Audrey Bake talks about her husband Jon Bake.

This was written by Audrey Bake:

Donna suggested that when I had time, I should sit down and write some things I remember about the past. Well right now all I have is time, so here goes.

I was thinking that you would like to know a little about your father (Jon Bake). Especially you Donald and Buffy as you were both so young when he left us.

Your dad was born on January 14, 1918 in Fullerton, Nebraska. He had an older brother Franklin, a younger sister Lucille and a younger brother Volcott. Fullerton was a small town something like Newberg. When Lucille was about seven or eight she was accidentally shot in the leg by a neighbor. It took a long time for her to recover and she was afraid of loud noises. The whole town gave up fireworks for the fourth of July. Now that is a town.

(Jon Bake’s father was Clarence Bake, mother Willmath Opal Pancoast Bake, older brother Franklin Bake, younger sister Lucille Bake, younger brother Volcott Bake.)

I heard many times about when your Grandmother Bake got a new car and told the children not to get into it —-guess who did and drove it out the back of the garage and into a stove that was back there—-your dad. They had a real pretty stove in the living room that heated most of the house. Your dad had a morning paper route. In the winter he put his boots and jacket by it so they would be warm in the morning. Volcott would go down early and lace the boots and put knots in them.

Your dad and all the Bakes did well in school. Your dad and his best friend Drexel Nixon were Valedictorians of their high school class. Don’t know too much about your Grandfather Bake because he died in his sleep when we had been married three or four years. Your grandma bake came from a large family–many brothers and sisters. Maybe ten? Funny about their names. Her maiden name was Pancoast. Everyone had a middle name that started with an O. I met Charles and Carol–they lived in California, Her first name was Willmoth and second was Opal.

Your Grandfather Bake had an insurance agency. There were a lot of wealthy farmers in the area and he owned some farm land that he rented out. Your dad went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He did well and I’m sure he had a good time. When he was in his third year, they had what they called the Dust Bowl in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas, etc. People packed up by the thousands and moved to California. The insurance agency went belly up and they lost everything. Your dad stayed in school, worked several jobs and was able to finish. He then got on a train to go to Seattle and make his fortune. But first he stopped in Portland. Don’t know how he made it into my neighborhood, but he did. He had met a fellow his age who lived in the same apartment as I. His name was Merton Vaughn (He was the Best Man at our wedding) I used to usher at the State Theater (now called 21 ave I think). Your Dad came to the theater a couple of times with Merton, then 5 or 6 nights in a row. He finally asked me to out with him on a Saturday night. I said I couldn’t as Evelyn was coming down from Seattle. He said bring her along. So my first date was with your dad, Evelyn and her friend Robie!!! We went to Oaks Park and we went roller skating!!! Guess what. Your dad never got to Seattle.

We had lots of lending libraries in the good old days. They were mostly new books. Well we had one up the street from us. Your dad used to go up there a lot before we were married. Before long he went to work for the owner and then he bought the business. Then, he went down to Kelly Springfield and went to work there. When we first married we lived in an apartment on 22nd and maybe Johnson. Then, we moved into a nicer one just off of 21st on Flanders. We got in there because a couple on the same floor had a baby. We became very good friends of Wino and Christinson. We had such good times together for years. From there we went to the house that is now a freeway. It was a nice little house, two bedrooms, full basement on a junior half acre. Your dad painted and wall papered everything. He put up wallpaper in the kitchen eating area and cherries were hanging up! We had a lot of fun with that.

