Other Events:

• Reference Number: *
• _MARNM: Collis
• _UID: DD783B4B9C73BE4FB84E64B8055DDF78D288
• Census: 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930

Notes:

NDGW # 69-004

1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Laura S Grigsby
Age in 1870: 4
Birth Year: abt 1866
Birthplace: California
Home in 1870: Yount, Napa, California
Race: White
Gender: Female
Post Office: Napa City
Value of real estate:
Household Members: Name Age
E D Grigsby 29
Almira Grigsby 21
Laura S Grigsby 4
Warren M Grigsby 3
Infant Grigsby 3/12

1880 United States Federal Census about Laura S. Grigsby
Name: Laura S. Grigsby
Age: 13
Birth Year: abt 1867
Birthplace: California
Home in 1880: Township 5, Contra Costa, California
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: Erasmus D. Grigsby
Father's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's Name: Elmira Grigsby
Mother's Birthplace: Illinois
Neighbors:
Occupation: Going To School
Cannot read/write: Blind: Deaf and dumb: Otherwise disabled: Idiotic or insane:
Household Members: Name Age
Erasmus D. Grigsby 39
Elmira Grigsby 30
Laura S. Grigsby 13
Warren M. Grigsby 13
Lillie J. Grigsby 10
Byron L. Grigsby 8
Mary J. Miller 53
Tillie M. Huey 5m
Jack Ellsworth 50
Jim 17
Thomas Murphy 27
Edward Ferguson 33
William O Brien 30

*1930 United States Federal Census Laura S Collis
Name: Laura S Collis
Home in 1930: Oakland, Alameda, California
Age: 63
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1867
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
Elmer F Ping 32 head
Gladys E Ping 30 wife
Frank E Ping 57 father
Mary E Ping 52 mother
Laura S Collis 63 mother in law

1940 United States Federal Census about Laura Collis
Name: Laura Collis
Age: 73
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1867
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthplace: California
Marital Status: Widowed
Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
Home in 1940: Sacramento, Sacramento, California
Street: 13 Avenue
House Number: 4964
Inferred Residence in 1935: Sacramento, Sacramento, California
Residence in 1935: Same Place
Sheet Number: 10A
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 5th grade
Weeks Worked in 1939: 0
Income: 0
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors:
Household Members: Name Age
Elmer Ping 44 city recreation
Gladyce Ping 41 telephone operator
Laura Collis 73
Edgar Collis 32 service station, gasoline

Laura was an accomplished organist. As a young girl she often stayed home from school to care for her sick mother and thus had much oportunity to practice. It was told to me by aunt Gladyce that dad, Russell, was so angry when the bank took the ranch, that he built a big bonfire and burned most of the furniture, including the organ, and anything else that he couldn't take with him to Washington.
1893 Married at age 27
1930 After losing the ranch, Laura Susie Collis went to Portland, Oregon, to live with her son, Winner Collis. Her daughter Gladyce Ping went to get her mother and brought her back to Sacramento to live with her.
1930 Census, Alameda, Oakland 76th St. Laura living with Gladyce and Pete Ping along with Pete's parents.
1940 Laura died in Sacramento. Gladyce had gone to Oregon to bring her back to Sacramento to live with her and Pete. She had been living with Gladyce and Pete but was in a rest home at the time of her death.She was buried in Brentwood Union Cemetary (I have a copy of her death Certificate).

California death records CALLES LAURA SUSIE 07/02/1866 FARIES GRIGSBY F CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO 08/07/1940 74 yrs

Laura married Walter Winner COLLIS on 4 Oct 1893 in Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States. Walter (son of William COLLIS and Anne Esther RANDALL) was born on 14 Sep 1868 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; died on 22 Jan 1930 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; was buried in Union Cemetery, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: F0E47FDF2F22E1489D34333D866605EBC993

Notes:

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Hazel J Rasdorf [Hazel I Kasdorf]
Home in 1920: Precinct 5, Pueblo, Colorado
Age: 25 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1895
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Wife (of brother Lovis/Lewis)
Spouses's Name:
Father's Birth Place: United States of America
Mother's Birth Place: United States of America
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Female
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 1064
Household Members: Name Age
Walter B Rasdorf 25
Edward J Rasdorf 21
Erma Rasdorf 42
Lovis T Rasdorf 38
Hazel J Rasdorf 25
Iren C Rasdorf 6
Esther M Rasdorf 9/12

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Lewis F Kasdorf
Home in 1930: Township 9, Contra Costa, California
Age: 48
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1882
BirthPlace: Iowa
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouses's Name: Hazel I
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
Lewis F Kasdorf 48
Hazel I Kasdorf 35
Irene C Kasdorf 16
Esther M Kasdorf 10
Fred W Kasdorf 7

California Birth Index,
KASDORF 1922 11 19 COLLIS MALE CONTRA COSTA 0
KASDORF RICHARD LEWIS 1936 06 30 COLLIS MALE CONTRA COSTA 0

California Death Index, 1940-1997 Record
Name: KASDORF, HAZEL I
Social Security #: 551367672
Sex: FEMALE
Birth Date: 19 Dec 1894
BirthPlace: CALIFORNIA
Death Date: 30 Oct 1977
Death Place: SACRAMENTO

Hazel married Lewis Fred KASDORF about 1912 in , Whitman, Washington, United States. Lewis (son of Fred KASDORF and Sophia Wasmund) was born on 1 Jun 1881 in Grant, Carroll, Iowa, USA; died on 1 Feb 1940 in Byron, Contra Costa, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Physical Description: 5'8", dark hair, hazel eyes, med build
• FamilySearch Id: 5 foot 10, dark brown hair
• FamilySearch Id: KFFK-QHZ
• Occupation: farmer in early life, laborer, Construction worker
• Reference Number: *
• _UID: 361DD35EF91ECF438BF212FECAC4F00FC785
• Census: 1900,1910,1920,1930

Notes:

from Contra Costa Gazette prior 1900
COLLIS male 31 Dec 1896 Brentwood Walter Collis 9 Jan 1897

things to do:
1. when did Russell retire? Bertha?
2. newspapers in Brentwood & Colfax (marriages; Hazel, Gladyce, Russell, births, + news of the area
3.Social Security registration?

Timeline for Ernest Russell Collis

1896 Dec 31, Russell born Brentwood, Contra Costa, CA
1900 US Census: Contra Costa, CA age 3
1906 April 18, lived in Brentwood behind Blacksmith shop during SF earthquake/fire according to his recollection.
1910 moved with parents to Diamond, Whitman, Washington
1910 US Census: Diamond, Whitman, WA age 13
1915 met Bertha Sherman at the Whitman County Fair.
1917 WWI draft registration; Diamond, Whitman, Washington age 21
1920 US Census: Diamond, Whitman, Washington age 22 living with sister, Gladyce & Pete Ping and brother
Winner
1923 Oct 14, marriage certificate: Russell Collis & Bertha Sherman at Colfax, Whitman, Washington
1924 Sep 27, son, Walter, born in Brentwood, California
1926-28 Polk Stockton directory, Russel & Bertha at Horace and Anderson
1926 Aug 10, daughter, Laura born in Yuba City, Yuba, CA
1930 US Census: age 32, Township 9, Contra Costa, California
1930 Nov 20, daughter, Barbara born in Stockton, San Juaquin, CA
1931 lived on Collis Ranch in Brentwood Ca with mother
1933 After ranch was taken over by bank in 1932, moved to Gobel, OR, built cabin there
1934 Move to Thera, WA
1935 Feb 2, son, Stan, born in Thera, WA
1936 Polk Stockton City Directory at 1435 E Park, iron worker-Kyle & Co. (probably carried over from ealier
1937 Apr 18, daughter, Marilyn born in Colfax,
1939 Jul 7, daughter, Darlyne, born in Colfax.
1940 US Census: South Colfax, Whitman, Washington, age 44
1941 May 4, moved with family to Sacramento, Sacramento, CA
1942 WWII draft registration: 2486 41st St, employed- Lyon Darwin Hardware, Oak Park, Sacramento
1943 Sacramento City Directory: Collis, E Russell (Bertha I) driver h2486 41st St.
1970 Death: June 30 Bertha died in Traverse City, Michigan while visiting with newly found brothers and sister.
1976 Death: June 26, Russell died in bed in Sacramento while living with son, Roy. Cause of death:
Arteriosclerotic Heart desease


Ernest Russell Collis’ Story
Brentwood, California
Gladyce, Arthur, Russell, Hazel, Winner
Ernest Russell Collis was born in Brentwood, California on the 31st of December, 1896. He was the second child of six born to Walter Winner and Laura Susan (Grigsby) Collis. The oldest child, Hazel Crystal, was born in 1894; then Ernest Russell. Next were: Gladyce Esther, born 1898; Winner Winwood, born 1900; Arthur, born 1902 (he died in 1907 just 12 days before their last child, Edgar Dawain, was born on the 19th of September of 1907. His father, Walter was a blacksmith and had a shop in Brentwood.

Russell, as we called him, remembered living in a 2 story house behind the blacksmith shop during the great San Francisco earthquake and fire on the morning of April 18, 1906. He was 10 years old. During the earthquake Russell's bed rolled across his upstairs bedroom floor. He jumped out of bed and with the entire family hurried out of the house and into the yard. Water was sloshing over the top of the huge water tank near the house. The ground under foot was rolling and undulating like waves on the ocean. The fire in the city across the bay gave an eerie red glow to the sky. Perhaps thoughts of Armageddon went through their minds. News wasn't instantaneous as it is today. Some time later, Russell went to Market Street with his Uncle Byron Grigsby, to observe firsthand the damage and devastation. They later heard that Walter's sister, Florence Gates, watched the fire and destruction all around her from a doorway in San Francisco. Aunt Florence is said to have rushed into the house to save the oil painting of her mother, Ann Randall Collis, as a child, by cutting it out of the large heavy frame. Florence was living in San Francisco at the time with her husband, Merville Gates. Her father, William Collis, had died 6 years previous and her mother, Anne Collis, was living in Brentwood with 2 of her daughters. Florence had married in 1903 at age 29, and never had any children. Prior to her marriage, Florence was living on her own and was a portrait artist in San Francisco.

Russell’s brother, Winner, wrote the following story about Russell and how Winner broke his arm: “I must have been about 7 or 8 years old. It was during the summer. We lived just a short half block from the old blacksmith shop in Brentwood. Russ, your dad, and I were playing on an old hitching rack which was a 1 ½ or 2 inch pipe run through the branches of three locust or pepper trees. It was about 3 or 4 feet above the ground, but seemed higher to me then. I was standing on the pipe. Russ was up in the tree above me. He said he was coming down and would step on my fingers if I did not get out of the way. I let loose of the tree, turned on the pipe and started walking on the pipe to the adjoining tree. I suppose I was barefooted. Anyway, I slipped and fell to the ground with my right arm under my body and broke so many bones in my elbow, that old Dr. Cool just put it in a towel and tied the towel around my neck so I could be as comfortable as possible with all the broken bones in a mess.” (Later he told me that the doctor told him to carry a bucket of sand around with that arm to straighten it out.) “In 1954 I looked at the bones in a fluoroscope in Portland, Oregon, and saw all the mess of odd shaped bones with one piece of bone floating all by itself in the middle of the elbow. The Doctor said, 'that is the kind of break we like to turn over to our competitor'.”

As the automobile became more affordable and thus more popular, the need for blacksmiths became less necessary. In 1908 Ford Motor Company mass produced more than 10,000 Model T's. About 1907, Russell's father was working for Holt Harvester Company as a salesman and demonstrator of combine harvesters. He was away in Washington State when his 5th child Arthur died and the family had the baby's body lie in the home on the kitchen table, waiting for the father's return before culminating the funeral arrangements. What a sad time for all. It must have been a traumatic time for the family, with father traveling so far away and travel being slower in those days. Did they have a car, or did he travel by train? Train travel was quite expensive at the time.

Uncle Winner sent me a letter with the following information about Russell: “Before we moved to Diamond, Washington, your dad must have been about 12 or 13; he had been somewhere and seen one of the old time roller coasters. So in back of the house at Brentwood, he built one; must have been 30 or 40 feet long, with humps and dips. The high point was possibly 6-7 feet high, with smooth 2 or 3 inch boards as the track, which he greased with soap. We had a good many short rides on it. Don’t know where he got the lumber for all the post and scaffolding, plus braces.”

Berkeley, California

Shortly after the death of Arthur, the family moved to Berkeley so they could be close to Laura's parents, Elmira and Erasmus, (called Dorwin) Grigsby. Walter was still traveling quite frequently with his sales job. Laura's parents lived on Grant Street at that time. Laura, Russell’s mother, played the piano and organ quite well and Grandma Grigsby, wanted the same for her grandchildren. Russell had other ideas though, so when he was supposed to be practicing the piano, Uncle Byron would sneak him out the back door and off they would go to the baseball game in Emeryville. Grandma Grigsby was also concerned about the children's need for spiritual training. She insisted that the children read the Bible and thus Russell developed strong moral ethics and became quite familiar with the scriptures even though in later years he seldom attended church with his family.

Grandpa Grigsby had a little barn along side the house in Berkeley in which he kept a little roan mare, “Kitty”. He would take the kids for a ride in a one horse buggy or surrey with the fringe on top down Shattuck Avenue.
Grandpa & Grandma Grigsby with mare Kitty
Winner also wrote: “I don’t know how old he was when your dad sold candy strings in Oakland. Grandma Grigsby got him the job. But I remember the round candy strung on strings. Before or after that, he had a paper route in Oakland. I got up one morning to help him. I know and remember it was 4 o’clock in the morning; too early for a little kid.

