Places of Significance: Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Kemnay, Scotland
Image Source

Kemnay is a little village 16 miles west of Aberdeen, situated on a bend in the River Don. Ella’s family would ride the bus to this location in the countryside, for picnics or to pick wild brambleberries. On a scrapbook page Ella had made with some photographs taken there in 1939, she described these summer holidays as “blissful summer days.” Ella said, “I loved it out in the country. My mother used to say, ‘Ella needs to marry a farmer.’”(1)

During World War II, in the early 1940s, Ella spent 2 or 3 summers in Kemnay, to keep her out of the city and further from the danger of German air raids. Ella wasn’t sure how her family became acquainted with the host family - she stayed with the Cheyn family (maybe spelled Cheyne?) - but it wasn’t uncommon that families from the city would arrange for their children to stay in the country during the war. Ella remembers that she stayed in an upstairs room of the farmhouse, and she remembers the host family had a son. She would help with farm chores - milk the cow and collect eggs from the chickens.(2)

High Street, Kemnay
Image Source

Ella remembers one night during the war, when she and her host family watched what seemed like fireworks in the sky, but it was really probably the British artillery on the ground firing toward German bombers overhead. "It's still so bright in my memory...the flashing." She wasn't worried for her own welfare; she was far enough out in the country that the planes didn't bother to go there. But she was worried about her parents and sister back in Aberdeen (her sister was in a hospital for treatment of tuberculosis at that time).(3)

Kemnay, Scotland
Image Source

Ella enjoyed her summers in the countryside, but she remembers anxiously waiting for her mother at the end of one summer, excited to see her coming down the lane after arriving by bus.

Add to our to-do list on our next trip to Aberdeen: Having a picnic in Kemnay.

These family photographs show George and Katherine (Kate) with 
their children Ina and Ella, as well as George's sister 
Madgie (or Madge) and an unnamed family friend. The bottom left
photo also shows "farmers children" - perhaps this was the family that
Ella would later stay with in Kemnay during the war? Did they have
a relationship prior to the war?

Sources: 

1. From a conversation with Ella on 13 January 2017
2. From a conversation with Ella on 16 January 2019
3. From a conversation with Ella on 30 May 2014

"That's Our Song" - No Other Love by Jo Stafford

When Ralph and Ella were married in March 1953, they were sure to include "their song" in the wedding reception festivities. Ella's friend Faye sang "No Other Love" by Jo Stafford. And that's still Ralph and Ella's song today!

On 22 November 2018, Thanksgiving Day, family was gathered at Ralph and Ella's home for a meal and family time. While mingling after the food, Ralph opened up the record player (a credenza-type unit in their living room, speakers built into the sides) and played some of their favorite LPs, including this song.

Ralph and Ella, holding an LP record of their song.
22 November 2018, at their home.

Ella says, "That's our song!" 

22 November 2018, at their home. (1:15 min)

Read more about the festivities of Ralph and Ella's wedding day, here.

Ella Singing the Greyfriar's Bobby Theme Song

Ella and Ralph at the grave of John Gray, 
Edinburgh Scotland - September 2006

Oh how Ella loves the story of the loyal Skye Terrier, Bobby, the dog of John Gray, a night watchman for the Edinburgh City Police. Bobby was always by his master's side, and when his master died of tuberculosis, the wee dog remained by his side, guarding and sleeping on Gray's grave for 14 years. Upon Bobby's passing, he was buried not far from his master, both in Greyfriar's Cemetery in Edinburgh.

Disney made a movie based on this true story, released in 1961, and Ella loves to sign the tune. She has a record of the soundtrack, and on special occasions she and Ralph open the record player (built into a credenza/sideboard) and we sing along.

On their many trips to Scotland, Ella and Ralph would visit this spot in Edinburgh. There's a statue dedicated to Bobby, a pub immediately behind called "Bobby's Bar," and immediately behind that is Greyfriar's Cemetery where you can visit the graves of John Gray and Bobby.

You can read more about the heart-warming, true story here. 

