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Enos was my father's oldest brother. He was actually Dad's half-brother, son of Joseph Paynter and his first wife, Bertha Highhouse. His mother died when he was only 5 and he and his younger sister Violet went to live with their maternal grandparents while Joseph coped with the loss. I know this from the 1910 census entry I found for him in Texas Township, PA. I believe his Lutheran religion came from living with these grandparents. Although his younger sister went back to live with their father by 1920, I have not found Enos in the 1920 or 1930 census records, so I don't know where he went from there. Sometime around 1931 he married Mabel Irene Burdett. This marriage ended in divorce. Around 1940 he met and married an opera singer, Marie (Helen) Smith. They remained together until his death in 1968.
Enos was a self-taught man. He earned his high school and engineering degrees through correspondence courses. His engineering knowledge got him a wartime job with Otis Elevator in New Jersey, so he and Marie moved to Carlstadt. This proved a opening for many of his friends and family back in Pennsylvania who were looking for jobs. Through his recommendation, my Dad went to work for Otis, and so did Frank Benonus (Mom's sister's husband), Myron, John & Joe Orinick (Mom's cousins).
Around 1950, Enos landed a job as an engineer with Lockheed and they moved to Downey, California. He worked on the Apollo rocket program and got to meet and work with some of the astronauts. The photo at the right was taken in Phoenix, Arizona in 1950, so this may have been while they were en route to their new home. Enos carried his technical expertise into his private life as well. His hobby was electronics and his house was full of every imaginable gadget available at the time. Since Marie had severe arthritus, many of these were to make her life easier. They both also loved music and had a great stereo system.I only met them 3 times as a child, on our 3 trips to California, so I did not know them well. My Dad kept in touch through letters. Enos died on December 1, 1968. My Mom and Dad flew to California for the funeral, so I have the funeral card. It reads:
"In Memory of Enos J. Paynter
Born June 29, 1903 Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Passed Away December 1, 1968 San Diego, California
Services Memory Chapel of the Miller Downey Mortuary Thursday, December 5, 1968 2:00PM
Officiating Rev. Vernon F. Jacobs, Pastor Christ Lutheran Church
Private Inurnment service Concludes at Chapel"
Born June 29, 1903 Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Passed Away December 1, 1968 San Diego, California
Services Memory Chapel of the Miller Downey Mortuary Thursday, December 5, 1968 2:00PM
Officiating Rev. Vernon F. Jacobs, Pastor Christ Lutheran Church
Private Inurnment service Concludes at Chapel"
After Enos' death, Marie moved to a continuing care retirement community in La Guna Hills, California. She lived to 92, going to follow Enos on March 3, 1990.
My sister Janet emailed me the following:
ReplyDelete"ok here is some info on Uncle Enos -
I remember him living in Rutherford on Park Ave or maybe a block west of Park Ave. I remember the weird shaped 2 or 3 story apartment building he lived in. It was quite modern for our time. It had to be before my teen years. When looking at the building the main door was in the center and there was an apartment on each side. The striking feature were the windows on the corners. They were made of those glass blocks, that let in the light but you can't see thru them. They curved around the corners of the building on both sides. They had to be regular height windows if that is what you called them. I also remember all his electronics in the house. He even had a remote in his chair that he could turn on his stereo, tv or whatever he wanted to. It was amazing to see something like that then. We didn't visit often but this one time stands out."