State of Washington

In March 1910 Walter moved his family with 5 growing children to the Colfax area in the southeastern part of the state of Washington. Russell was 13 at the time. Perhaps Walter was drawn to the area while there selling harvesters. The area had vast rolling hills planted in wheat. Walter again took up blacksmithing in a small blacksmith shop near Diamond, Washington. At the time the wheat harvesters were using an eight or twelve mule team, so there was a need for shoeing. There was a big flood that year.

Hazel was the oldest daughter of the family, and married shortly after their arrival in Washington; she was just seventeen at the time and married Fred Kasdorf, whose family had moved to Colfax, Washington about 1890. His parents were born in Germany.

Russell quit school during his eighth grade year. Did the move to a new school in Washington make it too hard for him to adjust? But, then he never did like the containment of the classroom. He would sit on the schoolyard fence, spit tobacco and taunt the kids in school, according to his sister, Gladyce, who was 2 years younger than Russell. He never went back to school after that. Gladyce would occasionally work for May Lamb, helping in the house. May and Roy Lamb were the parents of Bertha Sherman. Bertha was living with her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth, called "Libby", Smith, and step grandfather in Eureka, Montana, at the time, but Bertha would occasionally visit her mother and stepfather in Diamond. (How did she get there? Train? Car? I doubt it. Horse and buggy?)

Russell's youngest brother, Edgar, was 7 years younger than Winner, and 11 years younger than Russell. I have no information of his involvement with the older children. He later married Alma and lived in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had no children

In about 1915, Russell met Bertha Sherman for the first time at a county fair during one of her visits to her mother's house. She was only twelve years old at the time. Russell was a handsome young man of sixteen. There must have been some attraction, as it was a remembered event throughout their lives. Bertha went back to Montana to continue living with her grandmother. Bertha's grandmother suffered from breast cancer, and during Libby's illness, Bertha nursed her and administered morphine shots to her to ease the pain. Libby died when Bertha was sixteen, so she came back to live with her mother in Diamond, Washington.

According to Winner Winwood, "After Dad and Mom (Laura and Walter Collis) moved back to California from Diamond, Washington, Russ and I rented a house in Diamond and batched. Russell was acting as one of the sparring partners to help train Ernest Ping, Uncle of Pete Ping, to fight a local boy who had done some fighting while in the navy. One evening Russell was sparring with Ernest, when Ern hit Russell square on the `button' or nerve center on the chin. Russell got a funny look on his face and simply wilted in a heap on the floor, much to the consternation of everyone. He `came to' very soon, however."

Russ’ sister Gladyce married Pete Ping in November of 1917 in Dayton, Washington. Pete was born in 1896 in Washington. Pete was living with his family in Diamond, Washington. He worked for Roy Lamb at the time. In the 1920 Census, Russell and Winner were living with Pete and Gladyce in Diamond, Washington. Pete and Winner were working for the railroad. Russell was working as a farm laborer.

Since Southeastern Washington is wheat country, most of the jobs were involved with planting and harvesting the wheat. In the early times an eight-mule team was used to pull the harvester and involved lots of hand work. Russell often talked about how many rattlesnakes he would find on his pitchfork as he hoisted hay into the wagons. The men traveled from field to field harvesting each crop as it was ready. It was a cooperative effort. They generally worked in the field from dawn to dusk, eating at a big trailer with benches down both sides, and slept on a bed roll in the wheat fields at night. (With the rattlesnakes?) .

Because Diamond was such a small community, Bertha and Russell were both at many local social events. Both were attending a box social and grange dance where each lady prepared a box lunch for two and each man was to bid on the lunch of his choice (or the lady of his choice.) The young man bidding on Bertha's lunch was someone she didn't want to be with. She asked Russell to bid on her lunch and he did. They began going together from then on. Bertha was about 18 at that time.

In 1917 All young men had to register for the draft during WWI and Russell was no exception. Stan said he was told by Roy that Russell was sent to New York, but he got the flu and by the time he was well, the war was over. The war ended 28 June 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, so he must have been in New York at that time. I could find no record of his service. There were 1,500,000 people who died from influenza in the United States during 1918 and 1919.

After they became engaged, Russell decided to go back to Brentwood for a while. He said, "I probably got mad at her". While in Brentwood, Russell had quite an experience. Winner wrote, "Russell, a friend named Fred Orr, and I decided to join the Merchant Marines in San Francisco. ( They had all just registered with the draft board for WWI. Perhaps that had something to do with their decision.) We had signed up, had one physical and passed, had gone to the base in San Francisco for a final exam and to be sworn in. We were standing around waiting, when a merchant seaman asked if we were joining up. We said, `yes'. Then he said, `Don't do it! You will regret it.' We talked it over and sneaked out of there, ran like crazy, got a street car to the ferry and went into Oakland and caught a train for Brentwood: all the time looking over our shoulders for a couple of MPs to come and take us back. The MPs never showed up." We were much relieved.

During this time, Bertha was attending Catholic school. She sent Russell his diamond ring and told him she was going to become a nun. (And she didn't even like Catholic school.) Fortunately for us this did not happen. Perhaps spurred by his Merchant Marine experience, Russell forgot he was mad at her. He took the ring and went to Washington to find out what was going on. They reconciled and were married October 14, 1923.

After Russell and Bertha were married, they boarded at a farmhouse in Mount Hope, Washington, near Spokane, while Bertha taught at Harp School and Russell helped out on the farm. Since they were married in October after the wheat was harvested, Russell went off to look for work. He stayed in a Hotel and this is one of the few times they spent a night apart during their entire married life. Mostly, Russell worked in the wheat fields, sometimes using an eight-horse team. At one time he was a grain receiver in the warehouse and did general farming work. Bertha quit her teaching job at the end of the year and never taught school again.

(Much of the foregoing was told to me by Russell in January 1976. Some parts were quoted from a letter dated July 13, 1976, to Marilyn Parker from Uncle Winner Winwood Collis. Some of the information also came from Bertha and some from the children of Bertha and Russell.)

Brentwood, California Again

In 1924 Russell and Bertha Collis moved back to the Grigsby/Collis ranch in Brentwood where Walter Collis, had built a small one room house with a little screened porch for them. Laura had inherited property in Brentwood, from her mother Elmira Grigsby, who died in 1923. Russ' sister, Hazel, lived with her husband and three children in another little house on the property. Walter and Laura lived in their house behind the others

Shortly after moving back to Brentwood, Walter Leroy, called Roy by the family, was born in September of 1924, in Mrs. Pemberton's Nursing Home with Dr. Cook attending. The same doctor had delivered Russell. Roy was named after Russell’s father, Walter, and Bertha’s step-father, James Leroy Lamb.

Russell needed work, so they left the ranch in late 1924 and moved to Stockton for a time where Russell worked for a box factory, He also worked as a steam pipe fitter's helper in building the river boats, the Delta King and the Delta Queen. He also worked on the Carquinez bridge. He then went to work for Holt Harvester Company.

When Holt Harvester Company closed down, Russell and Bertha moved to Yuba City with their baby, Roy. There he worked for farmers picking peaches and later for a cement contractor until he became ill and had to have an emergency appendectomy. In August of 1926, Laura was born in a small private hospital in Yuba City, with Dr. Johnson delivering her. The hospital was so small that the doctor carried his patients from the delivery room to their rooms. Times were hard for the average family during this time before the great depression. Russell and Bertha were no exception and had no money and couldn't pay the doctor. Dr. Johnson, who had delivered Laura, said, "Well, I can't just let him die." He was a great big man and carried Russell to the operating table. He performed the surgery with the bill owing.
After the surgery, Russell, Bertha, and the two children returned to the ranch in Brentwood for Russell to recuperate. Russell was not able to work for a while. This compounded the financial situation. They were living on the ranch in Brentwood in 1930 when Russell's father, Walter, died from Carcinoma of the bladder at the hospital in San Francisco. He had been doctoring for some time. Barbara was born in November of that same year. Their old Brentwood doctor had died by that time and so Bertha went to Stockton to have Barbara at Dammeron Hospital. Perhaps Russell was influenced by his cousin, Langley Collis, who was a doctor in Stockton. Stockton was only about 30 miles from Stockton along the Sacramento River. Russell had worked there before and was familiar with the area.

Due to the expense of Dad’s illness and an untimely hailstorm causing the crops to fail, Russell's mother, Laura, mortgaged the property and all the tools and equipment to the Bank of America. Walter was gone and Russell was trying to keep the ranch going. There was no money and the ranch and all the farm equipment were taken over by the Bank of America in 1932, for a debt of $3000. Three years later it sold for $30,000. Russell was angry. He didn't think the bank should be taking the tools and equipment along with the ranch. However, they, to, were listed in the mortgage. Russell took all the household belongings that the bank hadn't taken and which they would not be able to take with them, and put them on the burn pile. This included a large organ that had belonged to his mother. (This was according to Aunt Gladyce. She was frustrated with him.) Russell often reacted to situations with anger rather than thinking things through rationally.

Russell's mother, Laura, went to live with her daughter, Gladyce, and her husband, Pete Ping, on 76th Avenue in Oakland. Pete’s parents also were living with them at the time. It seemed Gladyce and Pete were often to have relatives living with them. They had no children of their own.

They now had three small children and times were still hard. The price of bread was 7 cents a loaf, milk 43 cents a gallon, gas 18 cents a gallon and a stamp cost 3 cents. The cost of a car was $540, a house $6,514 and the average income was $1,431 a year. Two of the top songs were: April in Paris and Willow Weep for Me. Perhaps the Willow was to weep because finding the 7 cents for a loaf of bread was hard.

What to do now?

Russell and Bertha decided it was time to move. They went to Gobel, Oregon. Russell's brother, Winner, was living in Oregon at the time. Roy helped Russell build a log cabin in Gobel, but they were only there a few months, before heading back to Washington. Russell was a mover. Bertha’s stepfather’s mother, Emma Lamb, had died in 1931 and their house was available for rent from the estate.

Back to Washington

Since Bertha's mother still lived in Diamond, Washington and that is where she and Russell had met, they moved back to Washington. Bertha wrote, "By this time the depression was in full swing and Russell worked at any job he could get. Summers he worked in a warehouse receiving the grain harvest. In winter he worked shipping the grain out when a farmer sold his crop. He also helped the farmers butcher. He sometimes would work all day and get in return a couple of hog's heads, feet and a liver for his day's work. Not too much when a dressed carcass could be bought for 5 cents a pound. Anyway, head cheese and pickled pig's feet are pretty good, and I still like liver."

The family lived in a warehouse near the train tracks in Thera. Thera was a little town near Diamond and is no longer there. It was probably just a little railroad stop. There was a small apartment built into a wheat warehouse. Daughter, Laura, remembers the bathroom was at the far end of the warehouse and the children would put on roller skates to go to the bathroom.

Bertha and Russell were involved in community plays while living in Thera. It seems strange to me that they were involved in any social events as the only social involvement they had in Sacramento was mostly visiting with relatives according to my recollection. We would often visit at Gladyce and Pete’s. Sometimes we would visit with Hazel and her family, but the children were older than most of us.

Stanley Richard was born at home on Feb 2 1935 while they lived in the warehouse in Thera. He was the 4th child of Bertha and Russell Collis. When Stan was 14 months old, they moved to a small ranch 3 miles west of Colfax. The ranch was owned by Bertha's stepfather, Roy Lamb, and his sister, Melba. They had inherited the ranch from their mother who died in 1931. Barbara remembers holding hands and touching the electric fence surrounding the pig pen. A shocking experience! Bertha stated, "It was pretty small. Russell clerked in the hardware store in Colfax during the day and worked the ranch in his off hours. We had six cows, some pigs, and grew wheat on the few acres rich enough to support a crop. With the garden, my chickens, milk, cream, and eggs we managed pretty well.

The effects of the depression were evident everywhere. Bertha and Russell were hard workers and took advantage of every opportunity to earn wages and care for their family. Russell would take whatever odd job he could find and Bertha would help in whatever way she could. While living in the home near Colfax, Bertha would prepare meals and feed the road crews working on the highway. The crew would sit at long tables in the yard for their meals.

Bertha and Russell attended many dances where he often called the square dances. The coats would be piled in a corner where the babies and small children were put to sleep on the piles of coats. Roy said he did not like being at the dances, so he would sneak out and find his friends.

Russell was good at "witching" water with a green stick. He could tell how far down to drill and how much water could be found. He located many wells for friends in Washington, Oregon, and Brentwood. He never liked to boast about it and often worried that his predictions would not prove out. It was definitely a gift that he had and he was pretty much "right on".

Marilyn Louise was born April 18, 1937 in Colfax in Mrs. Marbell's Nursing Home, with Mrs. Dimich, a nurse, attending. Marilyn was the 5th child of Bertha and Russell.

Gladyce Darlyne was born on 7 July 1939 in the same Nursing home. She was the 6th child of Bertha and Russell. Bertha said she was a happy baby.

May Lamb, Bertha’s mother loved to fish for catfish in the stream near her house. She would snag whoever she could to go fishing with her. Laura and Roy each remember fishing with her. Laura said the fish tasted like mud. Norman Kuntz, a neighbor boy also was a fishing companion of hers after her grandchildren no longer lived close by. Roy Lamb gave Norman May’s fishing pole after she died. Norman subsequently gave it to Scott, Marilyn's son, when they visited him in Diamond. May also loved her little rock garden in the front of her house and was often found there weeding and caring for the plants. Stan and Barbara remember her often serving cut up oranges with powdered sugar when they were there for breakfast.

In 1941 Melba, Roy Lamb's sister, wanted or needed her money out of the house and so the house that Russell and Bertha were living in was sold. Bertha said, “When the ranch sold, we packed all our belongings in a home made trailer, stashed our kids and the dog in an old 1927 Buick and started back to California." Away they went pulling the trailer behind. Where to go now was the question. Pete Ping, Gladyce's husband, was working at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. They started back to California on May 29th of 1941. What a tearful time for May to lose her daughter and all of her grandchildren again. Do you suppose her thoughts were that she probably would never see them again, but hoped to go visit? I can’t imagine stuffing that car full of 2 parents and 6 children from ages 16 down to 2 years, along with all the stuff to get by on that long of a trip.