Bobby's Bar and the statue to wee Bobby in Edinburgh
Image Source

Ella singing the chorus of Greyfriar's Bobby from the 

1961 Disney film. Filmed 30 April 2017 at her home. (0:30 min)

Thanksgiving Day 2018 - An occasion to pull out the old records and 

sing along to the Greyfriar's Bobby soundtrack. 

Filmed 22 November 2018 at Ella and Ralph's home. (1:30 min)

Ella and Her Host of Golden Daffodils

Ella has a little patch of miniature daffodils in her patio garden ("daffodillies" as she likes to call them) that come up every spring. Originally a small flower pot with a few bulbs already blooming that she bought at the grocery store, once the blooms had died she planted the bulbs in her yard. The bulbs have since multiplied over the years in that corner of her garden - a miniature representation of the scene in Dr. Zhivago that she loves.

Ella would often recite the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, specifically the line “When all at once I saw a crowd,/ A host, of golden daffodils.” She had memorized this poem as a school girl, and the sight of daffodils would bring those words to mind. 

On a trip to Scotland in May 2017 with Ella and Ralph, we could see thousands of daffodils in green patches beside the road. The blooms had just faded, but based on the amount of green leaves still present, we could imagine how stunning the scene was. It was a great opportunity to see if Ella could still recall lines to the poem. 

Ella reciting William Wordsworth - May 2017, Aberdeen Scotland

(0:32 min)

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud 

By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Ina Findlay Slade's Memories of Aberdeen and the Church during WWII

Ina Findlay, Betty Sutherland, 
Helen Edwards (or Helen
then Betty?), and Kate Findlay

The following is a memory posted to the page for Charlesina Findlay Slade (1928-2015) on FamilySearch, written by Charlesina herself. Charlesina, most often called Ina, is Ella's sister.

See also these previous, related posts:

• The Findlays and the Aberdeen Branch in the 1930s and 1940s
• More Memories of Aberdeen during WWII
• The War Years: Air Raids, City and Countryside, and Strength in the Gospel
• George and Kate Findlay Meet the Mormons

..........

When I was 11 years old, there was excitement in our branch in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was September 1939 and the Millennial Chorus was in Aberdeen for one week. This chorus was made up of missionaries touring the mission, giving concerts.

At this time, 1939, the Aberdeen Branch was the northernmost branch in the British Mission. It was exciting to an 11 year old to be around that many missionaries at one time. They had concerts booked all week and at the end of the week there was to be a special treat. The mission president, Hugh B. Brown, would also be in Aberdeen. A room in the Music Hall had been reserved and President Brown would speak and the Millennial Chorus sing. But, alas, events in Europe were to interfere with these plans. September 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. This meant Pres. Brown could not leave London. Plans and preparations had to be made for all missionaries to leave Britain and return to the U.S. This was a sad time. The chorus was advised by President Brown to finish their appointments, and go ahead and give the concert at the Music Hall. Since Pres. Brown would not be there, they had to fill in that time and sing twice as long, then they were to report to London. The withdrawal of the missionaries brought changes in the leadership of some of the branches. My father was made Branch President and mother the Relief Society President. It was a small branch to begin with, but with the withdrawal of the missionaries, this was a test of the faith of the members, and many fell away. During the six years of war, Aberdeen, one of the four branches in Scotland, was the only branch to remain open all through the war years, with only eleven of us usually in attendance at meetings; 5 adults and 6 children. One family evacuated to the country to get away from the air raids. Aberdeen is on the northeast coast of Scotland on the same latitude as southern Norway. The German planes had but a short hop, skip and jump from Norway to Aberdeen, and it was easy to find as it stood between two rivers. Radar had not been perfected yet and as a result, the German planes could sneak in and drop their bombs before the air raid siren blew. It was very frightening, hearing the thud of the bombs, and wondering where the next one would land. During the worst raid, a bomb was dropped just two streets away from where we lived. One member had her apartment damaged in one raid. The members did not have telephones, so Mother, as Relief Society president, had to rely on inspiration to know which sister she needed to visit. One morning after one raid, she felt the need to check on Sister Hendry. When she got to her street, it was blocked and a policeman on guard said a bomb had dropped there. The people had been taken to a Red Cross facility, and Mother found her. She was able to stay temporarily with another member until other arrangements could be made. With only six children in the branch, it was difficult to have Primary or Mutual. The missionaries had been led to my parents in 1930, but it was two years before they were baptized in the River Dee. I was only four years old then but my sister and myself were also baptized in the River Dee a few years later. The baptisms took place at a secluded place along the river. It was not until 1948 that Father came to Arizona and the rest of us in 1949. The faith and testimony of the adults in the branch showed us the way and kept us straight. Those members were: My parents, George and Katherine Findlay Brother Smart Sisters Eliza Edwards and Mary Hendry (the children) Betty Sutherland Houston Ronald Sutherland Helen Sutherland Helen Edwards Ella Findlay Mitchell Ina Findlay Slade To all of them I will be eternally grateful for faith in every footstep.

