Person:Ernest Gibbs (1)

1910 United States Federal Census

Name: Ernest L Gibbs Age in 1910: 5 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1904 Birthplace: California Relation to Head of House: Son Father's Birthplace: Colorado Mother's Birthplace: Kansas Home in 1910: National [City] San Diego California Marital Status: Single Race: White Gender: Male Household Members: [Elmer and Gertrude were running the Hotel San Miguel for Gertrude's parents, Leander and Anna Kuykendall]

Household Members: Elmer E Gibbs 36 Gertrude Gibbs 30 Bessie Patterson 17 [Elmer's half sister] Ernest Gibbs 5 Helen Gibbs 2 William Miller 42 Bruce R. Reid 19 William Fletcher 42 ---Gilligan 30 Frank Palmer 28 Frank Padilla 35 William S Ryan 40 Warner Vanderike 22 Allen Humphrey un Pyane un Chesko un Flynn un Nepoleon Deli un Ray W McKeever 35 Frank McGraw 31

1920 United States Federal Census

Name: Ernest L Gibbs Age: 15 years Estimated Birth Year: abt 1904 Birthplace: California Relation to Head of House: Son Father's Name: Elmer E Father's Birthplace: Colorado Mother's Name: Gertrude A Mother's Birthplace: Kansas Marital Status: Single Race: White Sex: Male Able to Read: Yes Able to Write: Yes Image: 360

Household Members: Elmer E Gibbs 45 Gertude A Gibbs 39 Ernest L Gibbs 15 Helen G. Gibbs 12

1930 United States Federal Census

Name: Ernest L Gibbs Home in 1930: San Francisco, San Francisco, California Age: 26 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1904 Birthplace: California Relation to Head of House: Head Spouse's name: Janice Race: White

Household Members: Ernest L Gibbs 26 Janice Gibbs 25 Shirley J Gibbs

                                         Social Security Death Index

Name: Ernest L Gibbs SSN: 565-07-7038 Last Residence: 97034 Lake Oswego, Clackamas, Oregon, United States of America Born: 12 Jun 1904 Died: Dec 1971 State (Year) SSN Issued: California (Before 1951)

«sup» «/sup» RECOLLECTIONS OF OUR FATHER, ERNIE GIBBS By SHIRLEY, DANA, VALERIE AND PHILLIP GIBBS

Our Father, Ernest Leander Gibbs, the eldest son of Elmer Ernest Gibbs and Annie Gertrude Kuykendall, was born June 12, 1904 in his parent's home at the SE Corner of 2«sup»nd«/sup» & B Streets, National City, Ca.

When dad was about ten years old he was on horseback and took a bullwhip to one of the conical shaped beehives on a ranch. He was stung so many times he almost died. After that, he was unaffected by bee stings and would amaze friends by inserting his arm into a bee swarm, grabbing the queen bee and moving the swarm.

He met our Mother in kindergarten in National City. He attended National City High school for two years, San Diego High for half a year and Fresno High for a year and a half. The family moved to Fresno in 1919 where His dad started a butcher shop. He graduated from Fresno High June 10, 1921.

The 1919 National City yearbook says Gibbs and L. Allen were the two best substitutes (it appears they were the only two substitutes). Only two games were played that year due to the influenza epidemic

In 1923 Dad sent the following thank you note to his grandmother, Anna Abott Kuykendall:

                                                                                               «i»  395 Poplar Ave                                                                                                   Fresno, Calif                                                                                                   Jan 4, 1923

Dear Grandma:

I received the belt buckle and I immediately made use of it and it is sure a good one. It sure won't slip, and I want to thank you for it. Mama received your letter the other day and I'll bet you had a great time with all that bunch on Christmas. I am still with the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation. I am testing meters in the shop. I have been playing my drums quite frequently lately, and I am making considerable money. Take care of yourself and prepare to make us a visit soon.

                                                                                                      Your Grandson                                                            
                                                      Ernest

«/i» Dad started as an elevator operator in the San Joaquin Power Company office. Then he became a lineman. That career ended when his crampons slipped and he slid all the way down the pole collecting numerous slivers. Sometime between 1923 and 1928, he moved to San Francisco and was playing the drums in a Dixieland jazz band. They performed at the Shanghai Café in San Francisco.

Dad and mom were married on July 21, 1928 in National City, CA. Mom listed her residence as San Diego, dad as San Francisco.

On December 5, 1928 he joined the US Naval Reserve as Radioman Third Class furthering his education in radio. He was honorably discharged on December 4, 1933 having served his four-year enlistment.

