Dolores M. Wilson

Other Events and Attributes:

• Address: Delores M. Watson; Address:
  7918 SE King RD, #11
  Portland, OR 97222
• Phone: (503)-353-9176
• Residence: Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA
• _UID: 707787E2819E41E1A6F300FAEC75E71783C9

Notes:

Excerpt: Letter from Delores Watson to Larry Wilson, 12/2/1992

In early summer of 1942 my sister, Florence Evenson and her husband Harry, came to Portland, Oregon to work in the shipyards. They left their two daughters with my mother and me to care for until they could get situated in the city of Portland. They traveled by auto, bringing their son, Harold, with them.

At that time, my father owned an eighty-acre farm five and one half miles north of Williams, MN. We, like so many people living in the rural areas, left home and hearth to seek work in the industrial war boom of the big cities. My father, Del Wilson, preceded my mother and me to the west coast and was working in Seattle, Washington.

In late July 1942, my sister and her husband were settled in Portland and wanted mother and me to bring the two girls (Lois and Joyce) to Portland. There was a Mr. Harry Denton in the Williams area who was using his truck to take passengers to the west coast and haul produce back to the Williams area. My mother, Lois, Joyce and I along with female members of three other families settled ourselves comfortably in the back of Mr. Denton's truck (it resembled a modern U-Haul truck)and headed west. I quit my job as a waitress earning $12.00 every two weeks. Upon arriving in Portland, obtained a job cleaning passenger railroad cars earning $4.00 per day. For this 20 year old, I felt as though I was on "cloud 9".

My husband Ralph, is from Norton, N. C. He had lived on the west coast since 1936 but only a few months in Portland. We met through a mutual acquaintence. A short, fast courtship as many were in those days, we were married in Portland on October 15, 1942. We recently celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Uncle John Wilson's son Woody and his wife Margaret were among our guests.

Occupation:
Retired Buyer - Penny's

Dolores married Ralph Woodfin Watson on 15 Oct 1942 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA. Ralph was born on 16 Nov 1916 in Norton, , North Carolina, USA; died on 18 Jan 2005 in , Clackamas County, Oregon, USA; was buried in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, USA, Lincoln Memorial Mausoleum. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]