Ralph and Ella: Early Marriage Years

 This post is a continuation of stories shared in these previous posts:

• Ralph and Ella: Their Courtship

• Ralph and Ella: Their Marriage

……….

After Ralph and Ella were married in Mesa, Arizona, on March 5, 1953, they returned to Wilmington, CA, where Ralph had been living with his parents during their engagement. 

Their first apartment was located at 1305 ¼ N Marine Ave, Wilmington, where they lived for about the first year of their marriage. It was the second unit from the end in a row of apartments in a small complex. And their unit was tiny - smaller even than a studio apartment. There was a living room, a dining room, and a little kitchenette, a bathroom, and a pull-down bed in the hallway that rotated out on a hinge and pulled out into the living room. They paid $47.50/month. 

1305 1/4 N Marine Ave, Wilmington, CA, which is the unit the second one in from
the street, in the center of the frame. This is whereRalph and Ella lived their first year
of marriage and to which they brought their baby twins home.
Photo taken by KF, September 2018.

Soon after they were married, Ella became pregnant, due that coming December. 

Six months before the due date, Ralph and Ella put a baby crib and rocking chair on layaway at a local furniture store. They put the crib in the corner of the little dining room. 

When they were first married, Ralph was working for a company making submarine nets, but before the twins were born he changed jobs to work at Ford Motor Company (from 1953 to 1956), putting cars together on the assembly line, and he was going to school at night (Ralph initially studied architecture at Los Angeles Harbor Junior College, for 1 year, then studied radio and television theory and repair).

About six months into the pregnancy, Ralph joked with the doctor that Ella was going to have twins, and the doctor simply shrugged his shoulders. (This was before the early ultrasounds of today). But Ralph kept telling him and kept telling him. Toward the end of her pregnancy, Ella started to have complications from swelling ankles, so the doctor sent them to a specialist. This was on a Monday. The specialist then proceeded to take an x-ray (again, this was before ultrasounds) and then came the report: He saw two babies on the x-ray, and possibly the rib-cage of a third baby! They didn’t know until they were born whether there were going to be twins or triplets! 

They were sent to the hospital that night, and the babies - twins! - were born on Thursday. Baby Boy came first at 6 pounds 1 ounce, and Baby Girl came second, at 4 pounds 11 ounces. The babies were full-term, healthy, and didn’t need incubators or the ICU. And at this time, the husbands weren’t present in the delivery room, so Ralph waited in the husband’s waiting room until after the babies were born. 

Congratulations! It's twins!
Here are BE and BF while at the hospital.

When they were trying to think of baby names when Ella was pregnant, they considered naming a boy SN. But when the twins came, they looked at their little boy and said, hmmm...that’s not SN, but we have SN coming. So back to square one. But they decided to take Ella’s middle name of B, and Ralph’s middle name of E, and name their son BE - over the protest of one of the nurses who wanted to name the babies Kenneth and Kathy. Hah!  . They wanted a girl’s name that would match their son’s name, so they chose B as a first name (a very Scottish name), and Ralph came up with F as a middle name (Ralph said: “And Ella didn’t complain too much. She said, ‘That’s a cute name. Where’d you get it?’” It’s from the Disney movie Bambi, the name of his girlfriend.) So that was it: BE and BF.  