Sacramento, California

Russell's sister, Gladyce, and her husband Pete Ping lived in Sacramento at 4964 13th Avenue. Gladyce's brother Edgar was living there for a time in 1941. Pete worked as an electrical engineer at the Sacramento Air Depot, according to the 1942 Sacramento City directory. Russell and his family stopped by to visit Gladyce and Pete and ended up staying with them. Russell found a job clerking at Lyon Darwin Hardware store in the Oak Park section of Sacramento. While they looked for a house, all eight members of the family moved in with Pete and Gladyce. Their home was a one bedroom house with a little room off the kitchen that served as a dining room, and a small living room. That made 10 people in about 600 square feet. Fortunately it was summer time. What an interesting time that must have been. Some slept in the screened porch and others slept on the floor in the small living room.

Few people would rent to a family with six children and a dog. Finally a house for rent was found at 2486 41st Street in Sacramento. When it came up for sale, Bertha and Russell bought it. The house was on the corner of 41st and Y Streets. It originally sat on a lot in the middle of what is now Y Street, but had been moved when the street was cut through.

The house was a two bedroom 1 bathroom house with a wall bed in the living room and a small screened room in the back southwest corner. Stan and Roy slept in the screened porch area, the girls in the middle bedroom. (Where did Laura and Barbara Sleep? Wall bed?) Mom and Dad slept in the bedroom off the kitchen. The sleeping arrangements would changeoften as the need appeared. When Laura and Charlie were married, They moved into the bedroom off the kitchen and Mom and Dad slept in the middle bedroom and the three younger children slept in the screened porch. Roy was in the army. The 1942 Sacramento City Directory lists E. R. Collis at that address as a clerk with Lyon Darwin Hardware.

Roy tells the story of Dad losing his temper with someone as he was driving truck for the Lyon Darwin. Someone cut him off and said something obscene. Russell stopped the truck, got out, grabbed the tire iron out of the back and went after the guy. Roy stopped him, thankfully. Russ did lack patience at times in his early years. If he became upset with his employer, he would quit his job.

Roy was the first child to leave home as he went into the army in 1943 during World War II. He had not graduated from high school yet, but the draft registration was being invoked, so he decided to enlist. He became part of the 705th Tank Destroyer battalion and was one of those who were cut off and surrounded in the Battle of Bastone. Mom stated, "It was sure good to have a job at that time, for I had to keep my mind on my work. On the days when I was home and the kids were coming home from school, I'd listen for his steps on the porch even though I knew he was far away. When he came home after the war, I thought I'd go mad before he settled down and quit pacing the floor. I guess it's pretty horrible what they have to go through" In 1946 Roy was home and Dad made a bedroom in the basement for him. I remember hearing Roy's radio playing "Intersanctum" or " The Shadow". I remember the sound of the squeaking door that began one of the programs.

Moving days were finally over for the family. Russell had an "itchy foot". He liked change. When he talked about moving again, Mother told him, "If you move again, you will go without me and the children!" She had had enough moving. They lived in the house on 41st Street until they both retired. Perhaps Dad’s “itchy foot” was one reason we went for rides so often on Sunday afternoons. We visited and camped at most of the historic spots in Northern California: Yosemite, Wright's Lake, Lake Tahoe, Big Trees, Caverns, Volcano, The Mystery Spot, The Winchester House, San Francisco, and many more.
They lived in that house for the next 23 years and Russell held a variety of jobs. He worked for a short time at McClellan Air Force base repairing carburetors. He also picked fruit at several of the farms in the area. We would go glean pears after the regular picking and Mom would can them at home. He was a mechanic at the Wonder Bread bakery in Oak Park in 1945. I still remember the smell of the bread cooking as I walked by. He worked for a short time as a janitor at Stanford Junior High School. He was very offended by the language the kids wrote on the walls of the restrooms. He quit that job fairly quickly. By 1949 he was working as a Construction worker.
.
In the 1950's Russell remodeled the house, changing the whole configuration of it. He added an upstairs bedroom, extended the back of the house to accommodate a bedroom where the screened porch used to be, and added another bathroom and laundry room on the back. This was a difficult time as money was tight and Dad was working double time; a paying job during the day when weather permitted, and working on the house nights and weekends. He was burning his candle at both ends. There was a time when he was on the roof with an electric skill saw. He missed the board and cut through his thigh. It was a bad cut. He was alone so he had to climb down and get himself to the emergency room at the county hospital on Stockton Boulevard. Fortunately, it was only two blocks away.

After those initial years, Russell worked most of his years in Sacramento for Construction Companies on different houses and buildings. He drove a truck for Robinson's Construction Company during the tearing down of the old Buffalo Brewery and construction of the Sacramento Bee building on the site on Q Street. In the 50's he worked on a $100,000 home near the American River. We were all flabbergasted at that outrageous price for building a home was rare at that time.

The holidays were always special times at the Collis house. Aunt Gladyce and Uncle Pete were always there along with friends, Lois and Carl Carlson. We had barbequed hamburgers on the 4th of July with Mom's special barbeque sauce, watermelon, and lemonade made with real lemons. Dad had built a brick barbeque on the site of the old garage turned into a grape arbor. It was frightening when that old garage caught fire and burned to the ground. On summer nights we would sleep in the back yard as the house was too warm. Beds would be moved into the back yard and covered with tarps to protect them from occasional summer rains.

On Thanksgiving morning Mom would get up about 3:00 A.M. to start the turkey cooking. Aunt Gladyce would also cook a turkey. We always had lemon jello with pineapple, shredded carrots, and chopped celery in it. There was always the special chopped cabbage and shrimp salad, stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes and gravy. Mom's homemade mince meat pie from an old English recipe which came from Dad's grandmother, Ann Collis, and pumpkin pie were the traditional desserts. The teenagers always went to the Sacramento/ McClatchy high school football game in the morning, and then come home to hopefully help put the finishing touches on dinner. There was a long table that went from the dining room into the kitchen. Turkey sandwiches with cranberry, mayonnaise, and lettuce, were absolutely necessary in the evening.

Our house was about 3 to 4 blocks from the old California State Fair Grounds on Stockton Boulevard and Broadway. Kids could get in free so we were there quite often. In the evenings we would sometimes go to the fair to watch the horse show as Dad's cousin was driving the Budweiser wagon there. Dad liked the harness races and we would attend those also. Maybe we would get an original orange freeze at Merlino's across the street from the fairgrounds.

A favorite thing to do was to sit on the front porch in the early evening and watch the fireworks high in the night sky. Fairgoers would park on all the streets for many blocks around the fairgrounds. We would put sawhorses in front of the house to save a place to park our car. The state fair was a big part of our lives when it ran during the summer.

Each summer we would go on a week long camping trip. At times we would go to Yosemite, or more often we went to Wright's Lake to stay at Fred Held's camp near the Dark Lake Road. Fred Held was a friend of Uncle Pete. He camped at the lake every summer from the time it opened until it closed in the fall. Uncle Pete, Aunt Gladyce, Lois and Carl and our family would join him for a week. Stan usually brought a friend, Frank Marchi, as Barbara had Dixie, Lois Carlson's daughter. Darlyne and I had each other. Laura and Charlie were married by that time. There was a lot of stuff to take for that many people. Dad was a genius when it came to packing the trunk of the car. He had built a special cabinet for the kitchen stuff and knew just where everything went in the trunk so it would all fit. We would hike up to Twin Lakes or some of the other lakes in the high country.

Darlyne wrote, "I still remember the trips there in the old Ford (I think). Daddy always said, 'She’s a boilin.' I thought camping was fun because Mom did all the work." We always carried a canvas water bag over the hood ornament in case the car boiled. We would stop by the side of the road. Let the car cool for a while and then add water from the water bag to the radiator. Then off we would go again. We could use the water for drinking as long as we didn't use too much. We forded Lyon Creek when we got to the top of the hill and would refill the water bag and all take a drink of the fresh Mountain water from the creek. When we got to Wright's Lake, we hung blankets from tree to tree to give us privacy and to separate our camp from the others. We probably looked like a bunch of “okies”, but we had fun.

Russell liked to listen to the baseball game on the radio. At times we would attend the Sacramento Solons baseball game at the ball field on Broadway. I loved going with Dad and Uncle Pete. It wouldn't be a ball game without a hot dog. His main interests were ball games and reading the newspaper. Dad was a hard worker. He often worked late into the night to keep the car running. No computers in cars in those days.

Since Russell worked in construction, and thus he showered in the evening, he would cook breakfast for the family while mother got ready for work. He loved pancakes and we would often eat pancakes with syrup. When it rained and he didn't work, he would clean house. He liked to have everything clean and orderly. When we would come home from school, the house would be shiny and clean and the floors waxed. He was a hard worker. We loved it when it rained. We weren't really cognizant of the loss of his income, we only thought of him picking us up from school so we didn't have to walk the 12 blocks in the rain. We didn't laugh a lot together, but I remember our childhood as peaceful and wonderful. We had supportive, kind parents and we were the most important things in their lives. He didn’t spank us often, but when he did, we knew we had been spanked.

Russell retired in about 1963, three years before Bertha retired in December 1966. After retirement, they sold their house and bought an Airstream trailer. One of Bertha's greatest wishes was to see New England in the fall. They traveled for a year across the northern states to New England, then down the east coast to Florida. Bertha had heart problems in Florida and they remained there for a time while she convalesced. They then traveled back west across the southern states. They parked their trailer in a small trailer park on Stockton Blvd. near Florin Road in Sacramento. To me it was a small confined and dark place, but I never heard them complain.

After Bertha's death in 1970, Russell continued to live in the trailer with his little long haired Chihuahua, Chi-chi. Life did not hold the interest it had when his life long partner was alive and with him. One day he ran a red light and he couldn't get the idea out of his head that he might have hit someone; a car, a kid on a bicycle or a pedestrian. He gave up driving. He also had a slight stroke and it seemed unwise for him to be alone. He moved in with his oldest son, Roy, on Middleberry Street in Sacramento and he lived there until he died in his sleep of a stroke on the 24th of June in 1976, at the age of 79. He was buried beside Bertha in Eastlawn Southgate on Highway 99 near Florin Road in South Sacramento.

Addendum:
1. Some of Russell's favorite sayings were:

· "Children should be seen and not heard."

"It's just as cheap to run the car on the top half of the tank as on the bottom."

· Regarding wearing lipstick: - "Any old barn looks better painted."

· Regarding accumulating worldly goods: "I've never seen a hearse pulling a trailer!"

· "Life is backwards; when the children are young and you need the money and the big house and
you don't have them. When you no longer need them, you have them."

Whenever he teased me, I would cry, and Dad would say, "Your eyes are too close to your bladder." It made me sad, because I didn't want to cry, but couldn't help it.

2. Interview with Barbara on the phone in 2007.
She remembers going to the Grange dances and the kids would sleep on the pile of coats on the floor. When they lived in the warehouse in Thera, Dad would load the wheat sacks into the boxcars. He would let the kids ride up the conveyer. The Colfax house they lived in was about 3 miles on the left from Colfax, going toward Diamond. They would skate in the living room. The school was in Colfax and the kids would return home from school walking on the railroad track. The school was a dance studio last time Barb visited. She remembers dad talking on the old crank phone when receiving a call that his mother had died. Dad had a white suit which he ruined when he threw up after drinking wine. She also remembers driving down the streets of San Francisco and the chinamen all went running into the buildings with their pigtails flying.

3. Letter from Jim Just
March 26, 2008
Dear Aunt Marilyn,
I've just finished reading your short history of Russell and Bertha Collis. I found it fascinating. Thanks so much for doing this. Memories and lives are so fragile and fleeting, it's important to preserve what we can.
I don't have much to add. I do remember the wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The whole family would always gather at the 41ST Street house for Christmas Eve, and exchange gifts. The really precious things weren't the trinkets, but the warmth of the family and the precious memories of being together.
We kids practically lived at that house during the - what was it, 10 or 14 day run? - of the state fair. Bertha must have been a saint to put up with us, always welcoming and never a complaint.
I remember Russell as very kind and having a wicked sense of humor. I loved working with him and the other men of the family, and learned carpentry and construction skills that still serve me well today.
In my junior year -1 believe, I was suspended for a week for flipping off my gym coach (do kids still have to take P.E. these days)? As "punishment," I was assigned by my folks to work with Russell building a garage in our back yard at the Elvas Avenue house. While shingling the roof, I stepped off the edge, hit the top of a fence on the way down, flipped over, and landed on the back of my head, knocking myself silly. Russell came over, looked down at me over the edge of the roof, and said, "Lazy kid. You're the hardest kid to keep working I've ever seen."
But he gave me the rest of the day off.
Love, Jim Just

4. The Delta King is an authentic 285-foot riverboat. The King and her identical twin, the Delta Queen, were christened on May 20, 1927, and began their daily river voyages between San Francisco and Sacramento in June of that year. At 6:00 p.m. each evening, the grand ladies of the Delta left their docks for the 10 hour trip that included prohibition era drinking, jazz bands, gambling and fine dining. A stateroom was $3.50, but for a dollar and "’your own blanket" the night could be spent on the Cargo Deck.
The King and Queen reigned on the Sacramento River until the late 1930's when an increase in the number of roads, bridges and automobiles made riverboating a less efficient means of transportation. Depression and World War II signaled the end of the sternwheel era and both the King and Queen were drafted into the U. S. Navy to serve on San Francisco Bay as net tenders, floating barracks, troop transports and hospital ships. At the conclusion of the War, the Delta Queen was purchased and taken via the Panama Canal to the Mississippi River where she still serves. The engines of the Delta King were taken for spare parts. The King was shuttled between Canada and California as a derelict with hopes of becoming a floating Ghiradelli Square or Chinese Restaurant dashed at each turn by sinkings and litigations. In 1984, after being sunk for 18 months in San Francisco Bay, the Delta King was towed to Old Sacramento, where it underwent a complete renovation. Five pain-staking years later the Delta King reopened to reign, once again, as the heralded monarch of the Sacramento River.


