Dad worked very hard to provide for his family through the difficult times of the depression. After they married, they settled in Myrtle Springs, Texas where he tried farming and any work that was available in the dust laden communities around where they lived. He worked shortly for the railroad, but eventually the land and the work played out. The second child was born in 1936 and the family needed to be fed.

 President Roosevelt had started the 'New Deal' and dad signed up. Times were hard. There were a hundred men looking for the same job and people were starving all over the country.

In 1937 Dad moved his family to  American Falls, Idaho where he worked on the Dam project for American Elevator. The family moved twice again to Pendleton, then Hermiston, Oregon where his grand parents and uncles lived. Three more children were born, then he moved the family to Washington State where the family lived in Walla Walla where Claude owned a cabinet shop. Shortly after, he was offered the job as superintendent of Carpenter's for the Handford Project and better pay. The family also lived in Opportunity, Washington outside of Spokane where I was born. Very shortly after we moved to Pasco, Washington.

Only six weeks after moving there, the fifth child died. It was soon after, the family moved to Stockton, California, where dad went to work for the Pollock Shipyards. We stayed in a camp called Oakie Town until housing was available for the ship yard workers. We moved into the Riverview Housing Project. and stayed there until dad  made a deal with a landlord, that he would fix up his house in exchange for less rent so we moved into a house three miles away on Flora Street in Stockton. Dad had opened a new cabinet shop. By this time he was a Master builder and cabinet maker and famous people came to him for his fine work.  He had a partner who spent more than the business made which ended the relationship and the business. While working on a construction site, his hand was injured and he lost the use of one finger.

Dad got a contract to build housing for the migrant workers in Liberty Islands, CA outside of Sacramento. So we moved again. From famine to feast, dad made a great deal of money and we moved again to Dixon, CA into a large two story house complete with park, fountains, a four car garage and a rumor the last owner had hidden treasure in the walls..  For the first time, our family had everything we wanted.  Eventually the contracts gave out. Dad had found another partner and they invested the last of the money in two lots of property in Lake Tahoe on the CA side with a cabin on both lots and in walking distance to the lake. At that time there was nothing developed there. We moved to Lake Tahoe. The partner cheated on the deal and once again we were on the road. My oldest brother left home. My oldest sister found a job in Lake Tahoe and chose to stay.

Dad went back to work building munitions dumps for the government. He had traveled ahead to the job and the family was to join him in Bullhead City, Nevada. Mom packed us all in the car and off we headed. In spite of the desert heat and long miles, it was a great adventure for me but an almost unbearable transition for the others. I was too young to know what it had been like for my brother's and sister's in the Depression and war years and I could not understand then, their sadness and anger at having to leave their friends and the life they had come to know. 

Dad's used his experience at the ship yards and found a job in a boat repair shop in Overton, Nevada, which he later bought. We stayed there for a  year, then moved to, Boulder City, Nevada where he opened his own shop. My oldest sister joined the Air Force. We were there for the school year and then moved to Overton, Nevada and then to North Las Vegas, Nevada. We lived on Miller Street. It was a predominantly Mexican/American neighborhood and in a year, dad had bought two acres of land at the corner of Miller and Highland Avenue.

Dad put a one bedroom trailer on the property and built a platform off the front. We had running water and our shower was a tar paper enclosure with a garden hose over the top. We all pitched in and  started to build the home my mother designed and had always dreamed of from the foundation up. It didn't take long before we had walls and a roof and we could move in. It was a big four bedroom house.

Dad was working in the building trades and building  boats in the yard and under the unfinished two car garage. We were starting to make our way financially once more, then while cutting brick for our home fireplace, the blade broke and almost cut my dad's hand off at the wrist. It was a long time before he could work again but he never went on 'The Dole'. We ate a lot of Beans. It was a difficult time for everyone. We lived there long enough to see the older children graduate high school, marry and go away, when I was just coming out of the eighth grade.

The worst happened. The house was in foreclosure because of the accident. My mother's dream home. It affected her and she never recovered from the blow. Now it was my turn to be angry and defiant at having to leave my friends and my home. We moved to New York state.  Subsequent moves were back to California via Colorado, back to Nevada, then back to California, where both of my parents died.

This is a summary of our family up to a point. I have left out the stories and many details.

Added Notes:

Dad had Rheumatic Fever, which stopped him from joining the war so he became an enemy plane spotter and worked on many government projects including  munitions depots and he helped build a village for the 'Apple Test' in Mercury, Nevada.

He was an organizer for the Carpenter union in Oregon in the time of strong descent of Unions. He was a member of the Carpenters union for more than 25 years and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the finest finish and Master craftsmen of his day. He also worked as a shipwright in two separate occasions and was the first person to build and launch cabin cruiser's on Lake Mead in Nevada.

He held three building contractor licenses in CA, NY and OR. He made and invented a great many items, including a drywall lifter; a commercial table mover which are still used today. He built his own shop equipment that equaled the current "Shop Smith" of today.

Claude was a tall man at 6'2" He loved music and played the violin, piano and harmonica. He always had a smile and loved to tell a good story. I don't remember that he ever had an enemy. He was gentle in manner but a force to deal with when angry. We knew he loved us. He was protective of his children and more, he was proud of them for their achievements. He wanted all of his children to be educated and in spite of the constant moving we did and graduate with good grades. Each of us has obtained by their own ingenuity, varied degrees of higher education.

People think love is shown by what is given materially. Dad showed it by working and keeping us together. When I didn't have a toy, he made one for me. When I was sad, He would say, "Never mind, lets go open a keg of nails." He never went on "the dole" in his lifetime, as he called both welfare and unemployment. If there was anything we really needed or on occasion, something we really wanted, he found a way to get it for us, even if it meant hocking his tools or bartering his skills in exchange to do so. He was stubborn and upheld his convictions and ideals. He was a Democrat as most Texan's were in those years.

I believe the life we had, gave all of us the courage and fortitude to walk through the hardest of times knowing "We could accomplish anything if we tried.", In my eyes, my dad was truly a success story.