In 1928 both he and mother went to work for the White Department Store in San Francisco where dad worked as a radio technician. Dad claimed that he was the first to install a car radio. It was under the seat of their Model T. Shirley and Dana were born in San Francisco.

The depression was not hard on them as they were both working and were comparatively "well off." They came to financial aid of many of their relatives. Mother told a story about a Fuller Brush Salesman, who lived in their apartment building. He sold mom a Venetian blind brush (they didn't have any blinds in the apartment, mom felt sorry for him). Dad said, «i»"give me the brush. I'll return it.«/i»" Mom asked how he managed to return it and get their money back. Dad said, "«i»I told him you were not supposed to be alone without your keeper!" «/i»He never told her if this was the truth or not.

Around 1934 they moved to San Leandro where Valerie and Phillip were born at 968 Alice Street. In August of 1938, mother got her wish to move to Portland, or. Dad, Shirley and Phillip drove to Portland. They made a stop in Redmond, Or to visit with mom's Aunt Elizabeth Grey. They left Phillip in the hotel room with a baby bottle and went downstairs to dinner. When they came back to the room to check on Phillip they were panicked to see him a bright shade of blue. The bottle leaked and the blue dye in the sheet colored his face. Mom, Dana, and Valerie traveled by train to Portland.

They first lived on NE 25«sup»th«/sup» Avenue in Portland, moving soon after to SE 29«sup»th«/sup» Avenue in the Eastmoreland neighborhood of Portland where they met and became lifelong friends with Jim and Dorothy Randall ("Uncle" Jim and "Auntie" Dorothy.) One day in 1940 Mom and Aunt Dorothy drove out to Lake Grove, found two houses side by side on Graef Circle and rented them. When Uncle Jim and dad came home that night, they found their spouses packing.

Shortly after moving in to the house the kitchen sink drain plugged up. As there was no basement dad had to crawl on his back underneath the length of the house to the kitchen sink. He was banging on the pipes so mom opened the sink cabinet door and lifted up the trap door to see where the noise was coming from. She saw dad's face and asked him what he was doing under there. He said, «i»"Why didn't you tell me there was a trap door?" «/i» Several years later we moved across South Shore Boulevard to a home on the western end of Lake Oswego next to Cliff and Kay Powers (The home has since been torn down and replaced by a $4.5 million dollar home).

Our parents purchased a building lot on Lake Haven Drive in Lake Grove (now Lake Oswego). December 7, 1941 Dad was clearing brush on the lot. When he returned home we heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Like so many other Americans, dad and Uncle Jim went to the recruiting office to join up.

They were both to old to enlist so Uncle Jim went to work in the shipyards and dad went to work for Western Electric Company. We moved to another house on Lower Drive (now Lakeview Boulevard) near Lake Grove Park. Western Electric loaned dad to the US Navy. He was given the rank of Lt. Commander and sent to the Brooklyn Naval Yards in New York to supervise the installation of new radar on the ships rescued from Pearl Harbor. He was also involved in radar research, which at the time was a military secret. The Navy gave him a combatant card so if the enemy captured him he would not be shot as a spy as he wasn't in uniform. He was told to purchase a side arm so he bought a Smith and Wesson Police Special Revolver. Western Electric has been bought and sold many times since the war and their archives have been destroyed so there is no record of his employment. When dad visited Phillip and his family in New England, they passed the Quincy Naval Yards South of Boston and dad mentioned that he had visited there during the war.

The Fagan family moved to a small house on the lake down the street from our home on Lower Drive. Mr. Fagan had died leaving his wife and four children. Dad became a foster father to Tommy, the youngest of the Fagan children. In later years, Tommy remarked on what a great influence Dad had on him.

The home we rented on Lower Drive had an apartment in the basement, which was rented to a schoolteacher, Dorothy Peetz and her teenage son, Louie. Dad was a heavy sleeper and it took him a while to wake up. One night mom heard screaming, woke dad up and said «i»"Ernie, the girls! I hear screaming." «/i»Dad stumbled out of bed, grabbed his Police Special (fortunately loaded with blanks) out of the closet and ran upstairs. The girls were sound asleep. He then ran down two flights of stairs to the basement. The screaming was coming from a closet. Opening the closet, dad found Louie. He was having a nightmare dreaming he was tied to the railroad tracks and the train was coming.

