January 17, 2014

Oroville Mercury Register
August 29, 1946
Aunt Given Guardianship of Baby Orphaned By Lake Pyramid Tragedy
Guardianship of Patricia Aileen Evans, 9 months old whose parents and two brothers drowned in a boat accident on Pyramid Lake, Nevada, July 14, was awarded to Mrs. T. J. Keen of Biggs in Superior Court this morning. Mrs. Keen is a sister of the child’s late mother. Patricia was left on shore with D. T. McDonald of Paradise, an uncle, when the child’s parents left for the boat ride. He was given the mother’s watch and wedding ring for safekeeping and told by her to “take good care of the baby until I get back.” McDonald’s 15 year old sister, Mary, also was lost in the accident. J. W. Evans, 27 of Paradise, the child’s father, was an army veteran of Okinawa and Korea. The mother, who was 25, and two other children, Larry, 4, and Kenneth, 2 were also lost when a sudden storm overturned the boat. O. L. Wolford of Hurlong, Nev., employer of Evans’ was another victim in the accident; Mr. Evans had been working at Hurlong. Mr. and Mrs. Keen have no children of their own. Present in the courtroom with them were J. M. Evans of Paradise, grandfather of the baby: Mrs. Ethel Buel of Paradise grandmother of the baby and D. T. McDonald. Mrs. Alta D. Hengy represented the Keens. Oroville Mercury Register August 29, 1946 New Members Initiated at VFW Meeting. Initiation ceremonies were held for four new members of the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars Post No. 1747, at a meeting Wednesday evening at Memorial Hall. Those received into membership were; Robert Meriam, Albert Kudrna, Lester Peters and Stanley Shaner. Veterans terminal leave applications were distributed and the procedure in filling out the blanks explained. A social hour with the auxiliary followed the business meeting.

Stu – Robert Meriam is the father of my friend Gene Merriam who knows all about the Gold and Gold Dredges of Oroville.

Stu’s Notes:
I ran the sad story of the little Patricia Aileen Evans girl because I guess she should be remembered along with her father who served his country in WWII and of course the rest of her family. America was very involved at Okinawa but I have yet to read that we went into Korea in WWII. My uncle Stanley went to England sometime in 1943 and into France soon after D-Day. He ended up in Reims France. When in England he told me he met the Queen, but like a lot of men he never talked about the horrors that he saw in the war. He was a “Great” Uncle to me. I was lucky to live next to him.

Last week in this column I thanked Phil Ravert for the information he gave me about Oroville’s WWI soldier who left his mark on a church wall in France. Phil has a Butte County Historical Society Diggin’s coming out in February, Well I said it was about the Odd Fellows Home that was two blocks from my house, I was wrong, His Diggin’s booklet story is about the Banks of Oroville 1856-1956. I saw some of what he has collected about the many Oroville banks through the years, it’s an unbelievable collection. If you don’t know what a Diggin’s booklet is, it’s a must see for anyone who loves the history of Butte county, they are a small booklet I would say, covered by a hard cardboard like material. Each cover has a very unique picture of some of what’s inside. Each one contains about 20 or more pages. Some books cover only one or two subjects. Some have more. All are full of many pictures of Butte Counties Past. Jim Lenoff did one for me that contains many stories and pictures of Butte Counties hero’s, our veterans. The first one came out in 1957; the Diggin’s editor then was James Lenoff. Jim came up with the name Diggin’s because the society members were “digging for history” and “diggin’s” is what the gold miners called their claim. Think of a historical fact that happened in Butte County and it’s probably in a past Diggin’s. Four have come out every year since 1957. And to think you can buy any back issue, we have them for sale at our museum that is on Spencer and Baldwin, just look for the Big Building with white old Southern Columns on a pie shaped piece of land. The summer edition Vol 39, No 2 1995 has a story about the famous “Chuck” Yeager and the young Oroville high school grad Glennis Dickhouse that he married when the war was over in 1945. He was a lucky man, in War and finding such a wonderful lady here in Oroville. The current editor of the Diggin’s is Nancy Brower. To join the Butte County Historical Society only costs $35 for a family a year just send it to P.O. Box 2195 Oroville, California 95965, with your membership you get copies of the Diggin’s as they are printed throughout the year and a monthly newsletter. The Society is lucky to have Lucy Sperlin from Chico, she is a big part of the archives on Thursdays and Fridays which are open to all and usually at the museum on Saturday’s open 11-3PM for a two dollar donation.