Ralph and Ella brought their babies home to their little apartment after a week in the hospital, and they shared the crib in the corner of the living room - BF in one end and BE in the other. 

While the twins were little, Ralph and Ella transported them around in a little wicker “Moses” bassinet. Similar to how they slept in the crib, the babies were small enough that one could be on each end. 

A wicker Moses basket, similar to what Ralph and Ella used for their twins.
Image Source

A funny experience with that: Soon after the twins were born, Ralph and Ella took their babies to visit Mary Johnson, the wife of Ralph’s step-brother Earl. Some of Mary’s friends were there as well, and Mary said, “Here’s Ralph and Ella and their new babies.” One friend apparently didn’t catch that Mary said “babies,” plural, and the friend said, “Awww...that’s cute.” Then she turned and looked and saw a head at the other end of the basket, and Ralph thought she might faint at the sight of a two-headed baby!

This was also a time before car seats for infants were standard (or if they were even available), so when they needed to drive somewhere, they would either have the twins in their wicker basket on the floor of the backseat of their 1939 Pontiac Coupe (the jump seats would fold up) or hold them on their lap while riding in the car. 

A 1939 Pontiac Coupe, in blue, similar to what Ralph and Ella owned.
Image Source

This was also close to Christmas, and with finances and space being tight, Ralph and Ella found a small, live Christmas tree, 2-feet tall, for 50 cents, that they decorated with paper ornaments and tinsel. 

Ralph with the infant twins.
December 1953

[Also the story of how Ralph went flying when the babies were tiny, and didn’t tell Ella where he had gone. Yikes! He's still paying for that one!]

Ella with one of the babes.
December 1953

When their family was young, Ralph and Ella would often hop in the car and head to the beach after Ralph got home from work, if even for a half hour before dinner, for a relaxing time to walk barefoot and play in the sand. Some favorite beaches were Redondo Beach and Sunset Beach. 

Ralph with the twins at the beach.

The twins with Ella's parents, George and Kate Findlay, 
at their subsequent home at 122 Denni Ave, Wilmington, CA.

Reflecting on these experiences, Ralph confesses: “We’ve had a great life. We’ve been blessed with a wonderful, wonderful family.”

……….

From phone conversations with Ralph and Ella:

• 9 February 2014

• 13 January 2015

• 22 March 2015

• 7 November 2020

Remembering Baby Kathy

Newborn Baby Kathy

In September 2018, knowing that I would be solo in Los Angeles with some extra time on my hands (from the same trip as this post when I visited the grave of Ralph's older brother, Johnny), I determined there was no better time to visit the resting place of Ralph and Ella's 4th child, Katherine Juanita Mitchell. She was affectionately known as "Kathy."

Little Kathy was born on October 29, 1958, and she was named after both of her grandmothers: "Katherine" being Ella's mother and "Juanita" being Ralph's. She was beloved! Tragically, she passed away from pneumonia at just almost 7 weeks old, on December 15, 1958.

Kathy is buried at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.(1) At the time of Kathy's death, Ralph, Ella, their other 3 young children were living in Long Beach, California. 

Green Hills Memorial Park

I've always felt a special connection to Kathy, as I was named after her, and mom BR has a closeness to her as well. 

Kathy's Birth Announcement

Ella's Handwriting

Prior to arriving at the cemetery, I bought flowers to lay at the grave - a bouquet of white Baby's Breath. I stopped at the florist onsite to purchase white ribbon to tie it with. 

I had previously made an appointment with an attendant at the office, who had maps prepared for me and escorted me to the gravesite. I was so appreciative as it's quite a large cemetery. 

