Ole's Blog

Before getting into the family issue, I want to finish up on the civilian component of Frank Colby Myers’ career. After joining the City of Oakland, California in 1924 as a junior engineer and draftsman, he steadily advanced through the ranks. He completed exams and received an California engineer’s license in 1930. He was a traffic engineer and “senior” engineer until called up for active duty in WW2. After the war, he served as Supervising Engineer until his retirement in 1953. He then retired and moved to the San Diego area, where he grew avocados, and remained active in public affairs, serving on the boards of a Public Utility District and the California Department of Forestry. He died in October 1973.

But what about his family? Of all the Myers family members I have talked with, only cousin Gail ever met “Uncle Frank.” This is what Gail wrote about their one and only encounter:

 … In the late 1960′s somebody knocked on the door of the Pres[ident's] manse at Monticello College in Godfrey IL where I was reigning monarch. When I opened the door I saw almost a ghost of my father. The man introduced himself as my Uncle Frank, whom I knew about because he had achieved some prominence in his lifetime my dad and then my mother talked about. He had decided to look up Larry’s kids and found my name listed somewhere and could track me down easiest he explained. He stayed overnight and another day with me. He explained he had a terminal illness (un-identified) and owned some family items he would like to get into hands of some members of the family who cared about the Myers line. Very openly and casually he told me that his own children wanted nothing to do with him or keepsakes and other artifacts he owned — how did I feel about it? He seemed quite rational and although thin (partly why he so closely resembled my dad who was sick much of my growing up) and good sense of humor and a delight to talk with. I knew enough about his city engineer in Oakland and as a Marine to probe more on those items.

Never said anything further about the estrangement from kids, and I did not even know who they were since I had no contact with him before that. Not long after he’d gone home a big box arrived and inside was a child’s rocking chair which was made by hand for him by his [maternal] grandfather, a box of a few other artifacts including a 20-dollar gold coin given to him by his older brother and a handmade sheath knife (like a Bowie) and leather scabbard with his initials burned on it which had been made for him out of a steel file and ringed heft by some of his Marines when he retired from his command — he was a Brigadier General in the Marines at one time. We hadn’t talked about what he was sending but he explained all the contents in a letter which I’ve subsequently lost but the items are in good hands. …

Many thanks to cousin Gail for that poignant anecdote. As best I have been able to determine, Frank had only one child, Stephen D Myers, pictured as a baby in the previous post. He was born 07 July 1921. Due to sloppy reading of some small print in Jody Boyd’s report, I first thought that Stephen has died in 2008. Upon more careful inspection, it turned out to be his wife who died then. I finally located Stephen at an assisted living facility in northern California, where I have tried unsuccessfully to contact him by telephone. Based on what I have uncovered so far, I suspect that he had no children, but I would like to ask him about that myself. Stay tuned.

Next: Dan Myers’ only sister, “Aunt Nora,” who has several living descendants, previously unknown to me. I made contact with one of them yesterday, and will have some info for you soon.

Frank Colby Myers (1892-1973) was the youngest brother of Dan Myers; other siblings were Harry E, Lawrence, Lenora B, and Henry B. Henry B was covered in an earlier post; the others will be featured later.

The only two photos I have found of Frank are from the collection of Stephen F. Myers of Boise, Idaho, whom I visited last month. There is still some uncertainty which of the men in the picture below is Frank and which is Henry. Based on comparisons with other pictures of Henry, I think Frank is the one on the right, next to their mother, Helen Colby Myers.Left to right:  Avis Vale Myers (1922-1992) Genevieve Dodds Myers (1894-1955), Henry Borbidge Myers, Frank Elmer Myers  (1920-2007), “Uncle Frank C” (Frank Colby Myers 1892-1973), Stephen D Myers (b. 1921 – Uncle Frank’s son), “Grandma Myers” (Helen Colby Myers 1850-1923).

If I am correct, then the next photo must be Frank with his parents, shortly before his father’s death in 1917.

In Jody Boyd‘s exhaustive study of the Harry Colby family, I found a six-page typewritten “life story” by Frank himself. I don’t know yet how Jody acquired it. The first page is a list of Frank’s family members. No details, just names and dates, most of which I already had. But the rest of the pages give a very detailed account of his dual careers, military and civilian. It seems he accomplished a great deal in both spheres.

Frank entered the US Marines as a private in 1916. By the time the US entered World War I in 1918 (near the war’s end), he had been promoted to first sergeant. After the war, he attended officers’ training. By the time he was released from active duty to the reserves in 1919, he was a first lieutenant.

In the entire narrative, there are only two brief phrases on Frank’s family life: “Married to Mildred Dyer at Des Moines, Iowa March 6, 1920,” and “Son born July 7, 1921 at Minneapolis.” Not even the son’s name (Stephen D)! More on that situation later.

Through the 1920′s, Frank studied civil engineering, while continuing his officer duties in the Marine reserves. By 1924, he was also working as a draftsman and junior engineer for the city of Oakland, California, along with continued studies and military activity. He would remain with the city government for the rest of his civilian career.

Back to the military for now: Frank was promoted to Captain in 1932, then Major and commander of the 12th Reserve Battalion, San Francisco,  in 1939. The battalion entered active duty in 1940, under his command. After US entry into WW2, and several more promotions and transfers, Frank found himself in the South Pacific. As a full Colonel, he commanded the Marine Corps shore party for the landing on Okinawa, April 1945. In 1946, after the war’s end, and a 7-month hospitalization (the cause of which was not specified), he was released from active duty. Continuing in the reserves, Frank was promoted to Brigadier General prior to his retirement.

In the next post, we will backtrack a few decades to recount Frank’s civilian career as a Civil Engineer in Oakland, and the near-absence of any information on his family life.