My Grandparents, Harold Murphy and Loretta Murlin met around 1941 at a roller skating rink. At first they were only acquaintences, then friends. She was dating another guy and they were not getting along well, so my Grandpa made an obvious and friendly suggestion: “quit dating him – and better yet, start dating me”. And so it began…
Of course, being war time and my Grandpa being eighteen, he was drafted into the service. In March of 1943, he began his basic training and was shipped off to Denver, Colorado. This imposed a potential crimp in their new relationship, so they decided to get married. This way, he would not have to worry about losing her when he was sent to Europe.
They were married on September 13, 1943 at a 4:00 pm Catholic mass in the chapel at Lowry Field in Denver. He had a serviceman named Harry Notley Jr. with whom he had become friends, stand in as best man. Grandma didn’t have any friends with her, so the priest grabbed a nearby WAC named Helen Krauskopf and she became the maid of honor. Both the bride and groom had their Mothers present and Grandma Murphy had to sign her agreement to the marriage. In Colorado, the man had to be at least 21 in order to get married without his parents’ permission. Grandma and Grandpa were both 19 at the time.
Just seventeen days after the wedding, Grandpa was shipped to Europe. He did not return home until July of 1945. In the meantime, Grandma had returned to Dayton to live with her Mother and await her husband’s return. He moved in with Grandma and her Mom and upon his release from the service in October, he took a job at International Tool. Grandma worked at McCall’s.
They had waited to start their family until his return, so when he returned, they began working on it almost immediately. On April 11, 1946, their first child Diana Lee was born. Grandma and Grandpa ended up with five children and 62 years of wonderful marriage before her passing in January of 2006.
To see the accompanying posting on my other Grandparents, click here.
To see the Murphy wedding photo and certificate, click here.
This is very good and mostly truthful. I will be waiting for any additions.
Harold E. Murphy
January 24th, 2007