In 1936 both of my Grandparents on my Dad’s side were working for Standard Register in Dayton, Ohio. This is where they met one another and began dating. My Grandfather Francis was living alone in an apartment on Detzen Rd. and my Grandmother Mary Ellen Cline was living with her older sister Marie. They dated for nearly a year before my Grandfather proposed, and after that there was only a short waiting period before they were married.
Because Standard at that time didn’t allow married couples to work in their employ, these wily youngsters decided to apply for the marriage license in Xenia, thinking that the news of their marriage wouldn’t leak into the local Dayton newspapers – and therefore they wouldn’t be ‘found out’ at work. Unfortunately, that plan went awry when the announcement did, in fact, wind up in the local paper. My Grandma was forced to resign her position at Standard. It wasn’t long before the company changed their policy, but as it turns out, the timing wasn’t all that bad anyway. It would be less than a year after their wedding that she would become pregnant.
Francis and Mary Ellen were married on December 11, 1937 by a Justice of the Peace in Dayton. They had friends from work stand up for them and act as witnesses to the ceremony. Performing the duties of Maid-of-Honor was Marie Schreck and the Best Man was Ernest Andrews. Following their marriage, they moved into Grandpa’s apartment and then shortly thereafter purchased their first house on Patterson Rd. They would remain there until 1943, when they purchased the house on Union in which my Dad grew up.
By the time they were married, they were both in the latter part of their twenties, so they weren’t exactly the crazy kids indicated in the title. I picture both of them as rather simple, kind folks raised in traditional, religious homes with a strong work ethic. Of course, I never met my Grandfather, as he passed away in 1963, but from pictures and stories as related by my Grandmother and his sons, I think I have a pretty good picture of his personality. Although short in stature (he was 5’5″), he was always standing tall and his face generally indicated a stern demeanor – but I sense that he was always friendly and enjoyed the company of others. Perhaps my Dad and Uncle Bill can comment further…
There aren’t a great deal of photos of my paternal Grandparents taken before my Uncle Bill’s birth on July 22, 1939, but there are a couple of interesting ones here. The shot at right shows them posing with Virgil and Irene Davidson. Irene was my Grandma’s niece, the daughter of her sister Marie. Below is a great shot taken circa 1937, presumedly before their marriage, on my Great-Grandma’s farm. Pictured left to right are Francis, Mary Ellen, Helen, Great-Grandma Katie, Adrian, and Chuck – all of them sharing my last name. Katie was the mother of Francis and Adrian, and Chuck was the son Adrian and Helen.
To see the accompanying posting on my other Grandparents, click here.
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