1900 United States Federal Census
Name: Walter Collis
Home in 1900: Supervisors District 5, Contra Costa, California
Age: 33 Occupation: farmer
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1867
BirthPlace: California
Relationship to head-of-house: Head
Spouses's Name: Laura
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
Walter Collis 33
Laura Collis 33
Hazel Collis 5
Russel Collis 3
Gladys Collis 2

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Russel Collis
Age in 1910: 13
Estimated birth year: abt 1897
Birthplace: California
Relation to Head of House: Son
Father's name: Walter L
Father's Birth Place: California
Mother's name: Lora
Mother's Birth Place: California
Home in 1910: Diamond, Whitman, Washington
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members: Name Age
Walter L Collis 42
Lora Collis 44
Hazel Collis 15
Russel Collis 13
Gladys Collis 11
Wynner Collis 9
Edgar Colli 2

*World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Record
Name: Ernest Russell Collis
City: Diamond
County: Whitman
State: Washington
Birthplace: California;United States of America
Birth Date: 31 Dec 1896 age 21
Roll: 1992258
DraftBoard: 0
Employer: self Nearest Relative: Walter Height med Build:med Color of Eyes brown Hair dark brown:

*1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Russel Collis
Home in 1920: Diamond, Whitman, Washington
Age: 22 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Brother-in-law
Father's Birth Place: California
Mother's Birth Place: California
Marital status: Single occupation: farm labor
Race: White
Sex: Male
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 889
Household Members:Name Age
Elmer F Ping 28 railroad labor
Gladys E Ping 21
Russel Collis 22 farm labor
Winnie Collis 19 railroad labor

Marriage Cert in posession of Darlyne Frost; Family Bible.

California Voter Registration, 1926-28 Stockton, 5th Ward, 8th Precinct
line 22 Collis, Ernest R , benchand, Horace Ave. and Anderson Dem
line 23 Collis, Mrs Bertha I, housewife Horace Ave. and Anderson Dem

*1930 United States Federal Census
Name: E Russel Callis
Home in 1930: Township 9, Contra Costa, California
Age: 32
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Head occupation: farmer
Spouses's Name: Bertha I
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
E Russel Callis 32
Bertha I Callis 27
Walter L Callis 5 1/12
Laura M Callis 3 6/12
Allen E Morrison 25 roomer - farm hand

1940 United States Federal Census
Name: E Russell Collis
Age: 44
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1896
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: California
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: South Colfax, Whitman, Washington
Farm: Yes
Inferred Residence in 1935: South Colfax, Whitman, Washington
Residence in 1935: Same Place
Sheet Number: 3A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 46
Occupation: Clerk
House Owned or Rented: Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 10
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 7th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 48
Class of Worker: $720 Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 780
Income Other Sources: Yes
Neighbors: Ted Ackerman
Household Members: Name Age
E Russell Collis 44
Bertha L Collis 37
Walter Leroy 15
Lora Mary 13
Barbara Jean 9
Stanley R Collis 5
Marilyn Collis 2
Gladyce D Collis 8/12

U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 about Ernest Russell Collis
Name: Ernest Russell Collis
Birth Date: 31 Dec 1896
Birth Place: Brentwood
Residence: Sacto, California
Race: White
Roll: WWII_1734613

1939 Sacramento City Directory: Collis or Ping not found
1940 Sacramento City Directory: Ping, Elmer F (Gladyce E) h4964 13th av
Ping, Frank (Mary E) h5018 14th av
1940 Sacramento City Directory: Collis, Edgar, D, gdnr, PG&E co, h4964 13th av
1941 Sacramento City Directory: Ping, Elmer F (Gladyce E) h4964 13th av
Ping, Frank (Mary E) h5018 14th av
Ping, Peter r 4964 13th av
1943 Sacramento City Directory: Ping, Elmer F (Gladyce E) Elec eng SAD h 4964 13th av
Ping, Frank (Mary E) h5018 1/2 14th av
Ping, Gladyc E clk DMV r 4964 13th av
1943 Sacramento City Directory: Collis, E Russell (Bertha I) driver h2486 41st St.

*California Death Index, 1940-1997 Record about ERNEST R COLLIS
Name: COLLIS, ERNEST R
Social Security #: 542034134
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 31 Dec 1896
Birthplace: CALIFORNIA
Death Date: 26 Jun 1976
Death Place: SACRAMENTO

Died in his bed at his son, Walter LeRoy Collis', home on Middleberry St., Sacramento from a stroke.

*Social Security Death Index Record
Name: Ernest Collis
SSN: 542-03-4134
Last Residence: 95815 Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States of America
Born: 31 Dec 1896 California
Died: Jun 1976
State (Year) SSN issued: Oregon (Before 1951 )

Ernest married Bertha Irene SHERMAN on 14 Oct 1923 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington, United States. Bertha (daughter of Milton Kellum SHERMAN and Addie Mae SLY) was born on 2 Mar 1903 in Kalispell, Flathead, Montana, United States; died on 30 Jun 1970 in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan, United States; was buried in Eastlawn Southgate, Sacramento, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: DBED793EA1544C438092B19F623422F91672

Notes:

no children

1920 United States Federal Census Gladys E Ping
Name: Gladys E Ping
Home in 1920: Diamond, Whitman, Washington
Age: 21 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1899
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Spouses's Name: Elmer F
Father's Birth Place: California
Mother's Birth Place: California
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Female
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 889
Household Members: Name Age
Elmer F Ping 28 (worked as laborer for the railroad)
Gladys E Ping 21
Russel Collis 22 brother to Gladys
Winnie 19 " (should be Winner- worked for the railroad)

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Elmer F Ping
Home in 1930: Oakland, Alameda, California
Age: 32
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
Birthplace: Washington
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Name: Frank E Born Washington
Mother's Name: Mary E Born Washington
Spouse's Name: Gladys E
Race: White
No Military service: Rent/home value: Age at first marriage: 20
Neighbors:
Household Members: Name Age
Elmer F Ping 32 laborer warehouse
Gladys E Ping 30 Press operator- Phonograph records, married age 17
Frank E Ping 57 laborer sewer layer (served in Spanish war) father bn Indiana,
mother bn Oregon
Mary E Ping 52 father born USA, mother born Indiana
Laura S Collis 63

1939 Sacramento City Directory: Ping not found
1940 Sacramento City Directory: Ping, Elmer F (Gladyce E) h4964 13th av
Ping, Frank (Mary E) h5018 14th av
1943 Sacramento City Directory: Ping, Elmer F (Gladyce E) Elec eng SAD h 4964 13th av
Ping, Frank (Mary E) h5018 1/2 14th av
Ping, Gladyc E clk DMV r 4964 13th av
California Death Index
PING GLADYCE E 1898 11 01 FEMALE CA SACRAMENTO 1975 12 13 573183927 77

buried at Eastlawn Southgate Cemetary next to hwy 99, between Elk Grove and Sacramento

Gladyce worked as a house girl for Addie Mae Lamb in Diamond, Washington. Later after she and Pete were married and moved to Sacramento, CA, she worked for the telephone Company. They had no children.

Gladyce married Elmer Frank "Pete" PING on 21 Nov 1917 in Diamond, Whitman, Washington, United States. Elmer (son of Frank Eb PING and Mary Estelle GOUGH) was born on 24 Mar 1896 in Dayton, Columbia, Washington, United States; died on 13 Jan 1980 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States; was buried in Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 36BE5AB5EE95FA42842A29A8686E1B407228

Notes:

1930 United States Federal Census Winner W Callis
Name: Winner W Callis
Home in 1930: Township 9, Contra Costa, California
Age: 29
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1901
BirthPlace: California
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouses's Name: Ruth V
Race: White
Household Members: Name Age
Winner W Callis 29
Ruth V Callis 27
Lucile E Callis 3 6/12 (Elaine)
Edgar Callis 22 brother

Oregon Death Index, 1903-98 Winner Win Collis
Name: Collis, Winner Win
County: Columbia
Death Date: 10 Dec 1985
Certificate: 85-21987
Age: 85
Birth Date: 08 Oct 1900
Spouse: Ruby

Social Security Death Index Winner Collis
Name: Winner Collis
SSN: 543-03-1294
Last Residence: 97051 Saint Helens, Columbia, Oregon, United States of America
Born: 8 Oct 1900
Died: Dec 1985
State (Year) SSN issued: Oregon (Before 1951 )

The following was taken from a letter dated July 13, 1976, to Marilyn Parker from Uncle Winner Winwood Collis (brother to Ernest Russell Collis).
"Ruby finally prodded me into writing you about how I broke my arm. I must have been between 7 and 8 years old. It was during the summer. We lived just a short half block from the old blacksmith shop in Brentwood. Russ, your dad, and I were playing on an old hitching rack which was a 1 and 1/2 inch or 2 inch pipe run ghrough the branches of three locust trees or pepper trees. It was about 3 or 4 feet above the ground, but seemed higher to me now. I was standing on the pipe. Russ was up in the tree above me. He said he was coming down and would step on my fingers if I did not get out of the way. I let loose of the tree, turned on the pipe and started walking on the pipe to the adjoining tree. Suppose I was bare footed. Anyway, I slipped and fell to the ground with my right arm under my body and broke so many bones in my elbow, the old Dr. Cool just put it in a towel and tied the towel around my neck so I could be comfortable as possible with all the broken bones in a mess. I looked at the bones under a florescope in Portland, Oregon, in 1954 and saw all the mess of odd shaped bones with one piece of bone floating all by itself in the middle of the elbow. The Doctor said, `that' is the kind of break we always like to turn over to our competitor doctor'." I remember him also telling me that he used to carry a full bucket around in that hand to straighten out the arm. When I was between 4 and 5 years old, Arthur begged me to get him some matches from the kitchen stove, which he couldn't reach. I did so, and a few minutes later mother said, `Our barn is on fire. Where is Arthur?' Well, Arthur had gotten over the manger in the little barn, put some straw in a little pile and started a fire. Mom had to go in after him, but with no fire equipment, we lost the barn, thanks to me." "About the San Francisco fire and earthquake, I remember April, 1906, mom or dad got all we kids out of the house and into the yard. We had a water tank in the back and water was sloshing out of the top of it. I talked many years later with a Mr. Nunn, brother of George, who told me he was putting a harness on a team of horses when he noticed the horses moved up against the manger, back as far as the halter chains would let them. He ran outside to check. The ground was rolling or undulating like waves on the bay or ocean. Our Aunt Florence stood in a doorway in San Francisco watching things happen."
Winner had Bladder cancer like his father. He had several surgeries and chemotherapy. He died peacefully at age 85, as he sat down to watch the 5 o'clock news. There was no service and he was cremated as per his request.
Ruby Collis (503) 397-1466 32084 Brooks Rd. St. Helens, Or, 97051

Winner married Ruth Vivian HOXIE on 31 Dec 1925 in Whitman County, Washington, USA. Ruth was born on 10 Jan 1903 in Washington, United States; died on 22 Jan 1944 in Saint Helens, Columbia, Oregon, United States; was buried on 25 Jan 1944 in Lutheran Cem, Warren, Oregon, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Winner married Ruby Cecelia PETERSON on 3 Feb 1945 in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington, USA. Ruby was born on 7 Jul 1906 in Buxton, Washington, Oregon, United States; died on 1 May 1999 in Saint Helens, Columbia, Oregon, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 637B60211515834D877A5432E48C322BAD4B

Notes:

Brentwood Union Cemetary

!Death:State file # 07-21882

Other Events:

• _UID: 6966D313B93AB44FA100D350623BA612C425

Notes:

No children

California Birth Index, 1905-1995 Record
Name: Edgar D Collis
Birth Date: 19 Sep 1907
Gender: Male
Mother's Maiden Name: Grigsby
Birth County: Contra Costa

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Record about Edgar D Collis
Name: Edgar D Collis
Birth Year: 1907
Race: White, citizen
Nativity State or Country: California
State: California
County or City: Sacramento
Enlistment Date: 3 Mar 1941
Enlistment State: California
Enlistment City: Sacramento
Branch: Infantry
Branch Code: Infantry
Grade: Private First Class
Grade Code: Private First Class
Component: National Guard (Officers, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
Source: National Guard
Education: 1 year of high school
Civil Occupation: Gas And Oil Man
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 70
Weight: 142

Social Security Death Index Record
Name: Edgar Collis
SSN: 542-07-9529
Last Residence: 84115 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States of America
Born: 19 Sep 1907
Died: Mar 1987
State (Year) SSN issued: Oregon (Before 1951 )

Utah Cemetery Inventory about Edgar D. Collis
Name: Edgar D. Collis
Burial Date: 20 March 1987
Cemetery: Mount Olivet Cemetery
Source: Sexton Records / Grant
Grave Location: West Masonic_152_1



no issue
was said by his wife to have suffered from ahlzeimers during the last years.