Tommy Fagan and his brother Chuck asked us if we would like a purebred puppy. They had friends in Portland who wanted to give one away. We said yes, so Tommy and Chuck rode the bus into Portland to get the dog but the friend had given the puppy to someone else. Tommy and Chuck felt badly about it so they found another puppy to give us. They snuck him on the bus to Lake Grove and that's how we got "Scuffles." Scuffles liked to chase cars and one day he got in the way of a car, was hit and his back was broken. His right rear leg was unusable but he managed quite well on three. When we had to move from a home to an apartment, Uncle Jim took Scuffles for us until we had a home again. Scuffles was with us for 17 years and became dad's fishing companion as well as raw material for dad's fishing flies. The only time Phillip can remember dad crying was when Scuffles had a stroke and couldn't get up so Dr. Holden the local veterinarian put him to sleep.

In 1948 our parents purchased a lot on Canal Circle in Lake Grove. It was on the canal that fed the lake. Dad started to build the first home that they would own. When he was finishing the house, they had a "shingling" party to roof the house. Mom wanted the shingles "staggered" so they would look like cedar shakes and after many beers; the crew of volunteers staggered the shingles too much. It rained the day we were to move in and there was two inches of water on the floor. An emergency re-shingling with asphalt shingles took place.

Shirley, Dana, and Valerie were of dating age when we lived in the canal house. Dad would come home after a hard day at work, sit on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn beside him, take off his shoes, pull his socks part of the way off and fall asleep with his mouth open. If the girls had a date coming to pick them up, they would stealthily try to "neaten" him up a bit. This would make him wake up with the fury of a mad bee! He had a vein on the bridge of his nose that would pulsate when he was angry and you knew you had better back off! However, he did have a large degree of self-control. We were at a Fourth of July party at the Kingsberry's house. We were playing darts and Phillip threw a dart just as dad reached across the target to retrieve a dart. It was a perfect shot to the middle of dad's hand. Phil thought he was "dead meat." The vein pulsed but dad kept his self-control.

Dad had a number of talents and could make just about anything. He made a plywood Santa Claus and elves for the roof of our house at Christmas time and a loudspeaker that blasted all over the neighborhood. He played Santa, which thrilled the little ones in the neighborhood. He made our redwood outdoor furniture and a sailboat for Phil. He was a wizard with anything electrical. He made a crystal set for Phillip that received one or two radio stations, that's long before all of the modern electrical devices we have today. He was also a "ham" radio operator and the license plate number on his car was also his call sign.

In 1949 it was evident that television was the coming thing. Dad, Johnny Illo and Norman Bauder started a record and radio shop in Oswego anticipating the arrival of television. Unfortunately, television did not arrive in time to save the store and they had to close business. Dad would not declare bankruptcy so they sold the home on the canal for $9,800, exactly what they had paid for it to settle their debts and they moved into the Lakeshore apartments in Oswego. It was a very hard time for him.

While dad was in business in Oswego he was President of the Chamber of Commerce and Captain of the Oswego Police Reserve. One dark and stormy night he got a call that a man murdered his wife and the reserve was needed to set up roadblocks. Dad strapped on his pistol and told us to lock the doors after him. Valerie and Mother thought up a diabolical scheme to scare Phillip. Valerie announced she was going to take a shower; she turned the shower on and climbed out the bathroom window with Dad's hat and coat. Phil was studying at the dining room table near the front door. Valerie knocked on the window and rattled the door causing Phillip to jump out of his chair and start screaming. Then Valerie started screaming thinking he saw someone behind her.

Dad was an accomplished fly fisherman fishing the Clackamas, Rogue and McKenzie rivers and many of Oregon's lakes. He was well known on the McKenzie by the professional guides. Late one afternoon, when Dad was on a business trip, he stopped to fish the McKenzie. He was in the middle of the stream in a suit and tie and waders. It was getting dark and passing motorist called the state police and said someone was drowning in the middle of the stream. By the time the police got there dad was back at his car.

Mom and dad became involved with the founding of the Lake Oswego Civic Theater. At first, mom acted and dad built the stages and set up the lights. Then dad, as shy as he was, started taking parts in the plays. Mom was very jealous when the Portland Civic Theater asked him to play a judge in the play THE NIGHT OF JANUARY 16. .

Dad loved redheads especially the actress Ann Sheridan probably because she had red hair. Valerie used to think that she would dye her own hair red when she was old enough.

Dad always had a saying to fit the occasion. A few that Valerie remembers (which she was determined never to say them to her children, but of course she did) are:

   «i»"Slow down…you always have to be running?"
   "If everyone jumped off the bluff, would you?"
"If what people are saying about you isn't true, why worry about it?"