Little Kathy is buried in a special section of the cemetery, on a hill overlooking the surrounding area, in a heart-shaped area designated as "Baby Land." Sweet, but also heart breaking, this section is dedicated for little children. As I walked along searching for Kathy's grave, I saw so many plaques for little tiny infants. My heart ached for all the families. 

My escort to the plot brought spray cleaners and cloth with him, with which he polished the grave. It felt like an honor to be able to do so. And after my escort left, I then sat there beside the grave, sitting still. I was touched by the beauty of this location. I was saddened that family no longer lives close to this location to visit, though Mom BR remembers visiting the grave while they still lived in southern California.

Also buried in this cemetery is Ralph's step-brother, Lester Earl Johnson, and his wife Mary Ellen Johnson. They are buried not far from Kathy, so we took the chance to polish their stone as well. 

Map of Green Hills Memorial Park. Baby Land and Summit Lawn highlighted.

Location of Baby Kathy's grave - Plot 92, Grave C in Babyland

Location of Lester Earl Johnson's grave - Plot 490, Grave B

Sources:

1. Green Hills Memorial is located at 27501 South Western Avenue, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Kathy is buried in "Baby Land," Plot 92, Grave C.

As a 14-Year Old, Ralph Handled Large Construction Equipment? What Could Go Wrong?

Fabric featuring Caterpillar equipment.
Image Source

For several summers, starting at age 14, Ralph would join his father, Virgil Mitchell (1908-1954) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who had a business as a land-leveling contractor. One thing Ralph did was to help prep the tractors, bulldozers, and other equipment before the shift started each day and he would help park the equipment at the end of the day. Here, Ralph tells about one particularly memorable day that could have ended in disaster!

……….

It was 1948. I would go back [for the summer to Albuquerque] and work, and [my father] would let me drive the tractor. I had a grease job. In other words, I would go out before the shift started, and I’d head out and take the pump and grease all the trucks and tractors and everything. And I got to park them. 

And funny thing. He had about 4 or 5 pieces of equipment. And we had a bulldozer that was a little hard to start. It was a Caterpillar [brand]. I know about that much about it [gesturing a small amount with his fingers]. But it had a little starter motor. You’d start the starter motor, which was gasoline. And you’d start it up. And when you got it running, running smooth, you’d put the clutch in and it would start the big Caterpillar motor, the big engine. 

It sounds stupid now, but it made sense to me at 12 or 14 years old. They told me, when you get this one gassed up - and they sat there and let it idle, so we didn’t have to start it - so they said when you get this one all greased up and fueled and everything, why don’t you back it up on that hill, so in the morning we’ll just release it, let it come down, start it without having to try to start that little engine. And I said, Ok. So I got all finished with all the equipment, got on that thing and backed it up the hill and I kept going back and back and back. The hill got steeper. I said how far up? And they said, well, go as far as you can. So I got it up where almost the tracks were digging into the thing. And I put on the brakes and I’m holding it there, and I’m thinking, Ok, now I don’t want this thing to come rolling down at night, so I reached up and pulled the lever and put the dozer blade down, so the dozer blade was stuck in the dirt. It wasn’t going anywhere! In the morning they couldn’t let it go down and start it that way! They had to start that little engine with that thing on a hill like that!

KF: Did they have to dig it out?

RM: No, they got the little engine started, and started the big Caterpillar engine, and they pulled the blade up and it rolled right out. Boy they yelled at me that day and teased me for two or three days!

I was 14. It was 1948. Well, ‘48, ‘49, and ‘50. I would go back and work with him. They were building a dam, an earthen dam in Las Vegas, New Mexico, way up in the north part of the state. It was just a dirt levy, so they would go pull dirt out of the valley and put it on this levy. So he let me work on some of that. 

……….

From an interview with Ralph on 13 January 2017.

"Keep It a Little Above 80" - Ralph Driving as a 14-Year Old

It’s so fun to hear Ralph talk about growing up on the farm in Mesa in the ‘30s and ‘40s, especially as his experiences were so different from kids today. For example, learning to drive prior to age 14. Love the following story he shared of a simple misunderstanding with his father about what speed to keep on the highway.

……….