Edgar married Alma Laura Joshumsen on 15 Aug 1942 in Lewis andr Clark County, Montana, USA. Alma (daughter of Christin Joshumsen and Laura Larsen) was born on 31 Jul 1902 in Odense, Denmark; died on 7 Nov 1991 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA; was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 5EA73AF5D65D1941AFC01D1CE124DB509978

Notes:

Died of a heart attack
California Death Index
Last_Name First_Name Middle_Name B_yr B_mo B_dy Mothers_Last_Name Fathers_Last_Name Sex Bp County_of_Death D_yr D_mo D_dy SS_Number Age idno MITCHELL IRENE CRYSTAL 1913 09 20 FEMALE WA SACRAMENTO 1979 04 28 573221941 65 0

Family/Spouse: John W. "Les" MITCHELL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 744BC517E1F4724F80E7B56FB76F94259B09

Notes:

Washington State vital

Other Events:

• _UID: BDE133B4C245BF4981063D111FE5CDBFF97C

Notes:

5729 Belleview Ave, Sacramento, CA 95824, (916-381-4231) Married Jes (Smitty)
No issue.

California Marriage Index, 1960-1985 Name: Esther M Kasdorf
Age: 53
Est. Birth: abt 1919
Spouse Name: Bernard B Smith
Spouse Age: 48
Est. Spouse Birth: abt 1924
Date: 24 Dec 1972
Location: Sacramento

California Divorce Index, 1966-1984 Name: Esther M Kasdorf
Spouse Name: Bernard B Smith
Location: Sacramento
Date: Mar 1973



Social Security Death Index Record
Name: Esther Smith
SSN: 553-34-9021
Last Residence: 95815 Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States of America
Born: 27 Apr 1919
Died: 11 Feb 1993
State (Year) SSN issued: California (1952 )

Esther married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: WILLIAMS. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: B26AD294DAF42241B96E9227D0F61843B435

Notes:

California Birth Index, 1905-1995 Record
Name: Richard Lewis Kasdorf
Birth Date: 30 Jun 1936
Gender: Male
Mother's Maiden Name: Collis
Birth County: Contra Costa

Richard married Darlene Ball about 1961. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Physical Description: dark brown hair
• FamilySearch Id: KFF2-VML
• _UID: 881C75C6D5913D43960631BA0CDB3393F9E8

Notes:

!NOTE: Roy attended grammar school and one year of high school in Colfax, Washington. He attended one year at Sacramento Sr. High School before joining the armed services during World War II, on 13 March 1943. He was a cannoneer with the 705 Tank Destroyer Battallion. He served in Rhyneland, Ardennes, Central Europe, Normandy, and their battallion was surrounded in the Battle of the Bulge. He received his high school doploma by passing the tests after being discharged 11 Dec, 1945. He was later a volunteer in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, stationed in Newfoundland, Canada, as a truck driver hauling petroleum. He worked for the State of California between the two armed services and later returned to the State of California as a supervisor for the Electronics Data Processing area of Cal-Trans. He retired from State service in 1981. He lived in the Arden area of Sacramento. He liked gardening and had quite a knack for it. He also liked to work in his wood shop.

MEMORIES OF WALTER LEROY COLLIS
(as told to Marilyn Parker, June 4, 1988)

I remember little of the ranch in Brentwood; just going through the orchard between Grandma Collis' and our little shack, Grandpa sitting in the rocking chair on the porch with tears rolling down his cheeks because he hurt so bad. Yet Grandpa always had time to play with me. Whenever I'd come, he'd hold me on his lap.

I can remember Grandma chasing him around, telling him, "Walter! do this." Boy! He'd move. She was just a little tiny squirt. We used to gather around the piano and sing the old traditional stuff on Christmas Eve. Money was tight so we would go out and cut down a tree whether it was pine or whatever, and decorate it with homemade decorations. I remember stringing popcorn, making chains and paper decorations.

Grandpa Collis was a big man, religious, a blacksmith, 6 feet 1 inch on one foot and 6 feet 2 inches on the other; A big man with big arms. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He fell across a ladder picking fruit and developed cancer of the bladder.

After grandpa died, the Bank of America took the ranch. Dad (Russell) was so angry at the B of A. He put Grandma's organ on the burn pile along with other items without asking anyone whether they wanted anything. Grandma went to live with her son, in Oakland. Dad took the family and went to Oregon to homestead on land and built a log cabin just West of Scapoose near Portland. Winner was a timekeeper in a fibreboard plant near there about '32 or '33. We weren't there very long and left everything and went to Diamond, Washington. I liked to go to Jack Sweat's market on Main Street there. It was a combination grocery, hardware, Post Office. There was a big pot bellied stove. The farmers would sit around it and talk. We boys would go in and tease them. They'd roust us out and then we'd sneak back in. Chickens hung by their feet. Dried beans and other goods were in barrells. You would reach into the pickle barrell and grab one.

Dad worked with Grandpa Lamb, who ran the grain elevator. Grandpa was a banker but didn't like banking. Grandpa Lamb got a fever and lost all of his hair. He did not have one hair on his whole body. He was embarrassed and always wore a hat, even at the dinner table.

Dad left Diamond to manage a warehouse in Thera, halfway between Diamond and Endicott. There were wheat fields all around and the railroad ran right beside the warehouse. The family lived in a rent free apartment in the warehouse. I remember skating up and down the warehouse. I went to the one room schoolhouse across the street from the warehouse. when that school closed we went to school in Endicott about 13 miles away.

Dad had a difficult time showing his affection for his children. He seldom punished his children, but sometimes we needed it. At about age 9 or 10, I got mad at Dad and set the wheat field by the warehouse on fire. Dad beat me and he cried every time he hit me.

When the folks would go to the barn dances, we kids would get stuck on blankets behind the stove. We boys would sneak out when no one was watching.

Grandpa Lamb offered Dad the ranch about 3 miles out of Colfax (on the way to Endicott and Diamond) to farm. The ranch was owned by Grandpa Lamb and his sister Melba. A new highway was being built by the ranch and Mom started cooking for the highway crew. We kids ate after the crew had finished. I would watch the crew drill and dynamite. One cold night one of the crew threw a box of dynamite on the fire. It scared the heck out of me as I expected it to explode. It didn't. It burned great.

I went to Martha Washington High School in Colfax and lettered in track. I took the East Washington District in broadjumping. I liked school. I didn't like grammar or history, but I liked math, geography, and science. I was good at it and got A's in the subjects I liked but I would go fishing at the Palouse River or the Creek when I didn't like it.

I worked on ranches for $1 a day, cleaning barns, feeding cattle, or herding the horses or cows in. A show cost 5 cents, and overalls cost 10 cents. You could get a handful of licorice sticks for 1 cent. You would reach your hand in the jar and grab a handful and you would always have to let go of some to get your hand out of the jar. We could go to a matinee when we could get a nickle. It was sure hard to get a penny in those days. We didn't throw them around like the kids do now. Mom always saw to it we had clothes and food even though we didn't have much money.

One Halloween we took a wagon all apart and put it together again on top of a farmer's barn. The farmer probably tied a rope to it and rolled it down. Many times for entertainment we would go in the barn and walk the rafters trying to knock the other person off onto the floor 15 feet below. Sometimes there was hay on the floor, sometimes not.

When we walked to school in Colfax, Laura would want to walk on the rail on the car bridge over the Palouse River. She carried the flashlight. I would walk beside her because the river was running high and rough. She started to fall and I grabbed for her . The flashlight hit me in the mouth and broke off one of my front teeth. We had to walk over the bridge or the railroad trestle. The trestle was shorter, so we often walked it. Mom would have killed us if she had known, as there was nowhere to go if a train came.

Dad went to work in the creamery with Ted Ackerman. Ted left the creamery, leased farm land, then bought it. He did very well financially. Dad wasn't a go-getter. He took things as they came. He was happy with a moderate home life. He was a great dad and would have fought the devil himself for any of his kids.

Uncle Pete and Aunt Gladyce were living in California. Pete was a hardwood floor layer in Oakland and then went to work at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento as a mechanic.

I remember that Grandpa's old ranch was still there in Brentwood when we came to Sacramento in 1941. We lived with Aunt Gladyce and Pete. Dad went to work for McClellan but didn't like the work. This was just after WWII started. He quit. They told him that he couldn't quit. Dad asked, "who's going to stop me?" They said they'd draft him. He said, "then draft me, you'll have to support all my kids". He quit and they never drafted him.

He went to work for Lyon Darwin Hardware in Oak Park. Some gal gave him a hard time so he quit that and went to work for Robinson's Construction. Redgate was a supervisor there and when Robinson's went out of business, Redgate went to work for another construction company. He would call Dad to come to work on other jobs. I was about 18 when Dad worked for Robinson`s. He was driving a company truck when he cut someone off on the road. The man yelled at Dad. He stopped the truck and got out with a pipe wrench. I said,"Dad, you're going to get us killed". Dad said, "I can take care of this." The man got in his truck and left. Dad had a temper. Dad wasn't big but always said, "It doesn't mean I'm not tough."

One day I bought gas at a Shell Station that we often traded at. I didn't have quite enough money, so the man had me leave a tire while I went home to get some more. Dad got mad that the man didn't trust me and went up and told the man to never keep my tire again.

I belonged to the YMCA, a christian club. They contracted out kids to work in the packing sheds in Courtland, and I got a job there. I worked for Western Union, delivering telegrams on a bicycle. Worked for Riverview Orchards, on the river highway, pruning pears. I went to work for a Sunset Tile Company as a tile setter just before I went into the service.

I met Charlie at Uncle Pete's. Charlie had a friend, Kenneth, who lived 2 doors down from Pete. Charlie and Frank Jacinto, a crippled boy, would come to visit Kenneth. We would do things together. Frank would steal candy bars. He would say he was going to. We never saw him take it, but he would come out with one. We were afraid of getting in trouble so we quit going around with him. He wound up in Folsom Prison.

Charlie and I rented a car and decided to go in the river through the big rocks. We got the car stuck in the rocks and had to have someone pull us out. We sure did not do the tires on the car any good. We used to go up to the mountains above Colfax. Charlie's Uncle had a cabin there. We panned for gold but didn't find much.

I went into the service in 1943 before I graduated from high school.
I was stationed at Trowbridge, southeast of London, England for 4 months. The Germans were dropping buzz bombs. They did a lot of damage but were not too accurate.We left Dover England on an LST, (Land Ship Tank). It would hold 4 tanks. We landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy. We drove our tanks off into the water and then up the beach with the Krouts firing at us. We established the beach and then started fighting between the hedgerows. Hedgerows are the mounds of dirt between each farm that have hedges planted on the top of the mounds to serve as fences. We'd sit on one side of the hedgerow and the enemy on the other. Every once in a while they would throw a hand grenade over. Pretty soon we would throw one. back. You could yell over that you needed a cigarette and they would throw a pack over to you. (or a bottle of beer.) Yet if you stuck your head up, they'd shoot it off. They were just doing their job. Our tank had a bulldozer to open a path through the hedgerow. We would fight from one hedgerow to the next. We gained very little ground. Saint Milloux, a pretty little town, was leveled. We crossed the Rhine River at Worms. We were attached to 101st airborne. We were routed to go to Bastogne, Belgium and were surrounded but never captured in the Battle of the Bulge. Supplies had to be brought in by aircraft. Dalton was flying there at the time, but I never knew it. After we got out of that, we traveled across Europe up into the Bavarian Alps along the southern route into Austria. We were not allowed to cross the Swiss border as that was a nuetral country. I was in the tank spearhead B, the second vehicle behind the jeep. We went through Austria almost to Vienna. A military government was established and I did guard duty. The northern route went into Berlin.

I then came back to La Harve, France (2nd largest city in Normandy) and went by light cruiser to Springfield, Massachusetts. From there I came to California to Beale Air Force Base just before the holidays. The war was over. I stayed in the reserves and was called back into service in the Air Force during the Korean War. I was stationed at McClellan Air Force Base with the barracks just this side of Marysville Boulevard (Splinter City). I would report in the morning and was told to go home. I slept at home rather in the barracks. Then I had to report in the evening again. I got tired of that, so I asked my friend in the office to get me shipped overseas. He asked me where I wanted to go. Korea? No! there was fighting over there. Alaska? No. It was too cold there. Havanna, Cuba, that sounded good but I was too late. Someone else beat me to it. The only thing left was the Northeast Air Command. I didn't know where it was, but I said, "sign me up." So I went to Newfoundland, trucking aviation gas.
When I got out of the service, I passed the GED test and the entrance exam to Cal., but I had too much to make up, so I didn't go. I went to Sacramento Junior College for 1 1/2 years. Then went to work for the State of California."

note from Tom Alexander: Dear Marilyn....Barb, and I too, would love to proof your manuscript. Your parents were the greatest!

About Roy. We had a few conversations about WW II and his role in it. Marilyn, he was a bonafide hero of great courage and honesty!!! He was the driver on his tank destroyer, which also served as a scout. That means his tank was out in front looking for the enemy, a very dangerously exposed place to be. He told me that when they spotted Germans he'd Kick the tank in reverse with his foot and fly out of the area as fast as the tank could go backwards, then when the sgt. thot it safe he'd have Roy turn it around and head for the CO to report their sighting.

Roy worked for Gen Patton and was part of his 3rd Army enroute to Germany from France when the Battle of the Bulge started. Ike ordered Patton to make a sharp left turn and relieve the trapped 101st at Bastogne. Patton said he'd be there in 3 days and his word was good. The 101st was almost down to fighting with sticks and stones a few men had no ammo, some only had 3 or 4 rounds. It was a magnificent military feat to stop and turn the 3rd army 90 degrees in the ice, snow and mud of France and Belgium in DEC. because of the difficulty of keeping the equipment moving in those conditions. If you can imagine, tanks and trucks slipping and sliding off the muddy roads and bogging down in ditches to be towed out and hustled on their way only to be bogged down again at the next turn in the road. Tanks were sliding sideways like race cars on a race track and beware anything in their way as they couldn't stop.

Roy's unit got to the outskirts of Bastogne slugging it out with the Germans while crashing thru their lines and saving the 101st from annihilation. If Roy's unit was ever attached to the 101st, he never mentioned it to me and I see no reason for his unit to be cut loose from Patton and turned over to Gen McCaulif's 101st.

