Sepia Saturday #121: Hobart Hedrick

This week's Sepia Saturday theme is flight.  I remembered this picture of my Great-Uncle Hobart with his boys, Lyle and Dan standing by an airplane.  Dan was born in 1925, and Lyle in 1926, so I'm figuring that this photo was taken around 1939 or so, if they are 14 and 13.  This plane was Hobart's, and he helped to get the Shelton, Washington airport set up.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

To make things a bit easier, Hobart was my Grandma T.'s half brother; Lyle is the one who compiled and transcribed "The War Letters" and Danny was killed on a Navy ship during WWII.  Hobart married Flora Fletcher Hedrick and divorced her when Danny and Lyle were quite young.  Later on, Hobart married Velma and had two more children, Judy and Bud.

My Mom, Jody, wrote down her memories about these guys, and I will re-type the part about Hobart, and then give you some other links to posts that I have made about this side of my family. 

 Hobart Hedrick

"Hobart was born to Clara Ward Hedrick and Benjamin Eugene Hedrick in 1900.  They lived on Bear Creek Road, just west of Curtain, Oregon.  Clara Ward lived in that area before they were married.  Ben Hedrick was born on the Hedrick ranch on Hardscrabble Road, off Highway 38 just west of Drain. 

When Hobart was about a year old, his mother died of diphtheria. She had gone to help her sister-in-law, Jessie Hedrick Delauney, Ben's sister, who also lived on Bear Creek Road.  Jessie's youngest son, Homer, was sick with diphtheria.  Clara caught the disease, and both she and baby Homer died. 

This left Ben with the baby.  Jessie took baby Hobart to live with her family, with the understanding that Ben would take him back when he could care for him.  Ben had an Alice In Wonderland book that he had kept from his own childhood, and wrote in the back of the book that Hobart went away on April 22 at 9:10 o'clock in the evening. 

The story goes that Clara's mother came over to the house, saying, "I have come for the baby."  When Ben told her that he had given the baby to Jessie, she flew into a rage and destroyed the contents of the house, including breaking all of the dishes. 

Later on, Ben married Talitha Letsom.  They had three children, John in 1909, Florence in 1911 and Homer in 1913 (?).  My mother is Florence.  She shared that after her parents were married, Ben wanted to bring Hobart to live with them, and Hobart was not a bit happy about it.  He wanted to stay living with the Delauneys.  He said, "Of course I was spoiled; the Delauneys spoiled me." 

Mom (Florence) says that she can remember Hobart "making little messes around the ranch to irritate Grandpa (Ben) and that Granny (Litha) would be following him around cleaning them up to keep Grandpa from finding out." 

When Hobart was a teenager, he left for good.  The problem was probably that he and Grandpa were just too much alike.  Hobart got on just fine with Granny, but then, most people did. 

Hobart was an adventurer.  There are pictures of him topping tall trees.  He was one of the first people to fly airplanes.  Notice in the pictures that he was the one with the camera bag across his shoulder. 

I don't know what happened between him and Flora.  It was during the Great Depression, and times were hard.  His family thought that he had deserted her and the boys, and they did not like it at all.  They all liked Flora, and of course, they loved Dan and Lyle.  One story goes that Hobart had a car and asked Grandpa to sell it for him, which he did.  Later, Hobart asked Grandpa for the money, and Grandpa said, "I gave it to Flora." 

Hobart's ashes are buried with his mother in Comstock Cemetery in Anlauf just north of Drain, Oregon."

Links: 

 Flora Fletcher Hedrick and The War Letters
The War Letters: Uncle John Hedrick

• The War Letters: Uncle John Hedrick Visits a Cemetery in Natal, Brazil

So, there you are, my friends.  If you enjoyed this story, please visit my Sepia Saturday friends by "CLICKING HERE" to find other neat photos and stories.  To read more about my family and other stories featuring old photos, memories and more, please look for this picture of me and my dad on the left-hand sidebar and read whatever else catches your fancy.  Thanks so much for visiting!

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

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