On the farm in Arizona, I got to drive all around the farm doing stuff, loading hay and stuff like that. Tractors, cars, pick ups, whatever was there. 

But my real driving experience -  and I actually got a driver's license at age 12! My father, Virgil Mitchell, came out when I was, well let’s see, maybe I was a little older, ‘cause he came out and gave me that motor scooter when I graduated from [junior high], a Cushman, 3-wheel motor scooter. This was ‘48, so I guess I was 14. But I actually learned how to drive before that. But I actually had a driver's license. 

A 1948 Cushman Model 52, Similar to Ralph's. Three-wheeled
with a box on the front, though Ralph's was red and had an
additional cushion in back too. Two friends would
ride along to school!
Image Source.

So my father came out, gave me the motor scooter, and my mother said it was OK to go back and visit with him. It was the first time I had really seen him for years. So we loaded the motor scooter back up on his pick up, because he had driven the pickup out, from New Mexico, (they were living in Albuquerque). …. We were driving back to Albuquerque, and he pulled over to the side and said, “Ok, let’s have you drive for a while.” And I said, “Really?” He said, “Yah! It’s a straight highway.” So I got in and drove for hours, driving back there. 

What was interesting, the speedometer was a big round speedometer - 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and so forth. I think it stopped at 80 or 90. But anyway, I was driving along and he looked over and said, “Why don’t you keep it just a little above 80. Now, if you look at the speedometer, here’s the 80, and he thought that above it would be lower than 80, but when he said above 80, I thought he meant faster than 80! 

"Keep It a Little Above 80." 

So two or three times he leaned over and said, “I want you to keep it a little above 80.” And I said, “I am! I’m going about 82, 83.” And he said, “No, I want it on THAT side of 80.” A little misunderstanding as he was looking at the physical speedometer. 

……….

From an interview with Ralph on 13 January 2017.

Then There Was the Time Ralph Landed a Plane in a Field, and the Sheriff Signed His Logbook

Ralph Next to an Aeronca Champ
September 2019

This is a continuation of stories about Ralph’s flying experiences. See also previous, related posts:

• Dreams Take Flight - More highlights from Ralph's Flying Experiences
• Trailing Clouds of Glory - Highlights from Ralph's Flying Experiences
• Santa Claus is Cleared for Landing
• Ralph Pilots Helicopter to Save Boy Scout Troop
• The Sky's the Limit

..........

A favorite flying story that Grandpa Ralph shares is about the time he was so excited when he jointly bought an airplane with a friend. It was early 1957. They knew its engine was in disrepair, but they replaced it with one they picked up from a junkyard. Should be just fine, right? The plot thickens when the replacement engine went out mid flight. What happens next required some fast thinking and resourcefulness on Ralph’s part, and then followed by additional fast thinking...he had to be to work by 3pm!

..........

I took off from Torrance airport in a plane that I owned a partnership in [an Aeronca Champ]. We bought the airplane - a big deal! $700! But it had a sour engine. He bought the airplane - it was Dean Dagonia, up on the hill. He said, I can’t fly it because the engine had gone bad, so I said, “Ok, if we can be partners, I’ll buy an engine to put on it.” Ok! So I shopped around. I went to this airplane junkyard and got a used engine, supposedly in good shape, and we put the engine on the airplane and we flew it a couple of hours. 

Well, this one day I took off and was flying around. This was when there was a lot of open space in southern California, around Wilmington, just north of us was what they called the Dominguez Farms, and there was a whole lot of farmland. 

So I used to use that - you can see in here that in some places it says “Rectangular course flying,” I drew a picture where you just fly around a course - so that was my plan that day, to fly a rectangular course around this pattern, this open farm. 

I got over there and everything worked fine, and when I throttled back to come down, because we always did that about 500 feet above the ground, so I throttled back and got it all set up at 500 feet, I put the throttle back in and it goes CLUNK, and it starts shaking. By that time I had 8 or 10 hours, 15 hours, something like that. And I said, Uh-oh. So I pushed the throttle in and I could only get about 16 or 17 hundred RPMs and it would shake. I couldn’t climb. And I didn’t dare head back to Torrance because I had to fly over houses. So I thought, “Ok, there’s a nice little road in this field.” So I went around and landed on a little road between two fields. Then I turned on another road and taxied over to the highway. 