Volcott came to live with us there. I had not been around boys before and I didn’t know how to feed them. I’d fix what I thought was a big dinner, and he would clean up everything and then go to the little grocery store a couple blocks away and get a quart of ice cream and a bag of cookies. Also, I did the washing on a washboard. I had never done that before. I was not a happy camper the Saturday I was washing diapers and had a big pile of clothes to do. Your dad came home with a big pan of cherries Bong—that set me off. Pie cherries are little and must be pitted–Volcott wanted his clothes clean so he could go to Portland, Donna needed diapers—-I picked up that pan of cherries and tossed them as far as I could—went to my neighbor Jeanne’s house and then came home a few hours later. On the kitchen table were two beautiful pies. Our next door neighbor Gladys had made them. WE had a nice evening with cards and pie. The good part was the next week a washing machine and a dozen roses were delivered. Does this sound like one of my sons? Did any of you wonder why I have two washboards and take them with us when we move? It makes me feel humble when I look at them and reminds me never to act like that again…

The owner decided to sell the house and gave us first chance. $2,500 was way too much. We moved to 25th a block south of Hawthorne. Volcott had gone to California and then joined the Navy. We liked the place. It was a duplex and we lived upstairs. An older couple probably in their late sixties lived downstairs. They were so nice to us. They always had a dish of lemon drops by the door for Donna. The duplex was great and the rooms large. We had half of the basement and we were upstairs. Nice big living room with a fireplace. Off of that was a room that held a piano that Will gave us and a desk and a chair that Donna has. Stairs from that room went up to a finished attic. It was a grand place for kids to play. When Donna joined the Brownies, I was the leader and we had our meeting up there. Then, we had a nice dining room with a big buffet with lots of room and a kitchen with lots of room–and three bedrooms and bath. We liked it a lot and were very comfortable. Rent $37.00 a month. Also it was a nice neighborhood. The Superintendent of schools was across the street and a senator a few blocks away..Across the street and up a ways was Holman’s Funeral Home. The grounds were beautiful. When a funeral wasn’t going on Donna and her friends would take their dolls up there and play “house.”

Your Grandfather Bake had died in his sleep, and your Grandmother Bake came to live with us. Your dad was now working in the shipyards as World War II was upon us. I also went to work out at the Oregon Shipyards it was in St. Johns. I worked on a switch board in the nursery. It was a beautiful place built just for the children. It had nurses and a doctor 24 hours a day. My mother would take Donna once in a while (we were working shift) and we would go out to eat and go to a show. A lot of theaters were open 24 hours!! Then Marilyn was on her way so I quit. (1944)

Then, your Dad got notice that Uncle Sam wanted him to play ARMY! We bundled up the girls and took them to stay with your Grandfather Ebert in Kirkland. Oh, yes, Irma too. We left them for three days and went to Vancouver, B.C., came back, picked up the girls, got home and he was gone. He went up to Tacoma for a while and then Texas. He didn’t care for that part of Texas but he went through basic training. A couple of months later he had a bad case of the flu and all of his buddies went to Japan, but he couldn’t go. When he was better they transferred him to Ft. Devens, Mass. Around the first of December he got noticed that he could have two weeks leave. The was was over and he worked in the dept. that the boys came to when they were coming home. Called separation Dept. Well, he got home and the week flew by. In the middle of the next week we decided we would go back with him. Grandma Bake would stay in the house and we would pay rent, lights, etc. We had an almost new two door Buick that Mr. Caulfied had given us (that is another story) We called his base and got a few more days before he had to report for duty. We put the mattress in the back of the car and took off for Mass. in December!

We got back there in time, but it was hard driving in some places. We landed in a town called Shirley. It was close to the base and about thirty miles from Boston. We had another BIG duplex and we were on the bottom —it had four bedrooms. Nice people above us. Christmas was different. Not many presents, but the girls didn’t seem to care. It was good to be together. It wasn’t long before your Dad brought home a real nice fellow and his wife and a little boy Donna’s age. They needed a place to stay while he was in the Army. We all got along just fine.

YOUR Dad used to make some extra money by giving the boys rides to Boston. They would come to Ft. Devens by the bus load and then get the paperwork done and have to wait around a day or two to go to Boston to get their train home. So your dad would take them in for $100 a piece if he could get a car load.

To my DEAR CHILDREN WHOEVER MAY READ THIS:

JUST COULDN’T FINISH THIS AT THIS TIME—TOO MANY TEARS—TOO MANY MEMORIES—HOPE TO FINISH THIS NEXT YEAR

Love you all,

Mom

(I will add photographs to this soon)