Once, when trading war stories with each other, he told me they captured a few Germans, one of whom was rattling his mouth in German and getting on everyone's nerves. Roy told him 3 times to shutup. He didn't, so Roy shot him in the shoulder with his rifle. "That shut him up."

When passing thru a little town a bunch of kids came out approaching his tank. Tank destroyers have open tops and kids were known to approach them, then getting close they'd toss hand grenades inside killing the gunners and the sgt. tank commander. In Roy's case, his tank Cdr yelled at the kids a few times to go back. They didn't and he fired his machine gun over their heads. They kept coming and he cut them all down, then, with a broken heart, crumpled to the deck crying uncontrollably. (This story really gets to me).

Roy told me the thing that got to him most was picking up the dead US soldiers who, for the most part, were just 19 year old kids. Roy was probably 18 at the time. He never told me, but I know that was on his mind until he died. Those thots never leave anyone who has seen the dead and stuffed them in a baggie or covered them with a blanket in a final goodbye. Believe me, I know! I've no doubt Roy was under siege of PTS, but he handled it by himself, which tells us he was a courageous man who never whined about it. Roy was a real hero in my book!
( email From Tom Alexander, 3 Sep 2007)

California Birth Index, 1905-1995 Record
Name: Walter L Collis
Birth Date: 27 Sep 1924
Gender: Male
Mother's Maiden Name: Sherman
Birth County: Contra Costa

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Recordabout Walter L Collis
Name: Walter L Collis
Birth Year: 1924
Race: White, citizen
State: California
County or City: Sacramento
Enlistment Date: 6 Mar 1943
Enlistment State: California
Enlistment City: Sacramento
Branch: No branch assignment
Branch Code: No branch assignment
Grade: Private
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 2 years of high school
Civil Occupation: Automobile Serviceman
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 50
Weight: 099

Social Security Death Index Walter L. Collis
Name: Walter L. Collis
SSN: 561-26-1253
Last Residence: 95815 Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States
Born: 27 Sep 1924
Died: 21 May 1999
State (Year) SSN issued: California (Before 1951 )

Roy died in his chair at home from heart failure and was cremated.

U.S. Veterans Cemeteries, ca.1800-2006 Walter L Collis
Name: Walter L Collis
Service Info.: US ARMY
Birth Date: 27 Sep 1924
Death Date: 21 May 1999
Cemetery: Sunset Lawn Memorial Park
Cemetery Address: 4701 Marysville Blvd Sacramento, CA 95838

Walter married Marjorie Allyne CUPP on 1 May 1954 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada, United States. Marjorie (daughter of Ora Ivyl "Sparky" CUPP and Ruth Allyne CHATTERTON) was born on 1 Feb 1931 in Cushing, Payne, Oklahoma, United States; died on 12 Aug 2013 in Carmichael, Sacramento, California, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Physical Description: 5'2" light brown hair turned to silver white
• FamilySearch Id: M75P-CR1
• _MARNM: Just
• _UID: B23D3D09E354F045BFEA569B4A2130FED4DD

Notes:

New boyfriend (Um-er as Barb calls it) in 2007: Selmar Johansen (born Feb 1919, his daughter is LDS, Donna & Dayle Murray, live in Woodland, Dayle is a dentist. Another daughter Judy and husband Jim live next door to Laura and Selmer)




Discover Your Family Story
California Birth Index, 1905-1995 Record
Name: Laura May Collis
Birth Date: 10 Aug 1926
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Sherman
Birth County: Sutter

Laura Mae Collis was born August 10, 1926, at Yuba City, Yuba County, CA. She is the 2nd child of six of Bertha Irene Sherman and Ernest Russell Collis. The family lived in Brentwood, California, but had gone to Yuba City to pick fruit. They moved back to the family ranch in Brentwood until the bank took it, for a $3000 debt owed by Grandma Collis after Grandpa Collis died.

Laura remembers Grandpa Collis had a built up shoe, perhaps about 4 inches. He was kind of crippled up. Grandma Collis was little, had white hair twisted into a little bun on top of her head. She was really sweet, gentle, loving; kind of like Aunt Gladyce.

When Bertha, Russell and their 3 children first moved from the ranch in Brentwood, they went to Oregon and built a log cabin. They didn't live there long, however. They then moved to Washington State, as Bertha's mother lived there in Diamond. They first lived in a little apartment in a warehouse in Thera. It was a building about 2 blocks long, between the highway and the railroad tracks. The farmers would bring their sacks of wheat to the warehouse and put them on the conveyor belt. When the sacks got to the top of the belt, the farmer would open the sack and the grain would fall in a pile into the railroad car. Dad would let the kids ride up the conveyor belt on the sacks and jump into the wheat when they got to the top. There was no bathroom in the little apartment. The bathroom was at the other end of the warehouse. When the children needed to use the bathroom, they would put on roller skates and skate down the entire length of the warehouse. There was little food during this time. Mother would often boil the wheat to eat.

They then moved to a ranch about 2 to 3 miles outside of Colfax, Washington. The ranch was left to Grandpa Lamb and his sisters when their parents died. When we lived in Colfax,Washington, it snowed a lot. Everything went in the slop bucket for the pigs, even the dish water. Dad strung a wire from the house to the barn so we wouldn't get lost during a blizzard. We still had to go feed the animals, and we could grab ahold of the wire during the blizzard and find the way back to the house without getting lost. The bus stop was up the hill, and on snowy days, Mom would have to push us up the hill to catch the bus. When the highway was built during the summer, Mom fed the highway crew lunch. Laura remembers washing dishes and cooking for the better part of the day. There was one big room with a big table. The stove and sink were in this room also. There was a little pantry off the dining room where Mom rolled out the pie crust. Dad used to come in from working on the farm, roll up his sleeves, and wash his hands and face in this dining room sink. Laura remembers driving the hay wagon, with Dad and Roy and the farm help pitching the hay.

They had a Jersey cow that the children had made into a pet. Every time one of the kids walked by, the cow would go through the fence to get out. Dad would get so mad. He said, "You've got to stop petting these cows. They are not pets".
Mom got really sick, possibly with diptheria, when they lived on the ranch and was in bed for a long time. Laura remembers being really scared. Laura, being the oldest girl was responsible for all the kids and house, and mother too. Dad was working so hard trying to take care of the ranch and working in town at the hardware store. We had one of those baby jumpers that hung in the doorway. Darlyne was in the jumper and got her hand caught in the wing of the hot wood stove and burned her wrist before we could get it out. Roy used to tie Laura to the tree outside the door and throw dirt clods at her. She hit him over the head with a cast iron frying pan and knocked him out. There weren't many friends around so the kids only had each other to play with and torment.

Dad called the square dances in the Grange Hall. There were benches lined around the wall where the kids sat. Mom and Dad were very good dancers, and Dad was an excellent caller. Laura doesn't ever remember going to church in Washington. They seldom went to town except to shop. The Grange Hall had dinners and dances. There was no money so people made their own entertainment.

Grandpa and Grandma Lamb were wonderful people. Grandpa Lamb had a huge big sled. He would pack all of us kids in the sled, hook it to his little coupe and pull us kids all over in the snow. He took us for a sleigh ride. He had no hair, but once in a while one would grow on the top of his head. Which ever one of us kids was sitting on his lap at the time, he would let us take the tweezers and pull it out. He was about 6 foot 2 inches tall, and Grandma was about 4 foot 2. She was really sweet. She loved to fish and he hated it. She couldn't drive, so he would drive her and Laura to the crawdad hole teaming with crawdads. Grandma would put a crawdad on the hook and fish for catfish. Laura said they tasted like mud and she still can't eat catfish. Grandpa would let them sit there all day and then he would come back and get them. Grandma liked gardening but most of all liked her grandchildren. She loved them to come and would read them a story, take a walk or just talk to them or take them fishing. She textured her walls by using a round tuffy, dipping it in different colors of paints and painting the walls with it. The Collis family left Washington for California in1941 when the Lamb ranch sold.

Laura was an avid reader. Mother said she always had her nose in a book. She spent a lot of time in the library when they lived with Aunt Gladyce and Uncle Pete.

Charles Paul Just was born on the 27th of December 1925, in Sacramento, His mother was 45 years old and it was a difficult birth. He weighed only 2 pounds at birth and the doctors thought he wouldn't make it, so they gave their attention to trying to save his mother. Her sister-in-law, Nellie, said she rescued him from the wastebasket and saved his life. Charlie's mother kept him in the drawer of a dresser in the kitchen because he was so small. He didn't walk or talk until he was 2.

Charlie was the youngest of 8 children. One child died when she was 2 years old. 3 girls and 3 boys survived. His oldest brother, Charles Raymond died when Charlie was 6 years old. His earliest memories of his sisters were after they were all married. His sister Alice (Babe) died at age 28, when Charlie was about 20. His sister Ellen died 3 years later, and Edith died a few years after that. Only three of the eight children, Bob Charlie, and Margie survived past the age of 40. Their dad had wanted to be a farmer and ended up being a carpenter. They lived in many places in Sacramento, but lastly on 12th Avenue

Charlie spent many summers with his Aunt Nellie and Uncle Gene and cousin Laurence in Colfax, CA. They owned cabins and a restaurant there. Charlie and Lawrence would gold pan and explore. When Charlie went deer hunting and got a deer, he would go tell Aunt Nellie and she would go out and help him skin and clean it.

Charlie skipped school often. His parents were older by the time he was growing up and he pretty much did as he pleased, just as long as he got there by himself and got home by himself. His parents believed children were seen and not heard. His parents were uninvolved in any childhood activities. Consequently he was not a good student, sometimes got into mischief, and was even a time or two brought home by the sheriff. He used to go out hunting by the airport and shoot holes in the farmers water tanks. Of course they didn't like that. He had a little dog named Brownie, wonderful dog. At the Municiple Airport on Franklin Boulevard in Sacramento, an airplane started up. Brownie ran and jumped into the propeller. It killed the dog and broke the propeller. The incident made the front page of the newspaper. Someone told him he'd better get out of there before he ended up having to pay for the propeller. So he took off. Charlie rode all over on his bicycle. There used to be Indian burial mounds out by Sloughhouse. He had lots of Indian bones in his basement, not realizing exactly what they were.

During the summers of his Sophomore and Junior years of high school, Charlie worked for the forestry at fire camp in Auburn. They were short of fire fighters due to the war, so you could become a fire fighter at a fairly young age.
By the time Charlie came out of the service and was married, he became a better student and graduated with honors from Sacramento Junior College. Later one of his teachers, Miss Jones, saw him at the wedding of his friend, Ken Patton's, sister. When they told her that Ken was a teacher and Charlie was an attorney, She was surprised. She thought they would both end up in reform school. Obviously, she wasn't a very good teacher.
Charlie left high school in January of 1944, before graduating from McClatchy High School to serve in the Armed Forces. He enlisted in the Cadet Program, as an on-the-line trainee in the capacity of crew chief on a C 47 airplane. He served for 2 years until November of 1945. He was stationed in Texas, California, Colorado, and Douglas,Arizona.

Laura and Charlie met in the Spring of 1941 when the Collis family moved from Washington to California and temporarily moved in with Aunt Gladyce and Uncle Pete Ping. Eddie Bond, a friend of Charlie's, lived on the same street as Laura's Aunt Gladyce. Eventually Eddie became a friend of Laura's brother, Roy. Laura was 15 in 1941 and she and Roy would join in with the neighborhood kids in playing "kick the can" and other games. Charlie was usually there although he didn't live in the neighborhood. Laura thought Charlie was kind of cute. He was nice to her. He didn't smoke like most of the boys did. They were both kind of quiet and reserved.

Frank Jacinto was also a friend of Charlie and lived close to the house Laura's parents bought on 41st and Y Streets. Charlie and Frank used to come down to visit Roy. One time Laura took Barbara to the California State Fair on Stockton Boulevard. She knew Charlie was there with 'the boys". Laura and Barbara rode the Ferris Wheel looking all around for the boys until finally she spotted them and accidentally ran into them. Laura and Charlie didn't really date, but Charlie would ride his bicycle over to the house and they would stand around and talk. When Mom and Dad Collis would go for their usual Sunday afternoon drive, Charlie would be invited whenever he was there. Neither Charlie's nor Laura's families had much of a social life. They didn't go to friend's houses for dinner nor socialize in any way. Their
backgrounds were similar and they felt comfortable together. They each felt that they didn't have many social skills.

When Charlie was in fire camp, probably when Laura was 17, he wrote a letter to Laura saying he was, "coming home for the weekend, and Let's go to a movie". Laura had never been to a movie. Mom had never allowed it. She decided to just face Mom and said, "Charlie's coming home and he wants me to go to the movies!" Mom didn't object. They went to see "The Moon is Blue". The folks were really. Mom was actively involved in the restrictive Nazarene religion. Skating, swimming, dancing, was not allowed. There was really no dating, going out somewhere. Going to church was allowed and Charlie would go to church with Laura every Sunday and Wednesday night. Mostly it was just out for a drive, then sitting in the car, talking. When Mom heard them come home, she would turn on the porch light. If they sat out there too long, she would flick the porch light. Then if they didn't get the message, the door would open. If they still didn't get the message she'd be knocking on the car window. Mom and Dad Collis instilled something in their chidren to help them develop strength of character. Whether it was fear or the fear of dissapointing them or wanting to be a good example for the rest of the children in the family, it worked.


