Elvis’ father Vernon was born on April 10, 1916 in Fulton, Mississippi to Vester, Delta Mae, Nashville, Lorene and Gladys. The Presleys had lived in Mississippi for generations, and in the woods around Tupelo and Fulton, the name “Presley” was not uncommon.He met Gladys in the early 1930s and the couple married on June 17, 1933. Struggling to survive, money was tight and they depended on the help of friends and relatives during the Depression . When Elvis was born in 1935, Vernon was working hard at the bad jobs that were available for the uneducated, but he had no choice because times were tough.In 1938 he was convicted of forgery and subsequently spent two years in the notorious Parchman Farm penitentiary. After his release, the family stayed in Tupelo until 1948, when they moved to Memphis to seek better opportunities.The fortunes of the family improved when Elvis began to earn money from his singing and by the mid-1950s Vernon was practically free of work. When his wife died in 1958, he devoted himself fully to his son’s career. When Elvis was drafted, he and Lamar Fike accompanied Elvis to Germany to keep him company while he was in service.In 1960 he married Dee Stanley and brought her and their three sons – Ricky, David and Billy – to Graceland. Eventually, the family moved to a house off the property as tensions between Elvis and Dee increased.Vernon’s house on Hermitage Street was where Priscilla first lived when she moved to Memphis for school and of course to be with Elvis.Elvis was devoted to his daddy and he kept him in the post of CEO. A post Vernon was totally unqualified for. However, he did his best and his heart was in the right place the whole time.Unfortunately, his limited skills as a businessman made him easy prey for the wily Colonel Parker. Parker and Vernon were like oil and water, but the Colonel was well aware that a more qualified person in the post would have posed a threat to his own power, and so he worked to ensure that Vernon continued in the job.Vernon witnessed the untimely death of his son and died of heart failure on June 26, 1979 in Memphis.