Bob's first child, Julie was born this year

Bob's cousin Eva this year. Probably taken by Bob when he and Ruth were driving their new IH pickup home. Bob recalls: "Cousin Eva died about 1962 of leukemia. She, being childless, was so desperately envious of our prolificity that she volunteered to take care of [our] 3 kids in Ironwood while I worked in LA and Ruth took her well-deserved vacation in Europe(1958). When Ruth decided to extend her stay in Europe, Eva demanded that I immediately come to Ironwood and get [my] kids.

"Instead, I sent my mother to Ironwood and she flew [our kids] back to LA and cared for [them] until Ruth returned."

Jef recalls: "Ruth believed Judy blamed her for this, even though it was all Bob's idea. This may have been part of the reason for Bob and Ruth's divorce in 1961".

Weather was stormy, and when flying into Chicago, it was fogged in, so they had to circle in the Lockheed Constellation for 3 hours before landing. They connected to a DC2 in Chicago, and flew to Springfield, Ohio, home of International. They drove back, and visited Bob's relatives, and he met his grandmother for the first time.

Ruth gave birth to her eldest, daughter Julie. While at home, Ruth worked on controlling the mountain of mud that encroached on the house with each passing storm. Ruth orchestrated building the necessary terracing both above and below the house.

The couple continued construction of their 3 story addition. The bottom story became the basement.

Robert recalls:

"Within 6 months (of giving birth to Julie) Ruth got a job at Gladding McBean as a china painter. We employed babysitters on a full day basis. Our income became more limited for the continuing construction of the home."

Robert also recalls:

In 1952, a Mr. King had applied for a permit to build a drive-in hamburger stand in my Waterworks District No.1. His permit required the construction of a 500gpm fire hydrant within 200 feet of the stand. We needed a right of way to extend pipe to the hydrant and I prepared a deed and went to Long Beach one night to get Mr. and Mrs King to sign. That stand sold burgers for 25 cents each under the title "Burger King".