All this time I’m putting a plan together. I had to be to work at Carbide at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and this was about 10 or 11 in the morning that I was doing my training. So I had an airplane in a field. No cell phone. There wasn’t even a pay phone close to me! So I ran over and parked it, shut it down. And jumped the fence and hitchhiked a ride. Got back to Torrance airport, picked up a mechanic, and we drove back in our old ‘52 Studebaker to the field and there’s 15 cars lined up alongside the road. And there’s a sheriff’s car sitting there with the light turning. 

We pulled up and parked in front of the sheriff's car - I didn’t think anything of it. I thought, “What are they doing here?” I had business to do with the airplane! So we jumped the fence and went over to the airplane, and this guy [the mechanic] is checking the prop, and there’s oil leaking out onto the ground, and he said, yeah, you’ve got a problem. 

The sheriff followed us across the fence and said, “Hey, what are you guys doing? Is one of you the pilot?” Yah, I’m the pilot. “What happened?” Well, the engine quit on me and I landed and I had to go get a mechanic. “Oh.”

Then I saw, there was a trail, there was a guy plowing in a field, and he saw it, and he just turned his tractor and come straight over and here’s this big ditch right across the field. I wish I had pictures! He pulled his tractor over right about the time the sheriff showed up, and he said, “What’s the airplane doing here.” “I don’t know. It must be some kind of a deal going because the guy landed, stopped, jumped out, and there was a car waiting for him!”

So the sheriff kind of sat there and he’s filing his report and we show up, “La, la, la, where’s the beach?” Once they found out it was real innocent, he signed [my logbook], Sheriff Griggs. Here it is! Right here. “Engine failure, I can’t even read it now, forced landing. Sheriff Griggs, LA County Sheriff.” April 19 [1957]. Landed in an open field. [Ella chimes in: Needless to say I was hoping that would be the end. But he got back in! Chuckles.]

So here we are, trying to figure out what to do with the airplane. So the guy said, “What are we doing? How do we get it home?” And I said, “ I live about 2 miles down here.” He said, “Could we put it in your driveway or garage?” I said, Yeah, we can put it in my garage. 

So we took the wings off, I hauled the wings home, one at a time, on the top of the roof of the Studebaker. I got a blanket and I laid it up there and tied it down and took the wings home. Then I took the deck lid off of the Studebaker, the bonnet in the back. I took it off, and figured out a way to build up blocks or something - I think I used suitcases! - stacked them up in there, and I put the tail wheel on that so that the elevator wouldn’t hit the fender, and then I tied it down, braced it through the back, and then I towed it home backwards. People were looking and pointing, and here I am driving down the road with an airplane towing backwards. We pulled it up the hill and put it in the garage. I made about 3 trips - the wings first and then the body of the airplane. And it sat in the garage for two to three weeks until we figured out I couldn’t replace the engine. 

A 1952 Studebaker, light blue, just like Ralph and Ella's.
Imagine a car like this towing a dismantled airplane down the road!

I got my money back on the engine. I told him, “That thing didn’t even last 10 hours.” So I argued with him a little bit and got the money back. Then Ella talked me out of airplane ownership. She said, “Why don’t you just rent airplanes and get your license. So we towed it back to the airport and put it back together for somebody. 

KF: Do the wings come off pretty easily?

RM: Oh yeah, there’s just two bolts in the base of the wing, and there’s a bolt in each strut. 

KF: And that’s all that holds the wings on?!?

RM: Well, that’s the way they built them. That’s the way they still build them! It took less than an hour [to dismantle the plane] because I made it to work on time! That was a day when we were so broke we couldn’t pay attention. We only had one car so anytime she needed it she’d take me to work. 

..........

From an interview with Ralph at his home.