«/i»After losing the business, dad went to work for the Alvin Bravender Company selling appliances wholesale. He left Bravender to work for the Lou Johnson Company, a wholesale distributor of Motorola and Amana. Motorola had incentive contests and Dad won, among other prizes, a trip to Ireland and England for he and mother. They also vacationed in Baja California, Mexico and fell in love with the town of Mulege. This was before the Baja highway was built so they would fly into Mulege. They became good friends with "Kuka" who was the matriarch of Mulege. On one trip they decided to fly from Mulege over the Sea of Cortez to Guaymas. The trip took about an hour. Upon landing in Guaymas, the told the pilot they would be back in several hours. The pilot went to the nearest bar and proceeded to get drunk.

On the return flight, he went to sleep. Mom and dad were shaking him and trying to get him to drink some coffee. When they were over the airfield in Mulege, the pilot shook himself and landed the plane. The only problem, he landed in the wrong direction. Needless to say, they didn't take any more flights.

After Dana was married, we moved to a small house on 2«sup»nd«/sup» & D streets in Oswego. They lived there until 1960 when they moved to apartment on 2«sup»nd«/sup» street. In 1963 they purchased the second and last home they would ever own on Glenmorrie Drive in Lake Oswego.

Dad came east in 1969 on business. He visited Phillip and his family. Phillip had just purchased a 150-year-old farmhouse in Marshfield, MA. He was showing him the house and dad said, looking at all the restoration work that was needed «i»"I'm glad it's you and not me."«/i» There was an antique Victrola record player in the house with a box of records. Dad found the song "Pale Hands" which he had sung to mom when they were courting. He spent several hours listening to the songs of his youth.

Valerie says his tap dancing was as good as Fred Astair's. Her daughter Molly remembers dad pouring sugar on the kitchen floor and doing the "old soft shoe" routine. For such a tall gangly man, he was very graceful. He and mother could ballroom dance like Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers in the movies, despite the height difference between them (mom was 5'4" dad was 6'4".)

In 1969 Dad's health started failing. He had severe backaches and early in 1971, doctors found a mass on his kidney. They did exploratory surgery and found he was riddled with cancer. His weight dropped to 98 pounds. Several months prior to the diagnosis of the cancer, the Lou Johnson Company went out of business. One of their competitors gave dad a job selling on the road and he purchased a new car and started traveling again. His illness progressed and he was unable to carry on. Phillip and his family flew to Portland from Boston to see him for the last time. While there, mom asked them to help settle dad's affairs. The car that he had purchased to go back on the road selling was returned to the dealer who graciously gave the purchase price back. Pat balanced Dad's checkbook.

Suddenly he felt better and came out of his bedroom to sit in the living room. He perhaps had yellow jaundice and when that passed he felt better. He said, "Where is my checkbook? I need to balance it." He was not happy when he discovered we had already done it.

When we first arrived at their Glenmorrie home, he said «i»"Phil, take my tools. I won't be needing them anymore".«/i» So Phil packed up his tools and shipped them back to New England. Three weeks after Phil returned to New England he received a phone call from dad. He said, «i»" Why did you take my tools?«/i»" Phil said, «i»"Dad, you told me I could have them". «/i» He said, "I «i»didn't tell you could have all of them. I need my hammer and tool kit. Send them back!" «/i»Phil told him he would. Dad died three weeks later.

Dad always made us feel safe and loved and there didn't seem to be a problem he couldn't solve. He was a wonderful father who loved his family and always did the best for them. We buried him in Riverview Cemetery in Portland in a beautiful spot looking over the Willamette River and Mt. Hood.

His obituary in the LAKE OSWEGO REVIEW said «i»"The man with the steady, kindly blue eyes, the slow wide smile, the deliberate ways of a man sure and substantial among men, Ernest L. Gibbs, died Sunday, December 20 at Mountain Park Convalescent Center Hospital after a long illness."

«/i»

1. ↑ City of San Diego, CA. Amended Certificate of Birth. (18 June 1904. The original Birth Certificate did not give name of child, father's name and birthplace incorrect, maiden name of mother was incorrect and the name of the nurse in attendance was not given. Place of birth was S.E. Cor 2nd, B streets, National City, CA. Doctor in attendance was H.C. Oatman. Nurse in attendance was Annie Kuykendall. The correction was made 9 August 1940.)
   Birth Certificate, 18 Sep 2001.

   Quality: 4

2. ↑ Lake Oswego Review. Ernest L. Gibbs. (23 December 1971 Lake Oswego, OR)
   Ernest Gibbs obituary, 18 Sep 2001.

   Quality: 4

3.   City Directory of Portland.