Notes for Ferol Marie O'Heron: I asked my mother to write me a letter and tell me about "her", this is what she had to say:
I was born the fifth child of Crystal Irene Oheron and William Martin Oheron in Marion, Indiana on Landes Street. My grandparents lived on Boots Street in Marion. We moved to Anderson when I was a year or two old. We lived on Wheeler Ave. near St Mary's Church. Kenny, Margaret and Helen went to school at that time. Dad went to work at Guide Lamp as a toolmaker, his first job was for the railroad. We went to buy a house on Broadway and Dad dug a basement and filled in the yard and we had a happy childhood, had 1/2 acre there and had a cow, a pony, chickens , a big garden and a large grape harbor. Marg and I were very close, we played cowboys with Jack and Dick Craig. They were the neighbors at that time.
During that time I missed 6 months of school so St Mary's held me back a full year so I was in Martha Finley's grade with her. That summer Dad bought a bicycle for us girls and being the baby, I got the first ride. I went down the driveway, fell and broke my arm. I started 5th grade with my arm in a cast. One week before school was out, I was pushed off a neighbor's slide, Paul Yates, and broke the other arm. Spent 8 weeks in a cast. Marg and I liked to catch butterflies and mount them with candle wax, black and yellow spiders too. We played alot of softball and I was hit in the nose with a ball and broke it. We played alot of games and tag. Paul Yates was playing tag and his fingernail broke off in my left eye. I didn't know if I would ever have good sight in it, but I was lucky. It just left scar tissue for awhile.
We then needed a bigger house as all three girls were in the same bedroom and Kenny had a small room on our enclosed front porch. Right before we were to move there was a bad wreck on Broadway right in front of our house and a young boy lost his life. He died on our front yard.
We moved to 3rd Street to be close to Mother's work. We lived just three houses from there. I had a close friend by the name of Sybil. Dad went into raising rabbits, not to eat, but to breed. We had about 35 of them and one night someone stole them. We got some back, but not all. He stopped rasing them then. We lived on 3rd Street until I was in my freshman year. We then moved to Nelle Street right off of Nichole Avenue. It was a nice brick home. I walked to Anderson High School when I was in 10th grade. Marg and Helen got married that year in a double wedding. Kenny had gotten married to Katie while we lived in North Anderson. This is the year I started skating at Pues Skating Rink. That is where I met Ethel Hoover. She was quite a bit older than I was, but being raised by older sisters while my mother worked, I acted alot older than most of the kids in my class. The summer after my 10th grade, I was sixteen and did alot of bicycle riding. Ethel and I went on double dates. She wanted me to meet her brother Bob, but he worked nights at Remys' as a toolmaker aprentice and it was kind of hard to find the time. In late summer, she fixed it up for us to go to Spring Mills Park with her boyfriend driving, so Bob could sleep in the back seat of the car and we would take a picnic lunch. He didn't know what I looked like so he wasn't to thrilled to go. He made Ethel call me to check on what I would fix for lunch so he could see me before he would say for sure if he would go. He knew Ethel ran around with a big fat girl friend and he didn't believe her when she told him I was small. After that meeting he made the date for the next weekend and we had a grand time and started dating. With his work and me in school, we dated on week ends, but he didn't see me too much because he had a girl friend by the name of Johnny who went to Ball State. I skated and dated other people so he started coming by Anderson High School to pick me up and we would go out for a hot dog before he went to work. After Christmas he asked me to go steady, but Johnny came home for the Holidays and wanted to see him. When he told me, I said goodbye, see you around and wouldn't date him. He still came to school and I walked home. I didn't see him for awhile, but later he bought a ring and asked me to marry him. So on June 20th, 1942, we tied the knot at St Mary's Church Rectory with Father Travis. Margaret and Francis were going to stand up with us, but she had a baby ( Bill) on the 19th, so Helen and Mother stood up for us instead. Bob's family wasn't very happy with this match because I was Catholic and Esther told his mother that Catholics did alot of strange things, so they said they wouldn't come, but they did.
We had a half a double house on Alex Pike. It was a one bedroom, very small , but cute.. It had a basement, kitchen, living room, bath and a garage. We like it fine. Bob got a ride to work so I could have the car and bowl with Ethel. The next spring the rains came and the river came out of it's banks and surrounded our house. Bob came home about midnight one night and it was cold so he went down in the basement to stoke the furnace and nearly fell in a basement full of water. That morning it started to go completely around the house, so we packed up and called a mover. We had a gas stove and when they came out to unhook it, the man wouldn't wade in the water, so Bob carried him in to read the meter. We departed and stored our furniture and stayed at Mother's house on Nelle Street for a few weeks until we found another half double on McKinley. It had two large bed rooms up stairs and a living room, dining room, kitchen, garage and a basement, but it was far away from the river. By this time Bob was out of his apprenticeship and the War was about to recruit all young men. I decided to go to work before Bob was called up. I got a job at Guide Lamp. Bob was put on deferment because he was needed for war production. I started working on the small machine gun at Guide. We both worked 6-7- days a week, so we didn't see much of each other. I was getting pretty run down, but couldn't quit because Bob was called up again and had to leave. I stayed until he was sent to Dallas, Texas. Mother stored my furniture up stairs at Nelle Street and I stayed with them until Bob found a place to put me in Dallas. I took the train there and nearly collapsed from fatigue. I rested for a couple of weeks and then we found a furnished apartment in Dallas and Bob moved off base. We loved it there. We lived near the college and it was so pretty. We didn't have much money, but we window shopped and took walks. Mother and Dad came down for three days and they liked it too. We had a good visit. We lived there over a year and Bob's group was due to ship out over seas. I didn't have any idea where. He was sent to Calf and I went home and lived with Mother a few weeks. Helen's husband, Les Aldridge, went into the Sea Bees, so she moved in to Mothers too. I couldn't remain there, Helen and Mother were too close and I was miserable. I moved in with Margaret who had two kids and Fran was in Calf in the Navy. Bob went over seas and I went to work at McCory's five and dime store uptown. I got $20.00 take home pay for 6 days work, 9-5 on week days, 9-9 on weekends. Marg and I had a good time. I traveled every day on the city bus.
The war ended and your dad came home and we bought a house on Brown Street in Meadowbrook. Mike was born there and so were you. We needed a three bedroom house so we bought another house on Brown Street across 38th Street. There was a dump across the street for years. It smelled bad, but we like the house. Helen Myers lived next door, divorced with 2 boys who you played with.................
Mom ended the letter there, intended to finish it, but never did.
More About Ferol Marie O'Heron: Date born 2: 04 Mar 19252701 Burial: 13 Apr 2005, Maplewwod Cemetery, Anderson, In. Died 2: 20052701 Obituary: 12 Apr 2005, Anderson Herald Bulletin. Social Security Number 1: 306-24-4376.2702 Social Security Number 2: 306-24-4376.2703 SSN issued: Indiana.2703, 2704
More About Ferol Marie O'Heron and Robert Floyd Hoover: Marriage: 20 Jun 1942, Marion, Indiana.
Children of Ferol Marie O'Heron and Robert Floyd Hoover are:
Ferol Marie O'Heron (b. 04 Mar 1925, d. 11 Apr 2005)
Notes for Ferol Marie O'Heron: