 1911 - 1989 (77 years)
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| Name |
Orval Edward Richards [1] |
| Born |
17 Nov 1911 |
Near Cheboygan, Cheboygan County, Michigan  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
25 Apr 1989 |
Warren, Macomb County, Michigan [1] |
| Person ID |
I11145 |
Jerry Milo Johnson |
| Last Modified |
29 Mar 2015 |
| Family |
Annabell Barber, b. 26 Oct 1912, Dollarville, Luce County, Michigan |
| Married |
28 Jun 1935 |
First Baptist Church, Sault Saint Marie, Michigan [1] |
| Children |
|
| Family ID |
F3744 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- When Orval was in 7th grade he was already fully grown. He used ot walk to school in Newberry with his brother Hayseed and two other smaller boys. Someone said that he looked like "Tarzan and his Apes.' The name stuck and he was called Tarzan for the remainder of his life.
In Memory of
Orval E. Richards
Date of Birth
Nov 17, 1911
Date of death
April 25, 1989
Place and Time of Services
Ford Funeral Home
Saturday, April 29th
2:00 PM
Clergyman
Rev. Glendon Heath
Cremation
United Memorial Gardens
He went to work with his dad after he completed the ninth grade. They were both brick mason helpers earning 35 cents an hour.
Orval got a job at the Iron Company in Newberry, Mi. His new boss, Christopher Columbus Smith (Head Machinist), hired him on Monday to replace a previous employee who was killed in a Saturday night fight. Orval knew the previous employee was killed in a fight and rushed over to apply for his job. While there, Christopher Columbus Smith burnt both hands badly on a locomotive wheel.
Orval went to work for Western Union putting up poles and stringing wires between Sault Ste Marie, Mi and Marquette, Mi. When this job was done he went to Indiana with Western Union and did the same job until he was layed off during the crash of 1929.
He was layed off during the depression. He had tried to join the marine corps when he was 17, but his mother would not sign for him to enlist. When he turned 18 he started riding freights. He went to El Paso, Texas where he stopped at at the El Paso River to take a bath. He took off his long underwear that he wore from Mich. and placed them on a branch. When he departed, he left the underwear hanging on the branch as he didn't need long johns in west Texas. In California, he did all sort of odd jobs. He picked fruit in the fields and washed dishes at Third and Market Streets in San Francisco. While a dishwasher, he went to the local mariner's union hall and signed on to sail with a merchant ship. He overslept and missed his ship.
1935 - Hired by the Iron Company where he worked the retort furnace.
He was upgraded to repairman in late 1935. His job was to repair locomotiives.
Lived in Ky for the summer. The train went through Cincinnatti on its way to Ky. During the trip Orval looked out of the train's window and saw his first airplane as it flew over the train. The family lived in Ky that summer.
Orval attended school through the 9th grade in Newberry, Mi.
Late in the summer the family moved to the Ohio side of the river. His father, Joseph, contracted typhoid fever while living in Ohio.
The family moved back to the Boyne City area. They lived in the= On July 4, 1917, Joe had a $100 stake.
1918 Moved to Upper Pennisula of Mi.
-Spring: Moved to Mcmillian
- Fall: Moved to Snowflake Lumber Camp. Snowflake was near Clark's cabin on Kelly lake in the upper penisula of Mi.. They lived their that year and then moved to McMillian.
Orval didn't go to school in 1918, but did attend the following year.
1919-1921 - Orval attended camp school through the fifth grade.
1922 - Orval attended sixth grade camp school.
In Dec. 1940, Orval moved to Detroit without his family to look for work. In Jan., 1941, he moved in with his brother, Clifford, at 894 Beaconsfield, Grosse Pointe Park, Mi.
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