When Charlie's brother, Bob, went into the service, Charlie inherited Bob's '35 Ford with a rumble seat. He would borrow his dad's T stamps for gas to get around. What fun for the kids, to ride in the rumble seat. Dad Just sold the Ford when Charlie went into the service in 1944. Laura and Charlie became engaged December 6, 1945, probably after a drive. They eloped on the 26th of January, 1946 by first taking a streetcar to the Greyhound bus station located in a really bad part of downtown Sacramento near 5th and I streets. They then took a Greyhound bus to Sparks, Nevada. They were married by a minister who pulled in his wife and a neighbor as witnesses. Charlie said, "They were married amongst strangers and have been living their lives that way, ever since." They chose Sparks because Charlie's sister Babe had eloped to Sparks and had stayed in an old railroad hotel there. Laura and Charlie stayed in the same hotel and said, "Think of the worst hotel you've ever stayed in, and then picture one worse.' They were smart enough to get out of there the next day and go to Reno. There were no big hotels, but the little hotel they stayed in in Reno was much nicer than Sparks. They had no money, but a few dimes. They went into one of the clubs. A lady was playing two machines. Laura watched her and the lady asked if she wanted to play one. Laura said she had a few dimes and put in a couple and hit a $37.50 Jackpot. The lady was quite mad, but Laura was quite delighted with her luck and didn't offer to share. That was a lot of money in those days. That was a highlight of their festivities. Someone took a picture of them on the bridge of the Truckee River. This is their only picture of their wedding trip. They had a picture taken in Sacramento a week later.
Laura had sent her parents a telegram from Reno saying that she and Charlie had eloped. Mom Collis was very angry when they came home. The reason is not really known. Perhaps her lack of insight into helping them to be married, perhaps in her concern over their future, or seeming lack thereof. At any rate she would always get up and go into the bedroom when Laura and Charlie came to visit. She would not talk to them. The newly weds were living with Charlie's parents at the time. Dad tried to talk to her, but she continued to go into the bedroom and not speak to them. Charlie finally talked to mom and told her that if she continued to act as she did, they wouldn't come to visit any more. That was the last time she did that. She finally accepted them. She later said that Charlie was wonderful. Laura and Charlie only lived with his parents a few months and then moved in with Charlie's sister, Edith. Laura was pregnant with Patricia, but before the baby was born, they moved in with Mom and Dad Collis. They moved into the back bedroom off the kitchen. Roy came home from the armed services and slept in the basement. Dad made a room down there. Patty was born and Laura and Charlie moved out to the family housing at Sacramento City College on Freeport Boulevard. Jimmy was born while they were there. Charlie was going to college and working nights at the Highway Patrol. Laura worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles as a key punch operator until Jim was born. Both the city college and the state college were on the same campus, so they lived there for four years while Charlie went to Junior College, then Sacramento State College..

One of the challenges of their early marriage was the time that Charlie wrecked their car. His burning the candle at both ends caught up to him and as he left for work, he was still sleeping. He ran a red light and crashed the Dodge he had bought and rebuilt with his mustering out pay, into two other cars. They had no insurance. Dad Just finally helped them pay off the debts of the two other cars. The worst part of the whole scenario was that a friend of Charlie's was a patrolman on the scene and gave Charlie a ticket for running a red light. They couldn't afford another car, so they got two bicycles. They went to the dump and got two broken down tailor tots. Charlie jury rigged the two tailor tots, for Patty and Jimmy, onto the back of the bikes. That was their transportation for quite a while.

Charlie was taking Education courses when he was a senior in college. He substituted at McClatchy High School and California Junior High and that convinced him that he didn't want to be a teacher. He changed to a pre-med major until he got into Chemestry. He worked harder at that class than all of the other classes and got a C.,so he changed to Law.
They finally moved to Berkeley to continue Charlie's education. Uncle Pete sold them his old Hudson. It had a tendancy to vapor lock (a wet clutch). The traffic on the road would back up for miles, as there was no freeway at that time. You would have to slow down for the traffic, and when you slowed down, you couldn't shift. They had to pull off the road and wait for early morning when there was no traffic. They first lived in some very awful government housing apartments in Albany. They later moved into a flat in a lovely old house in Alameda with great tall windows. Barbara and Tom were married by then and Tom was in the navy, stationed near by. They all lived together there with their children, Patty and Jimmy and Karen. Barbara and Charlie worked nights and Laura and Tom worked days. So the neighbors couldn't figure out who was with whom.

Times were very difficult financially through these college and law school years. Money was very tight. When they would go visit Charlie's parents in Sacramento, Charlie would ask his mother, "You don't happen to have any dirty old twenty dollar bills lying around, do you?" She always seemed to be able to find one. Mom and Dad Collis always brought a box or two of groceries when they came to visit on the weekends. Many times Laura said they would be down to their last twenty-five cents. Hamburger was 25 cents a pound. They hadn't had meat for awhile. They would buy a pound of hamburger because they knew Mom and Dad Collis were coming that weekend and would bring some groceries. A Godsend. When Patty got the chicken pox, Laura used up all her time off to be home with her. Then when Jimmy got the chicken pox there was no time off left, so they packed up the kids and took them to stay with Charlie's folks until they were well enough to go to child care. Without the help of their parents, Laura said they could not have made it.

There was no money for entertainment, so most of it was picnics in the park or at the river, camping, visiting Aunt Gladyce, lots of family gatherings. Most of the fun was with the family. There was a lot of struggle in their early years of marriage. Charlie graduated from Law School in 1953. They moved to Sacramento and Charlie's Dad, at age 83, built the first house they owned on Elvas Avenue. They adopted Carolyn, Charlie's neice. Carolyn's mother, Alice (called Babe), was Charlie's sister. When Carolyn was three years old her mother died. Carolyn went to live with her Aunt Ellen, another of Charlie's sisters. But Ellen died when Carolyn was 6 and Carolyn went to live with her grandma and grandpa Just, Charlie's parents. His parents were old by that time and Carolyn spent much time with Laura and Charlie, and finally came to live with them permanently when she was 10 years old.

Peggy was born about this time. Being 7 years younger than Jimmy, She had a lot more of her parent's time. Life was busy but with Charlie now working in his career as an attorney, life became a little less of a financial struggle.
They always had family time at night. They ate meals together and encouraged their children to talk. Charlie would read to the children every night. He was a very patient father. He would patiently help them with their homework even when they insisted it wasn't the right way. He would just wait until they were ready for his help. Many of the girls had friends who had a hard time growing up and spent a lot of time in the Just home. Laura and Charlie had a great influence in the lives of these youth as well as their own children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren.

They tried to instill a family closeness with their children. Holidays were important in their family. Their cabin at Strawberry on Highway 50 was a great gathering place for their family, and all of the family have great memories of being there. They always opened the cabin on Memorial Day, and closed it in October during the World Series. It was a great investment for their family unity.

Laura and Charlie bought and restored old homes in Sacramento for rentals for a while.
Laura loves to crochet and always has a project going. She took up oil painting for a while. Although Laura had worked through the years at various jobs and for quite some time for the Bank of America, she had really devoted her whole life to being a wife and mother. After the children were grown, on their own, and with families of their own, Laura decided she needed a diversion in her life and the opportunity arose to buy a beauty shop business to manage. Charlie fully supported her in this venture and even helped her remodel the shop. She rented out spaces to beauty operators. It was a very successful venture for 10 years.

They feel they can't claim credit for their accomplishments because so many people and incidents influenced their lives. "We make decisions in regards to our families and their needs". One accomplishment is the fact that they lived together relatively happily for 50 years, with health, a good family (all nice people), and a positive attitude.
Charlie loves moving rocks, and they bought the appropriate property in Auburn Lakes Trails. They feel the need to keep busy and prefer it to simply puttsing around. They have traveled to Europe (England, France), Tahiti. The Carribean, Mexico, They loved the small out of the way places and the feeling of history and wonderment of the areas, but they feel there are so many places to see in the United States., and even here in California. Their goal is to see some of these.
Laura admires Charlie's honesty, the support he gives her, and his ambition. He has many interests and activities. He is patient and think things through.

Her strength of character, her understanding and support for the things that he wants to do are the qualities in Laura that Charlie admires.
Their compatibility and common interests have led to 50 interesting and happy years.

Interview by Marilyn Parker, January 12, 1996

Laura has had back and hip pain for many years and was found to have a congenital problem with her spine. She had bladder cancer but had it taken care of in the early stage.

Date: Tue, May 24, 2011 9:52 pm (email from Peggy)
Today Mom had a consultation with a rheumatologist and he made a preliminary diagnosis of polymyositis, an autoimmune disease. They will do a muscle biopsy sometime tomorrow to confirm it. The biopsy requires general anesthesia, so she's spending one more night in the hospital, hopefully coming home tomorrow (Wednesday). Mom also had an MRI today, and that may provide more diagnostic information.
Treatment of polymyositis is with prednisone - high doses to start, then lowering the dose as the symptoms dissipate. Of course, prednisone has some unpleasant side effects, so Mom is struggling a bit with the information. And other medications may be part of the mix too, we'll have to see.
The Mayo Clinic has good information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/polymyositis/DS00334
Thanks for all your good wishes, Mom really appreciates having such wonderful family and friends.

update: Dec 2011. Laura is doing much better and is planning to move home from Escaton on Douglass Blvd. to her Roseville home in mid Jan 2012. She now has diabitis and blood clots and still has polymyositis. She is still on Prednazone and blood thinner.

Subject: news about Mom - Laura Just Date: Mon, May 21, 2012 3:12 pm
Dear family, just wanted to let you know that Mom took a terrible fall Saturday, outside her home. She fell backwards onto the sidewalk, hitting her head and fracturing her skull. The impact caused serious bleeding in her brain which worsened overnight, although the medical staff did what they could to stop it. Mom is not expected to improve and is receiving comfort care. She is unconscious but the rest of her vital signs are good, so she could pass away quickly or it could take some time.
If you'd like to visit, right now she's at Kaiser Roseville, in room 1006. Please don't feel obligated, however; she is unconscious and totally unresponsive. If you'd rather keep your current memory of her we totally understand.
She will not be at Kaiser for long, so (after today) be sure to call the hospital before you go to be sure she's still there: (916) 784-4000. We're still planning the next steps, I'll send an update when that has been decided. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Love, Peg .

Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 9:09 am
Dear family - Mom died peacefully this morning. We'll keep you posted as we make plans. Thank you to all who forwarded my earlier message, and to everyone who came by to visit.
Love, Peg

Laura married Charles Paul JUST on 26 Jan 1946 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada, United States. Charles (son of Charles Robert JUST and Ethel ANGUS) was born on 27 Dec 1925 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States; died on 16 Oct 2004 in Roseville, Placer, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Physical Description: 5'5" light brown hair
• FamilySearch Id: M75P-CTZ
• Occupation: retired from Honeywell Corp.
• _MARNM: Alexander
• _UID: 234B56F37C0B26498E273FBA19B74683F42B

Notes:

California Birth Index, 1905-1995 Record
Name: Barbara Jean Collis
Birth Date: 20 Nov 1930
Gender: Female
Mother's Maiden Name: Sherman
Birth County: San Joaquin

Barbara Jean Collis was the third child born to Russell and Bertha Collis. She was born November 20, 1930. Her parents were living in Brentwood at the time but went to Dammeron Hospital in Stockton for Barbara's birth. Perhaps Russell was influenced by his cousin, Langley Collis, who was a doctor in Stockton, and Stockton is only about 30 miles from Brentwood along the Sacramento River. They were listed in the California Voter Registration in 1926-28 in Stockton, 5th Ward, 8th Precinct at Horace Ave and Anderson. Russell is listed as a bench hand Russell had worked there before as a pipe fitter and was familiar with the area. When traveling the levee road between Brentwood and Stockton, Bertha had to lean her head out of the car window and tell Russell which way to turn. Bertha couldn't decide between the name of Betty and Barbara (after Betty Davis and Barbara Stanwyck). She decided on Barbara. However, the recorder must have become tired of waiting because it was discovered later when Barbara was 14 and tried to get her work permit, that the birth certificate gave the name as Betty. It was officially changed back to Barbara.

In 1932, when Barbara was eighteen months old, her family moved to the state of Washington to a little town named Thera. Bertha's parents lived close by in Diamond. The family moved into an old converted grain warehouse where Russell became manager and was responsible for loading the sacks of wheat onto the elevator that took them up into the waiting boxcars. Russell would often let the children hitch a ride on top of the sacks of wheat as they ascended up to the boxcars. Barbara remembers rollerskating the length of that warehouse. This was an especially useful vehicle when needing to use the bathroom at the far end of the warehouse. For her 4th birthday her mother bought a doll and tied a string to it. Her mother gave Barbara the other end of the string. She had to follow that string which wandered back and forth through the warehouse, until she came to the doll.

Barbara remembers that sometime during her childhood she could not sleep on her left side or the pigs would bite her ears. Why? She's not sure.

Her mother told the story of the gypsies that traveled through the area. They tried to buy Barbara. Thank goodness the folks weren't that desperate for money. There is also the story that someone gave her the runt lamb of the flock., which she cared for and loved.

Barbara started the first grade in Endicott, near Thera. They lived in Thera about five years then moved to Colfax, Washington, where she finished first grade and continued through 5th grade. Barbara walked with her brother, Roy, and sister, Laura, about 3 miles down the road to school in Colfax. Sometimes unbeknownst to their mother, they walked the shortcut over the railroad trestle. When Barbara asked Roy what they would do if a train came, He replied, "We would drop down and hang below by our hands". Scary thought! After the first year a bus picked them up. When it snowed, Mom would have to go push them up the hill to the road where the bus was waiting. Barbara spent most of her young years on the farm in Colfax, then moved to Sacramento when she was 10 years old.

One day on her way to Rancho Market Barbara found $50 in the empty lot. Mom had always instilled in her children complete honesty and the idea to never keep anything that didn't belong to them. Barbara took the money to the Market and told them where she had found it. Later a sailor claimed it. It was his mustering out pay. He was so relieved to get it back, he gave her a $5 reward. That was a lot of money to a young kid at that time. and $50 was a lot of money to an adult.

