I was a farm kid in the 1940's and '50's, growing up about 40 miles across the San Joaquin Valley from Coalinga, Jo Stafford's home town. Strangely, I wasn't aware she was a "local" until much later. In the 1960's, I had a chance to meet the late Gordon MacRae in L.A. He mentioned her as one of his very favorite singers, a "true original," as he put it. No one else ever sounded like her. For a lot of G.I.'s away from home during WWII, she WAS the voice of home.
I grew up with the sound of her singing in the radio, along with Perry Como and others of that era. Thanks for all the memories, and for your musical and personal integrity and style.