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Mable, Jay, Mary Ann (Grandmother) Richey and Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser
Mable was about 36, Jay was about 43, Grandmother was about 79

This was taken in the Fall of 1951. Mable, Jay and Ray flew from John Day Oregon to St Johns Arizona.
  Jay and Mable took Grandma to visit some relatives living in Tucson or Mesa-Phoenix area.
 They left Ray in St Johns with Aunt Daisy and Uncle Ivan Lewis while they went to visit.

Mable, Jay, Ray Richey and Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser in the Fall of 1951.
Ray was about 7 and the Super Cruiser was younger than that purchased in about 1946 making it about 5 years old.

Jay and Mable Richey. 1953 - 1954
I think it is on the Kodiak Airways ramp because of the airplane wing in the back.
Also Dad is wearing white coveralls. He only wore them when he was at work. 
This is really a great picture of my Mom and Dad.
 

These two pictures were taken with a camera like this.

Floyd, Dad (Jay), Mother (Mable) and me (Ray) Richey. 
Kodiak, Alaska in front of the house on Mill Bay.

The following is a transcription of a document in my Dads journal.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAY RICHEY & MABLE JAMES

Jay spent the first 35 years of his life in and around St Johns was school bus driver, gas truck driver, freight truck driver and farmer On 3rd April 1931 took a bus load of kids to Ramah New Mexico for the Junior Prom, where he meet Mable James, they were married on 14 May 1931.  They began married life at the old home ranch at Richville where Jay spent a happy boyhood.  In 1942 after Jay had ruined his heart by too many hours of truck driving a round trip from St Johns to Artesia New Mexico and back to St Johns in 2 1/2 days) the State of Arizona helped Jay get into a new line of work, which was easier on his health. He went into the airplane repair.  In 1943 after moving to Phoenix & Mesa they lost their baby Autumn, she had been sick for over a year, with cancer in her head.  Jay worked for Uncle Sam, at Williams A. F. B. for 4 yrs. They moved back to St Johns in 1946 and worked for Apache Flying Service for a time at St Johns, and then they sent Jay to Holbrook to take care of their shop there. In Feb. 1947 Jay got pneumonia, was sick for 3 months, when he was ready to go back to work he was out of a job. They sold every thing that wouldn't go into a trailer house and headed north, arrived in Portland Oregon in Sept. 1947. As Mable had earned her airplane pilot license while at Holbrook she went back on the bus and flew the plane to Portland.  2 mos. later wrecked the plane by flying through a power line (42000 volts).  They moved to Bend in Feb. 1949.  Hauled the plane to Bend with the car, took 4 yrs, to get it flying again.


Soon after arriving in Bend Jay took sick again with pneumonia, was flat in bed for 8 solid months, and was unable to work for over 2 yrs, Mable worked in a glove factory for 2 1/2 yrs.  While doing this she filled a 15 mo. home mission.  Moved to John Day in July 1951 where Jay found work he could do.  In Jan. 1952 Jay Mable & Ray flew to St Johns to visit, got snowed in for two days at Cedar City, it was a very nice trip.  In Sept. 1952 packed up and headed for Alaska, took three weeks to go from John Day Oregon to Homer Alaska. The day we left Forest left to go back to his air force base in Okla. We drove an old Model A Ford all the way without any trouble. Reed Lyons went with us.  His car was a 1940 Pontiac, and he pulled a trailer.  It's 3545 Mi. from John Day to Homer.  They were at Homer for six weeks' then went to Kodiak.  Kodiak is on the island of Kodiak.  When you wanted to go any where outside of town you go by boat or fly. The plane was brought up in spring of 1954.  The only place there was to land was on the beach at low tide.  And that was on another island about 3 miles away, so Mable built a 12 ft. V bottom plywood boat.  It was also used for fishing trips too.  Mable covered airplanes and bought a new 51/2 HP quiet model Johnston outboard motor, for the boat.

In Sept. 1954 Jay and Mable flew from Kodiak down the Northwest Staging rout (Alaska highway) to St Johns Ariz. in 6 1/2 days, after visiting with the folks for 6 wks, they left the plane with Forest, they took the bus to Seattle Wash, then took a plain on home.

When first arriving in Kodiak they were unable to find any L. D. S. members.  Pres. McMurrin advised them to put an add in the paper to see if they could find any other L. D. S. members, which they did. There were some 30 or 40 members and they were meeting each Sunday and having their meetings.  But they were on their own, with the Richey’s help they were able to make contact with Pres. McMurrin and become members of the North Western States Mission.  Mable served as Relief Society President for almost 2 yrs.  It was a really wonderful 4 years or so that they spent at Kodiak.

Ted & Scharlotte worked one summer on a floating cannery, traveling as far west as Chignic and as far North as Snug Harbor on the Alaskan peninsula, and Seldovia on the Kenai peninsula, and other parts of Kodiak. Floyd worked two seasons at Parks cannery at Uyak bay, Kodiak as machinist helper. Ted also worked a season on a fishing boat, where he learned about fishing, marine navigation and the sea.

 

This is a picture of the above narrative.  Mother and Dad had a typewriter that had been purchased to type genealogy sheets.  None of us ever learned to type to well before leaving home.  But I think this document was typed with that typewriter, and it was probably typed by Mother.  This was probably written during the time that Mom and Dad spent at the Lost River Ranch.  The mission president was James A. McMurrin who served as the President of the Northwestern States Mission from 1950 to 1955.

I also found this information about or times in Alaska. It is in Dads hand writing.

The following are some comments that my brother Floyd made concerning the above.
I have formatted it a little to make it a little easer to read.
 

1. Dad had rheumatic heart condition, this was the result of rheumatic fever as a child of about 6. The twenty four hr. work schedule didn't help much either. He also went through a period of time when he had a very bad bout with boils. The only pain killer that he had was aspirin which he took as many as 25 at a time. He said that he was never really over them until he got married. He would get them on his bottom and would sit on a board in his truck because he said it hurt less than the seat cushion.  

2.When the war started the US govt. took over Arizona State collage at Tempe and used it to train needed skills for the war effort. The weather in Arizona made it an excellent place to train pilots. So being 4f he was chosen to get his aircraft mechanics license.

3. At the time we were in Kodiak the church had a policy of ordaining returned missionaries and other qualified men entering the military as "group leaders". That is what the LDS group at Kodiak Navel Air Base were doing. Mother got them in touch with the Mission President as you have pointed out. Mother always questioned their lake [sic] [lack] of dedication or something but they were a group of almost all military people doing what military people did at that time. [Military people still do the same thing today. Editor] As it turned out mother stirred up the pot and pushed for a full fledged branch with a building in town and everything. Good for her. Floyd   


 

 This page last updated: February 26, 2009

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