My maternal Great-Aunt Helen told my husband and I once that all she ever knew growing up was that she wanted to get the hell out of Hagerman, New Mexico. She said Hagerman was pleasant enough, but times were hard in the 1930s. She was BORED. It had very little to offer a young woman. And girls just want to have fun, so the song goes. Every chance she could take, she went to the nearby metropolis of Roswell, where there was an air force base full of young men. Helen soon met a guy who worked at a filling station (is what they called gas stations back in the day). Joe was easy on the eyes and full of personality. They soon married.
Ahh, this a poor photo, I know. I had only a few kilobytes from which to resize into this grainy picture. Do YOU have any photos of young Joe and Helen? Would love to see some.
Joe Dempsie Sillivent married Helen Evelyn Coffee in Fort Sumner, DeBaca County, New Mexico in October 1940. My cousin Connie shared their marriage certificate with us. Remember to click on photos in this blog to enlarge.
From Santa Fe, New Mexico in November of 1942, Joe enlisted and served over three years during World War II. He served stateside as a radio mechanic in Massachusetts and Washington. Helen and her younger brother (Joe's buddy) John Coffee also relocated with him to Massachusetts where he was stationed.
Jack Dempsey was THE boxing star of the 1920s. I've wondered if Joe's parents were fans and gave their youngest son his middle name Dempsie as a nod to the Champ? After serving in the military during World War II, Joe and Helen followed her family's move to central California. They divorced in 1949. Helen remarried. As did Joe--two more times, to Pauline and then Gertrude. He later reconnected with Helen, his first wife, who was recently widowed. He was by her side when she died in 2004.
Joe died shortly before Christmas in 2009. When I last spoke to him,
it was about his beloved dog, "Red," who had been such a good
companion to him.
Joe's obit reads:
JOE D. SILLIVENT, age 89, passed away Thursday, December 17, 2009 in Hemet, California, where he was a resident for 21 years. Joe was born on June 26th, 1920 in Shallow-Water, Texas to Lewis Warren and Flora Sillivent. Joe loved electronics which led to his career as an Electrical Engineer for ITT for 38 years. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II. Joe is survived by his son, Martin Sillivent of Maui, Hawaii; son-in-law, Paul Jones of Maui, Hawaii; step-son, Richard and Lonna Owen of San Bernardino, California; niece, Debra Taylor of Riverbank, CA; a large extended family of grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins in both Texas and California. Funeral Service will be at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario, CA at 11:00 am, Tuesday, December 29, 2009.
We miss you and Helen still, Uncle Joe.