Leonard Esley (Shorty) Dawes 2/25/1918 - 10/30/2019
Shorty was born February 25, 1918 on a farm near Yale, OK. and died October 30, 2019 in Auburn, CA. His father died at the age of 28 and his mother remarried. It was a large family of six boys in addition to his mother and stepfather. In 1932 at the age of 14 he struck out for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas where he resided with his stepbrother and did odd jobs. Ten months later he moved back to Oklahoma and moved in with his grandparents. At harvest time he quit high school and went to Kansas to work the harvest. For the next several years he worked the harvest and on various farms. On April 16,1940 he married Violet Hilbert. When draft time came around Shorty was working in Kansas, and in 1943 he moved his family to Truckee, California. In Truckee he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a powder monkey. In January, 1944 Shorty was drafted into the Navy and moved his family back to Yale. He went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. After boot camp the Navy shipped him to the Admiralties in the Pacific theater where he helped build a Navy supply depot. He was later moved to Manila where he was made Captain of a LCM and ferried US returning POWs from Manila to a hospital ship prior to returning home to the US. He was discharged from the Navy on November 10, 1945. Shorty returned to Oklahoma, and a month later loaded his family into their car and returned to California where he rejoined the Southern Pacific in Colfax, California. In 1952 he became foreman of SP's dynamite crew and in 1956 he moved the family to Weimar. After 34 years he retired from the Southern Pacific to spend his time pursuing his hobbies of hunting, fishing, gardening, cards, and dominoes.
Shorty and Violet had four children.
Shorty is survived by his children, eight grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren, and 11 great, great grandchildren.
A celebration of Shorty's life will be held on December 7, 2019 at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall at 12 noon following an 11:00 am interment at the Colfax Cemetery.
Lenord Dawes
United States Census, 1920
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJMH-6J9
Shorty was born February 25, 1918 on a farm near Yale, OK. and died October 30, 2019 in Auburn, CA. His father died at the age of 28 and his mother remarried. It was a large family of six boys in addition to his mother and stepfather. In 1932 at the age of 14 he struck out for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas where he resided with his stepbrother and did odd jobs. Ten months later he moved back to Oklahoma and moved in with his grandparents. At harvest time he quit high school and went to Kansas to work the harvest. For the next several years he worked the harvest and on various farms. On April 16,1940 he married Violet Hilbert. When draft time came around Shorty was working in Kansas, and in 1943 he moved his family to Truckee, California. In Truckee he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a powder monkey. In January, 1944 Shorty was drafted into the Navy and moved his family back to Yale. He went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. After boot camp the Navy shipped him to the Admiralties in the Pacific theater where he helped build a Navy supply depot. He was later moved to Manila where he was made Captain of a LCM and ferried US returning POWs from Manila to a hospital ship prior to returning home to the US. He was discharged from the Navy on November 10, 1945. Shorty returned to Oklahoma, and a month later loaded his family into their car and returned to California where he rejoined the Southern Pacific in Colfax, California. In 1952 he became foreman of SP's dynamite crew and in 1956 he moved the family to Weimar. After 34 years he retired from the Southern Pacific to spend his time pursuing his hobbies of hunting, fishing, gardening, cards, and dominoes.
Shorty and Violet had four children.
Shorty is survived by his children, eight grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren, and 11 great, great grandchildren.
A celebration of Shorty's life will be held on December 7, 2019 at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall at 12 noon following an 11:00 am interment at the Colfax Cemetery.
Lenord Dawes
United States Census, 1920
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJMH-6J9
Leonard Esley (Shorty) Dawes 2/25/1918 - 10/30/2019
Shorty was born February 25, 1918 on a farm near Yale, OK. and died October 30, 2019 in Auburn, CA. His father died at the age of 28 and his mother remarried. It was a large family of six boys in addition to his mother and stepfather. In 1932 at the age of 14 he struck out for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas where he resided with his stepbrother and did odd jobs. Ten months later he moved back to Oklahoma and moved in with his grandparents. At harvest time he quit high school and went to Kansas to work the harvest. For the next several years he worked the harvest and on various farms. On April 16,1940 he married Violet Hilbert. When draft time came around Shorty was working in Kansas, and in 1943 he moved his family to Truckee, California. In Truckee he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a powder monkey. In January, 1944 Shorty was drafted into the Navy and moved his family back to Yale. He went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. After boot camp the Navy shipped him to the Admiralties in the Pacific theater where he helped build a Navy supply depot. He was later moved to Manila where he was made Captain of a LCM and ferried US returning POWs from Manila to a hospital ship prior to returning home to the US. He was discharged from the Navy on November 10, 1945. Shorty returned to Oklahoma, and a month later loaded his family into their car and returned to California where he rejoined the Southern Pacific in Colfax, California. In 1952 he became foreman of SP's dynamite crew and in 1956 he moved the family to Weimar. After 34 years he retired from the Southern Pacific to spend his time pursuing his hobbies of hunting, fishing, gardening, cards, and dominoes.
Shorty and Violet had four children.
Shorty is survived by his children, eight grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren, and 11 great, great grandchildren.
A celebration of Shorty's life will be held on December 7, 2019 at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall at 12 noon following an 11:00 am interment at the Colfax Cemetery.
Lenord Dawes
United States Census, 1920
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJMH-6J9
Shorty was born February 25, 1918 on a farm near Yale, OK. and died October 30, 2019 in Auburn, CA. His father died at the age of 28 and his mother remarried. It was a large family of six boys in addition to his mother and stepfather. In 1932 at the age of 14 he struck out for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas where he resided with his stepbrother and did odd jobs. Ten months later he moved back to Oklahoma and moved in with his grandparents. At harvest time he quit high school and went to Kansas to work the harvest. For the next several years he worked the harvest and on various farms. On April 16,1940 he married Violet Hilbert. When draft time came around Shorty was working in Kansas, and in 1943 he moved his family to Truckee, California. In Truckee he went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a powder monkey. In January, 1944 Shorty was drafted into the Navy and moved his family back to Yale. He went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho. After boot camp the Navy shipped him to the Admiralties in the Pacific theater where he helped build a Navy supply depot. He was later moved to Manila where he was made Captain of a LCM and ferried US returning POWs from Manila to a hospital ship prior to returning home to the US. He was discharged from the Navy on November 10, 1945. Shorty returned to Oklahoma, and a month later loaded his family into their car and returned to California where he rejoined the Southern Pacific in Colfax, California. In 1952 he became foreman of SP's dynamite crew and in 1956 he moved the family to Weimar. After 34 years he retired from the Southern Pacific to spend his time pursuing his hobbies of hunting, fishing, gardening, cards, and dominoes.
Shorty and Violet had four children.
Shorty is survived by his children, eight grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren, and 11 great, great grandchildren.
A celebration of Shorty's life will be held on December 7, 2019 at the Colfax Veterans Memorial Hall at 12 noon following an 11:00 am interment at the Colfax Cemetery.
Lenord Dawes
United States Census, 1920
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJMH-6J9
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