Willis Raymond Stehle was the third child of Joseph Damian Stehle and Nancy Delilah Ripley. His arrival made the pages of the LINDEN (Michigan) LEADER newspaper:
"Mr. and Mrs. Joe Stehle are happy and proud. A baby boy that joined the family Sunday morning is the cause of it all."
Willis grew up on the family farm north of Linden. Many of his first jobs were of an agricultural nature. The August 15, 1919 edition of the FLINT JOURNAL noted that he was "...working on the Bloomfield farm, near Pontiac (Michigan)". He later relocated to a farm near Dexter in Washtenaw County, Michigan. On June 24, 1922, he married Loneta Alpha Polley, the daughter of a Linden neighbor. They were married in Linden by Rev. Carl Lundbom with Adelle Ganett and Anna Lundbom acting as witnesses. After their marriage, Willis gave up farming and worked at a dairy in Flint, Michigan. He and Loneta had three children: Ruth Alpha, Nancy E., and Gerald Willis. All were born in Linden. During the midst of the Great Depression, the September 18, 1936 edition of the LINDEN LEADER wrote a brief blurb about Willis and Loneta:
"Mr. and Mrs. Willis Stehle who for several years have been playing safe by living in a makeshift of a home are having it reorganized and made over into a modern residence. In the meantime, they are enjoying life in a tent. These young people are endowed with a lot of good common sense, and if more follow their example of thrift more would be on easy street instead of living on the dole."
By the time of the 1940 U. S. census, Willis was working at a Flint automobile factory, probably Fisher Body, as a "paint repairman". The family later moved to Detroit where he worked at another automobile factory, possibly the Ford Rouge Plant. In September of 1941, his daughter Ruth married David Madarsz. They then moved to Santa Monica, California. Willis and Loneta left Michigan and followed their daughter to Santa Monica where he found work as an installer for the Belmont Heating and Air Conditioning Company. He would later buy the company. After Loneta's death from a brain aneurysm in 1962, Willis retired. He spent much of his time doing woodworking and repairing children's toys. On January 26, 1964, he married a former customer named Eva B. Tanney in Los Angeles, California. He had installed a furnace for her back in the day. Eva passed away in August of 1969. Willis Raymond Stehle died of pneumonia in Encino, California on November 22, 1969. He was placed in an above-ground vault near his first wife Loneta at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Biography compiled by Jeff Stehle. Please credit appropriately.
"Mr. and Mrs. Joe Stehle are happy and proud. A baby boy that joined the family Sunday morning is the cause of it all."
Willis grew up on the family farm north of Linden. Many of his first jobs were of an agricultural nature. The August 15, 1919 edition of the FLINT JOURNAL noted that he was "...working on the Bloomfield farm, near Pontiac (Michigan)". He later relocated to a farm near Dexter in Washtenaw County, Michigan. On June 24, 1922, he married Loneta Alpha Polley, the daughter of a Linden neighbor. They were married in Linden by Rev. Carl Lundbom with Adelle Ganett and Anna Lundbom acting as witnesses. After their marriage, Willis gave up farming and worked at a dairy in Flint, Michigan. He and Loneta had three children: Ruth Alpha, Nancy E., and Gerald Willis. All were born in Linden. During the midst of the Great Depression, the September 18, 1936 edition of the LINDEN LEADER wrote a brief blurb about Willis and Loneta:
"Mr. and Mrs. Willis Stehle who for several years have been playing safe by living in a makeshift of a home are having it reorganized and made over into a modern residence. In the meantime, they are enjoying life in a tent. These young people are endowed with a lot of good common sense, and if more follow their example of thrift more would be on easy street instead of living on the dole."
By the time of the 1940 U. S. census, Willis was working at a Flint automobile factory, probably Fisher Body, as a "paint repairman". The family later moved to Detroit where he worked at another automobile factory, possibly the Ford Rouge Plant. In September of 1941, his daughter Ruth married David Madarsz. They then moved to Santa Monica, California. Willis and Loneta left Michigan and followed their daughter to Santa Monica where he found work as an installer for the Belmont Heating and Air Conditioning Company. He would later buy the company. After Loneta's death from a brain aneurysm in 1962, Willis retired. He spent much of his time doing woodworking and repairing children's toys. On January 26, 1964, he married a former customer named Eva B. Tanney in Los Angeles, California. He had installed a furnace for her back in the day. Eva passed away in August of 1969. Willis Raymond Stehle died of pneumonia in Encino, California on November 22, 1969. He was placed in an above-ground vault near his first wife Loneta at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Biography compiled by Jeff Stehle. Please credit appropriately.
