1920

Our grandparents, James Orval Booth (1902-1955) and Marian Margaret Pfister (1903-1971) were married on September 11, 1921 in Topeka, Kansas.  Our grandfather, who was known as "Orval" for most of his life, was in high school during World War I.  Orval worked as a cook after he and Marian were married.  They had three children - James Jr. (1922), Nyla (1924) and Alice (1925).  They lived in Hiawatha, Kansas above Aunt Ida's restaurant across the street from the Piggly Wiggly market.  In 1936, the family drove to Southern California to start a new life after the Great Depression.  Orval initially worked for the Ringling Brother circus but eventually found a job at the Richfield Oil refinery in Carson, California.  A few years after their three children had finished high school and married, Orval and Marian bought a house in Bellflower, California on Briercrest Avenue.  I remember Grandpa Orval as a jolly fellow who was mostly bald and a bit pudgy.  It seemed to me that he always wore his gray, Richfield work uniform.  He liked to eat Spanish peanuts.  Orval suffered from migraine headaches in his later years.  He was not treated by a doctor for the headaches but self-medicated with increasing doses of aspirin.  My father remembered that Orval would take a handful of aspirin when a migraine came.  Our grandfather died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage two weeks after Christmas in 1955.  I remember the day when my mother got the call and we rushed to Bellflower to be with Grandma Marian.  [JAM 3/3/2021]

Our grandmother moved in with us in Norwalk on Studebaker Road later in 1955.

The following people attended the funeral services for James Orval Booth at Rose Hills on January 10, 1955 - Officiating: Rev. Robert A. Burns; Organ Selections: Mrs. M. Blakeman & Robert Shawhan; Pall Bearers: William K. Welt, E.L. Diederich, M.H. Schatz, Arthur Johnson, Roy Bennett and Les Shimmefield; Guests: Mr. & Mrs. G.E. Booth, Mr. & Mrs. Joe White, Mr. & Mrs. Jay C. Coon, Mr. William Werbouski, Von L. Vaughn, Doris L. Walker, Glenne White, Mr. & Mrs. Ray White, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Barnes, J.L. Berry, Harry E. Cook, A.L. Stewart, Edith Seaman, Ruth Linderman, Robert G. Mintle, Vernon R. Chandler, Mrs. Esther Rasmussen, Mrs. Allen Jenman, Mr. & Mrs. Raleigh Meyer, Mr. & Mrs. Paul McLean, Dale Lydick, Marie Lydick, W.P. Garit, E.V. Rippstein, H.C. Barnette, Dale Burgess, R.S. Eahle, B.N. Glonortle, Johnnie Gandsey, Howard Peoples, Jack Stone, Mr. & Mrs. Harold Henkell, Allen H. Kennedy, James R. Benson, Fern Morton, Clara McMatt, Ruby Tidwell, Mary Swensson, Mr. & Mrs. Begley, R.W. Lancaster, Mr. & Mrs. E.A. Schall, Mr. & Mrs. J.C. Coon, Kathleen & Jim Booth & kids, Nyla, Homer Moore & Jerry & Betty Lou, Marie & Vernon Pfister; Floral Tributes & Messages: His family, Mother & Glenn, Oil Workers Union Local 128, Employees Richfield Refinery, Alky Bowling Team, Harold Henkel & family, Marie & Dale Lydick, Mr. & Mrs. Raleigh & Fred Meyer, Ida, Clem, Jodie, Neil & Russ Coon & Sally Kirby, Pete & John Dobas & families, Western Carloading Shop, Mrs. Rasmussen & family, Mr. & Mrs. Ray White, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Barnes, Marie & Vernon, Roy Bennett, Carl Heinrich, George Miller, Clifford T. Hill, Allen H. Kennedy, W.B. Parkinson, Robert L. Graves, Thurston Dines, James G. Stout, John W. Hogan, Nicholas Eighmy, Leroy W. Grovum, Malcolm Chandler, M.A. Lochnit, E.V. Rippstein, Aubrey Gregg, David B. Bell, Evelyn & Ralph Jump, O.A. Knight, B.J. Schafer, L.M. McCormick, Don & Helen Pfister, Mary Pfister, Leo M. Schulman M.D., Miss Steffen, Dr. Dean, Miss Byers, Mrs. Nowlin, Mrs. Reese, Miss Carson, Mrs. Ruth Wright, Bessie Schrader, Pauline & Ray, Francis Bos, Bill & Edythe Werbouski, Mr. & Mrs. Clarence Durrell, Mr. & Mrs. L.W. Grovum, Adele Vleberg, Olga & John Solberg, Esther Rasmussen, Jenmans, A.L. Booths, Georgia Davey, Mr. & Mrs. A.F. Churchill, Mr. & Mrs. Jack Stone, Dick & Harriet, Gladys & Bill Lydick, Mr. & Mrs. Tom Grant & Maxine, Aunt Em & Irene, Valere & Bud Sinning & family, Dorothy, Marie & Oscar, Pat & Clare.