As a teenager Barbara was active in the youth group of the Nazarene church. She attended a church youth camp by Santa Cruz when she was about 16. During her high school years, she had the responsibility to care for her younger brother and two sisters after school as her mother was working. She never minded that responsibility as it just seemed her contribution as a family member. She worked at the Carnation Ice Cream Company restaurant on Stockton Boulevard, just up the street from our home. She told me a story about one time when she was waitressing and cooking. A man came in and ordered his meal. When he finished eating, she asked him what he would like for dessert. He said, "you". She said she wasn't dessert, she was the main course. He laughed and left her a $5 tip. Who but Barb could think that fast.

She graduated from Sacramento High School in 1948. Barbara worked for the Federal Veteran's Administration for a year after graduation from High School. She then attended Sacramento Jr. College, graduating with a AA degree in Social Science. After graduation she worked for the California Highway Patrol coding accident reports.

Barbara met Tom Alexander in March 1951 on a blind date. He came to Sacramento with her girlfriend's boyfriend. They went to the boy's house and he asked if he could mix her a drink. When she said, "No. Thank you," he said, "the only other thing we have is milk." She replied that she would have a glass of milk. They then went on a beerbust on the banks of the Sacramento river under a bridge.Tom was an eighteen year old sailor in the U S Navy.. The others at the party seemed to disperse here and there, so Barb and Tom lay on a blanket under the railroad trestle and talked. Tom was a complete gentleman. He did not make any passes and this appealed to Barbara. They courted through the mail as Tom was sent to sea near Japan and Korea shortly after they met. They married in March 1952. Right after the wedding, Tom was shipped over seas and Barbara worked and lived with her parents. Her mother didn't know that Tom was Catholic and was disappointed to find that out. It's hard to figure this out, since Mom at one time had attended Catholic school. Bertha loved Tom, however, and had a good relationship with him throughout the years.

When Tom's ship sailed back to California, Barbara went to Berkeley to meet him in November of 1952. Barbara was about 8 1/2 months pregnant. They drove back to Barbara's sister's house, (Laura and Charlie Just), and then Barbara's water broke. They had to turn around and go back to Oaknoll Hospital in Oakland, where their first child, Karen, was born. They found an army barrack at Mare Island to live in and stayed there for 3 months while the ship was in dry dock. They then lived in government housing in Berkeley for a while. Tom was shipped out so Barbara and the baby returned to Sacramento where Barbara lived in a cement block house with Laura and Charlie.

When Tom's ship came back into port, They moved into a beautiful stately old home in Alameda with Laura and Charlie. The home had been made into 2 apartments. Charlie was attending Law School at UC Berkeley. During the daytime, Barb would stay home with Karen and the two Just children, Charlie attended law school, Laura would go to work at the Bank, and Tom would usually be at sea. Laura worked at the bank. At night time Barbara would go to work, Chrlie would go to work, Laura would stay home with the children, and if Tom was not at sea, he would also be at home. The downstairs neighbors had difficulty keeping track of who was married to whom.

Tom was soon transferred to Hawaii, so Barb and Tom then moved to Hawaii. Hawaii was an expensive place to live and Barbara was pregnant with Kathy most of the time they were there. Hawaii is not a fun place to live while pregnant and poor. It seemed that whenever she hung the wash on the line to dry, it would rain. After rushing out to take it down a few times, Barbara learned to just leave it there to dry eventually. Their second child, Kathleen, was born in September of 1954 in Hawaii.

When Tom got out of the navy, they lived for a time in Sacramento on 24th Street and then moved to Phoenix because his father was sick. Linda, their third child was born there in December of 1955. They bought a house and then rented it out and moved back to Sacramento because Barbara was homesick and Tom was frustrated with his job. Karen attended first grade at a Catholic school on Y Street. They lived in Sacramento 6 months before moving to Milpitis because they had friends there who thought they could help Tom find a job that he would be happy in. They could not qualify financially for housing and so lived with their friends, Gene and Bernita, for 6 months. Tom worked for the city of Milpitis water department. Barbara babysat in exchange for rent.

Tom's dad developed a heart condition and because Tom was an only child and felt he needed to be support for his mother, they moved back to Phoenix into the house they owned at 8121 North 29th Drive. In 1955 Barbara worked at Goodyear Aerospace as a "girl Friday" for 28 engineers. She answered phones, typed, and filed. The company made blimps and componants for airplanes. She worked days for about nine months but with Tom working nights, it made life difficult, so she quit. She only made $50 per week and paid her babysitter $25 per week. Figure the math.

Michael Thomas, "Tommy", was born in Phoenix at Phoenix General Hospital in August 1960. Dr. Hatch was Barbara's doctor, but he didn't make it to the delivery. Dr. Hatch was a cowboy and Tom painted a picture of his two horses to pay the doctor bill.

Barbara was a stay at home mom until Tommy went to school then went to work for GE in 1967. Honeywell bought out GE and Barbara worked as an insurance adjuster with Honeywell information Systems in Phoenix until she retired in June of 1986.

In early 2005 Barbara and Tom were both diagnosed with aortic aneurisms. Tom's was in the groin area and was repaired with surgery in February. Barbara's was a little more complicated as she had a weak heart and they discovered the lump in her neck was a tangle of veins, which may have been congenital from birth. Barb underwent a heart catheterizaton test the 24th of Novemberat the test request of the med staff in Houston, the experts in this field, who wanted a look at her heart/aorta from the inside. Turns out Barb experienced a mini-stroke after the procedure and had to spend 4 days in the hospital. She shed all stroke symptoms and was feeling better every day, but with little energy. They went to Houston around mid NOV for consultation with Dr. Coselli, the leading expert in surgical procedures involving the aorta. Local surgeons would not touch the descending aorta where it is involved with the spine, hence, Houston comes into play as they have the trained and experienced teams and facilities readily available.
She recovered from the TIA very well, but they found that her left carotid artery iwas 50% blocked and she had a weak heart that pumped only 35% of the blood that it should. Barbara and Tom went to the specialist in Texas who said he could not operate as the risk was too great because her heart was weak and there was a great chance she could have a stroke or heart attack during surgery. Barbara's heart seemed to improve and she said she was feeling good and could do most everything that she wanted to do.

Barbara died on Friday, 26 June 2009. Even though we knew it a very real possibility with her many health problems, it still comes as a shock. She had been having a nagging pain in her back and Tom had questioned her thouroughly to see if she was all right. She did not want to go to the doctor and said she would be fine. Tom was gone to pick up some printing from the printers just a short time. When he returned home, he found her on the floor by his chair seemingly reaching for the phone. He was devastated that he was not there with her. Perhaps she picked her time. She seemed to have been preparing in retrospect. She had spent a most satisfying day with her family on Mother's Day. On Thursday, the day before she died, she called me (Marilyn) and we had a nice long talk. She asked me if I knew what glass eggs were. I told her all I could think of was the Ukranian painted eggs. She said she thought she should call and share this with me. When she was young, Mom would soft boil eggs, break them in a glass, (we supposed she didn't have any small bowls), add lemon juice and salt and pepper. They would then dip their toast in the egg. I remember the soft boiled egg with lemon juice but not in a glass. Perhaps by then Mom had small bowls. I still love them that way. Barbara wanted me to know that information. Looking back on our conversation, it seems a little ironic. She then called Darlyne and they had a nice talk.There were many little things that seemed to indicate her preparation. Basically, though, she had been preparing since the day she found out the dire circumstances of her health. She accepted it and lived every day the best she could. She didn't have a lot of strength and endurance, so she would clean a little and then rest a little. She was happy. She loved the way Tom took care of her. He would hold her hand when she walked anywhere to make sure she wouldn't fall. She and Tom gave each other a meaningful hug and kiss each morning; grateful for each day they could spend together. She was happy and upbeat her whole life.

The day before Barbara died, she told Tom that she had called each one of her sisters and daughters. I'm sure she knew that her time was close. She had had a pain behind her shoulder blade for the last week. It was getting stronger. Tom was concerned and asked her several time if she would go see the doctor. She insisted that she would not go to the doctor. They both knew the inevitable, that the annuerism in her aorta could give out at any time. Tom went to pick up some flyers from the printer and said he would only be gone for half an hour. When he returned home, he found her on her knees by his chair reaching for the phone. Although he knew it was in vain, he started CPR. That only pumped more blood out. The paramedics came and continued the CPR for a short time. The autopsy showed it was indeed the aortic annuerism that had given out. Barbara was 78 years old



28 JUL 2k5 Dear Marilyn & Ron....We just got back from the frozen north country and have finally warmed up a bit. 'Twas nice seeing the family in Puget Sound, SLO, Roseville and Cool. All seems well so far even tho Laura is still struggling, she does seem to be coping OK. The rest o' the mob is still the same and were glad of that. Also glad to hear things are going well on your mssion. Very nice that your weather is cooperating at this point and we wish you a successful completion and safe return home. Angus Augustus Menish, the boy angel, was perfect except that his internal organs were all jammed in his chest allowing no room for his lungs to expand. His situation was too severe for the med team at U of Washington to handle. He was taken off life support a day and half after birth permitting his reentry into heaven, his mission on earth accomplished. He came at a time of serious family strife and estrangement and the discovery of his affliction, while still in the womb, brought Linda's little family back together again, as it should be. He came. He did his job. He went back. And he went back with a load of earthly love from all his family. Linda is prepping a garden in her back yard in his memory and Barb and I bought a cherub statue for the garden. His parents will decide on his ashes in the future. We know you will be anxious to get home, but if you can swing it, be sure to drop in on us Desert Rats for a little visit. 'Twould be fun, again....Love....Barb 'n' Tom

Barbara married Samuel "Thomas" ALEXANDER on 8 Mar 1952 in Reno, Washoe, Nevada, United States. Samuel (son of Salvatore Augostino ALESSANDRA or ALEXANDER and Frances Paula Antoinette DIMARIA or DEMARIA) was born on 7 Nov 1932 in Rochester, Monroe, New York, United States; died on 30 Sep 2019 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in Veterans Cemetery, Phoenix. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Physical Description: light brown hair, med build
• FamilySearch Id: M75P-CTD
• _UID: F2994380B2514D4EAACE6848012A0CD41F0C

Notes:

Stanley Richard Collis is the 4th child of Bertha and Russell Collis. He was born February 2, 1935 in Thera, Washington. Thera was just outside of Colfax 1.5 miles toward Endicott, and near Diamond. The family was living in a converted grain warehouse beside the railroad track at the time, as Russell was of the warehouse and in charge of loading the sacks of wheat onto the elevator which took them up and into the railroad cars. The warehouse has been long since been torn down.

Bertha and Russell and their children had previously lived in Brentwood, California, where Russell had been born and raised during his younger years. They moved to Washington when Russell's mother lost the ranch in Brentwood to Foreclosure. Bertha's mother and step-father lived in Diamond, Washinton, and that is where Bertha and Russell met. So when the ranch was lost, they returned to Washington.

When Stan was about 2 years of age, the family moved to Colfax and lived on the little ranch inherited by Roy Lamb, Bertha's step-father. This ranch was located 3 miles outside of Colfax on the road toward Diamond. Russell was working in the wheat fields and Bertha cooked for the workers and for the highway crew.

(From: Stanley Collis
To: marlparker@aol.com
Sent: Sun, Feb 6, 2011 10:41 am

Thanks. So far so good. Do you know when we moved from the grainery to the farm? Were you born on the farm? I actually remember the day we left the farm for California, but I don't remember much else except my playhill and the tractor. I droove it into a ditch. Dad put a can over the exhaust to keep rain out. It blew off when he started the tractor)

Stan was 6 years old when the family moved to Sacramento, California, where Russell's sister, Gladyce, lived. The farm had sold and there wasn't much work around Colfax. Stan attended Coloma School when they lived with Gladyce.

Stan attended elementary and junior high schools in Sacramento and graduated from Sacramento Senior High School in 1953. He attended Sacramento State College where he received his BA degree in Mathematics in 1963. He received a Master's degree in 1974 in Court Administration at the Institute for Court Management. He also is a fellow of the Institute for Court Management at Denver Colorado.
Stan served as a data processing procedure writer for the Fifth Army in Chicago Illinois. He worked for the State of California in various data processing roles for more than sixteen years before becoming a co-founder in System Dynamics Inc., a consulting firm specializing in criminal justice data processing. He developed the first on-line criminal justice information system in the country and served as a consultant to the F.B.I. in their development of the National Crime Information Center.
After serving three years as Chief of Criminal Justice Systems for the CIty/County of San Francisco, he took a position as Executive Assistant to the Presiding Judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. Then went to the San Mateo County Court. He retired in 1993 from the San Mateo County Court.
His hobbies were carpentry, skiing, and car building, but now mostly consist of golf and wine collecting.

Stan died quietly sitting in his chair at home at 9:00 on Wednesday, 23 November, 2016. The Hospice doctor had visited that morning and said he had only a couple more day. Stan had been in the hospital with aspiration Pneumonia and then spent a month in a nursing home to strengthen his legs. He had been home a month or 2 and found out he had throut cancer. there was no treatment given as he was already weak and had several health issues. No service of any kind will be held. He was cremated.

Note from Carol, Nov 24, 2016, "Stan passed away last night here at home. He was sitting peacefully in his favorite chair and quietly went to sleep. He had been home for two months from the rehabilitation facility and wanted to die at home. He was diagnosed with throat cancer last month, and his health seemed to decline rapidly. He was depressed that he wasn't going to get better. He did not want any service, so Julie and I are honoring his wishes. "

Stanley married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 47BD27A5112A2542B91385FC217EA764696B

Notes:

California Death Index, 1940-1997 Record
Name: MITCHELL, JOHN WILLIAM
Social Security #: 550426213
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 7 Jan 1932
BirthPlace: CALIFORNIA
Death Date: 30 Nov 1989
Death Place: SACRAMENTO
Mother's Maiden Name: KASDORF

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]