Willis Raymond Stehle was the third child of Joseph Damian Stehle and Nancy Delilah Ripley. His arrival made the pages of the LINDEN (Michigan) LEADER newspaper:
"Mr. and Mrs. Joe Stehle are happy and proud. A baby boy that joined the family Sunday morning is the cause of it all."
Willis grew up on the family farm north of Linden. Many of his first jobs were of an agricultural nature. The August 15, 1919 edition of the FLINT JOURNAL noted that he was "...working on the Bloomfield farm, near Pontiac (Michigan)". He later relocated to a farm near Dexter in Washtenaw County, Michigan. On June 24, 1922, he married Loneta Alpha Polley, the daughter of a Linden neighbor. They were married in Linden by Rev. Carl Lundbom with Adelle Ganett and Anna Lundbom acting as witnesses. After their marriage, Willis gave up farming and worked at a dairy in Flint, Michigan. He and Loneta had three children: Ruth Alpha, Nancy E., and Gerald Willis. All were born in Linden. During the midst of the Great Depression, the September 18, 1936 edition of the LINDEN LEADER wrote a brief blurb about Willis and Loneta:
"Mr. and Mrs. Willis Stehle who for several years have been playing safe by living in a makeshift of a home are having it reorganized and made over into a modern residence. In the meantime, they are enjoying life in a tent. These young people are endowed with a lot of good common sense, and if more follow their example of thrift more would be on easy street instead of living on the dole."
By the time of the 1940 U. S. census, Willis was working at a Flint automobile factory, probably Fisher Body, as a "paint repairman". The family later moved to Detroit where he worked at another automobile factory, possibly the Ford Rouge Plant. In September of 1941, his daughter Ruth married David Madarsz. They then moved to Santa Monica, California. Willis and Loneta left Michigan and followed their daughter to Santa Monica where he found work as an installer for the Belmont Heating and Air Conditioning Company. He would later buy the company. After Loneta's death from a brain aneurysm in 1962, Willis retired. He spent much of his time doing woodworking and repairing children's toys. On January 26, 1964, he married a former customer named Eva B. Tanney in Los Angeles, California. He had installed a furnace for her back in the day. Eva passed away in August of 1969. Willis Raymond Stehle died of pneumonia in Encino, California on November 22, 1969. He was placed in an above-ground vault near his first wife Loneta at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Biography compiled by Jeff Stehle. Please credit appropriately.
"Mr. and Mrs. Joe Stehle are happy and proud. A baby boy that joined the family Sunday morning is the cause of it all."
Willis grew up on the family farm north of Linden. Many of his first jobs were of an agricultural nature. The August 15, 1919 edition of the FLINT JOURNAL noted that he was "...working on the Bloomfield farm, near Pontiac (Michigan)". He later relocated to a farm near Dexter in Washtenaw County, Michigan. On June 24, 1922, he married Loneta Alpha Polley, the daughter of a Linden neighbor. They were married in Linden by Rev. Carl Lundbom with Adelle Ganett and Anna Lundbom acting as witnesses. After their marriage, Willis gave up farming and worked at a dairy in Flint, Michigan. He and Loneta had three children: Ruth Alpha, Nancy E., and Gerald Willis. All were born in Linden. During the midst of the Great Depression, the September 18, 1936 edition of the LINDEN LEADER wrote a brief blurb about Willis and Loneta:
"Mr. and Mrs. Willis Stehle who for several years have been playing safe by living in a makeshift of a home are having it reorganized and made over into a modern residence. In the meantime, they are enjoying life in a tent. These young people are endowed with a lot of good common sense, and if more follow their example of thrift more would be on easy street instead of living on the dole."
By the time of the 1940 U. S. census, Willis was working at a Flint automobile factory, probably Fisher Body, as a "paint repairman". The family later moved to Detroit where he worked at another automobile factory, possibly the Ford Rouge Plant. In September of 1941, his daughter Ruth married David Madarsz. They then moved to Santa Monica, California. Willis and Loneta left Michigan and followed their daughter to Santa Monica where he found work as an installer for the Belmont Heating and Air Conditioning Company. He would later buy the company. After Loneta's death from a brain aneurysm in 1962, Willis retired. He spent much of his time doing woodworking and repairing children's toys. On January 26, 1964, he married a former customer named Eva B. Tanney in Los Angeles, California. He had installed a furnace for her back in the day. Eva passed away in August of 1969. Willis Raymond Stehle died of pneumonia in Encino, California on November 22, 1969. He was placed in an above-ground vault near his first wife Loneta at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Biography compiled by Jeff Stehle. Please credit appropriately.
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