My Grandma Margaret O'Neil Johnson's half-brother, Dale Isaac Walters passed away last week of natural causes. He was the only son of Raymond Walters and Auretta Empey [O'Neil] before they divorced. (She remarried and had my Grandma Margaret and Uncle Bob.) Dale's maternal grandparents helped raise him after the divorce. At the age of 19, the military became a large part of his life. He "beat the draft by one day," he used to say, enlisting in the United States Army for three years, and then serving in the U.S. Air Force for 17 years. I learned at his viewing that he was a driver, carrying many military personnel and officers.A few Thanksgivings ago, I did a mini family history interview with him to find out more about his life. He surprised me by saying he had been married three times. (I hadn't known about the first, who apparently returned to her ex-husband after divorcing Uncle Dale).
He married Paula Turnbull in 1962. She later passed away on July 13, 1996. They lived much of their lives in Wenatchee, Washington. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and loved to talk about his experiences in Japan and other places.
Dale briefly remarried in 2007, and after that he stayed with his half-brother Uncle Bob for a while and then his half-sister Grandma Margaret Johnson.
 |
| Uncle Bob holding the family photo (Uncle Dale is on the left in the photo). |
 |
| They were both teases. |
 |
| Uncle Dale and his sister, Grandma Margaret Johnson |
No comments:
Post a Comment