facets to this kind of stuff that even the participants might not be completely aware of. Then there's the different way we each may feel about each party's obligations to each other. Lastly, there are the myriad ways we each may believe "forgiveness" manifests itself. Regarding the Lennon's story being "sad," I don't think these "family" situations are all that uncommon.