February 6, 2004
Looking Back on Oroville’s Heroes
By Stu Shaner
These stories are about the men and women who went to war so that we might be free. This column is dedicated to all our Veterans. It will use articles taken from past Oroville Mercury Registers. Many of those mentioned in these stories came home. But as you will learn, many young Oroville men did not. They gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Bill Connelly and I are co-chairmen of the Oroville Veterans Memorial Committee. Our plans are to build a fitting memorial in Oroville to honor all of our veterans past, present and future. If you would like a speaker at a club meeting, Ted Grainger and I would be glad to speak, please contact me at 533-8147.
“Some Gave All”
Oroville Mercury March 14, 1945
KENDALLS’ SON DIES IN ACTION
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kendall who operate the Dutch Haven Fountain and Flower Shop, have received word that their son, Pfc. Robert Lewis Kendall, was killed in action in Germany. He was in the infantry with the 9th Army. Kendall enlisted in Denver in August 1942 but was not called to active duty until the following April. He went overseas last September. A graduate of Grass Valley High School with the class of 1940, he was a popular student and outstanding football player. Bill Wilson, of Oroville, was his coach at that time. He also attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he was taking a legal course. He was a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and the Blackstonian Club. Mrs. Kathleen Kendall, his wife is living in Auburn. Two sisters, Mrs. Lorraine Kunze and Miss Nancy Kendall, are with their parents here. Giles Kendall, a brother, is engaged in war production work in Los Angeles.
BRINGS GRAND-DAUGHTER TO SEE ALICE PAINTER
Mrs. Ronald Hathaway has come from Florida for an indefinite visit with her mother, Mrs. Alice Painter. She is accompanied by her six months-old daughter, Suzanne. Lt. Hathaway is in the Navy Air Corps and left about a week ago for Pearl Harbor. He has been in the service about three years. His home was in San Jose where his parents now live.
ANOTHER LOCAL GIRL IS A SOLDIER’S BRIDE
Miss Stella Livesly of Oroville became the bride of T/Sgt. William J. Pettit March 4 at a ceremony performed by the Rev. J. R. Stead in the Congregational Parish in Pomona. She was attended by her sister, Mrs. J. E. Hoagland of Sacramento. A brother-in-law, A. D. Johnson of Pomona was best man. The bride was attired in a gray suit with black patent leather accessories. She wore pearls, a white blouse and gloves and a gray hat with white trim. Her flowers were butterfly orchids. After the ceremony, the party proceeded to the Country Club where a wedding supper was served. The young couple then left for a brief honeymoon in Palm Springs. Others present included Mrs. Stella Livesly of Oroville, mother of the bride; Mrs. A. D. Johnson, a sister; Lynne Anne Hoagland, a niece; and Mrs. Gerald Hahn, the bride’s aunt. The groom is a flight engineer on B-24’s stationed at Victorville Army Air Field. They will make their home for the present in San Bernardino. Sgt. Pettit attended schools in Malvern, Ohio, where his parents now live, and has been in the army for five years. He was an instructor for two years at Ryan Field, Tucson, Ariz. Later he trained for flight engineer in Mississippi and has been located at Victorville for two months.
MAJ. LEONARD COMING HOME
Major Raymond A. Leonard of the U. S. Infantry, has arrived in the United States from India where he had been hospitalized for about a month following the recent Burma campaign. News of his arrival was received direct from Leonard this morning when he telephoned his mother, Mrs. R. A. Leonard Sr. of Quincy Road, from New York. He told his mother he would undergo medical treatment in the states before returning to military service. The infantry major was unable to say how soon he would arrive home for a visit with is mother and his wife and two sons, who reside in Gridley.
Stu’s notes: I can’t remember where the Dutch Haven was. Let’s hope that Pfc. Robert Lewis Kendall will be, or is, honored in Grass Valley. Those Soldiers sure took away a lot of our young girls. I think Maj. Raymond A. Leonard was a long time Oroville man.