MORE ABOUT US
~ART~
Arthur Neil McElroy was born to Calvin and Cora(Adams) McElroy in Long Pine,Nebraska, on September 22, 1926. He was the eleventh of twelve children. One brother and one sister died in childhood. The family migrated to Oregon in October, 1934, settling in Springfield. He attended Lincoln and Glenwood schools. When he was 16, he left school, and moved to Portland, where he went to work in the shipyards, learning the trade of steamfitter. This was to be his trade until his retirement in 1983.He is a retired member of United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local #290, Oregon.
When he turned 17, he enlisted in the US Navy, and was sent to Camp Farragut,ID for his boot training. From there, he went to Little Creek,VA for small boat training, winding up in Galveston,TX as a member of the crew of USS LSM-18. He stayed with the ship until it returned to San Diego for decommissioning in 1946.
He was discharged, went back to Springfield, married and had a child, Robert. He re-enlisted in 1948, and went to China by transport, to join the crew of the USS Kermit Roosevelt, a repair ship. They left Tsingtao just as the communist armies took over. He spent some time in the Aviation Service on Guam, then returned to the States. He received a final discharge in June of 1953. He worked at various jobs until returning to the steamfitter trade in 1961. They had three more children, Gary, Steven, and Sheila. His wife divorced him in 1967.
Art joined the St.Helens,OR lodge of Loyal Order of Moose in the fall of 1967, where he met Marge. They married on September 30, 1968. He served as Governor of the Moose Lodge from 1974-1975. He received the Governor's Merit Award. He is a member of the Legion of the Moose, and has his Fellowship degree. He is also a member of the Moose 25-Club. He is a charter member of the Springfield,OR VFW Post.
He enjoys LSM reunions, working outside with his tractor and bush-hog, playing with his satellite dish, and teasing their grandchildren. He and Marge try to get down to Springfield three or four times a year to visit with his one remaining sister, Leila (Mrs. Guy) Richardson, and one remaining brother, Donald McElroy (and wife Jolene).
~MARGE~
Marguerite Louetta Archer was born to Glen and Ruth (Raymond) Archer in Santa Monica,California on February 2, 1928. She is the oldest of three children. She has two sisters. Lolita Martin lives in Manhattan Beach,CA, and Patricia Archer lives in Inglewood,CA.
Marge is a second generation Californian, although she now considers herself an Oregonian. She attended Franklin and Roosevelt grade schools, Lincoln Jr.High, and Santa Monica High School. She graduated in 1945. She attended Santa Monica City College for a year, then went to work for Southern California Bell Telephone Co., as a long distance operator.
She married Alan R. Barnes, a plasterer by trade, on January 31, 1951, and they moved to Oregon that same year. She and her husband bought the farm where she lives now. They had four children, Michael Alan, Patrick Denis, Molly Lou, and Rebecca Lynne. Molly died in infancy.
Alan Barnes went into business as a contractor, doing residential and commercial plastering in their general area. Marge milked cows and sold milk, raised chickens and sold eggs, raised pigs and sold "weaners", picked strawberries, and finally,in 1966, got a "real" job in the kitchen at Columbia District hospital, in St. Helens,OR. She and her husband divorced in 1968. She met Art at the Moose Lodge, and they married on September 30, 1968. They built a "real" house in 1971.
Marge has had many interests over the years. Before she married, she did a lot of horseback-riding. For a few years, she and her big Bay gelding never missed a parade in the Southern California area . After she married and moved to Oregon, she found other interests. She was a charter member of the St. Helens chapter of Sweet Adelines, a women's barbershop singing organization. She was active in that from 1966-1981.
She has been a member of the Women of the Moose since 1966, attaining her College of Regents degree. She was made Dietary Supervisor at the hospital in 1988, and retired after 24 years of service in 1990, when the hospital in St. Helens closed. She went back to work at St. John's Hospital, (a sister-hospital) in Longview,WA where she completed her 25th year of service in 1991, and retired again! They gave her a portrait, (the one on the web-page), a dinner, and a crystal vase! Very nice.
She enjoys her computer, making stained glass items for Christmas presents, riding her lawnmower through the tall grass,and teasing their grandchildren.
.... Marge's neighbors' son was chosen "Guy of the Month" for September in Seventeen Magazine. We are all very proud of him. (He is just as nice on the inside as he looks on the outside.)
Some Interesting Links
We have been Loyal Order of Moose members for many years.
We belong to the Thousand Trails camping group.
Art served on USS LSM-18 in WWII. Come aboard!
|Michael & Sharon| |Pat & Brenda| |Brian & Becki| |Greg & Sheila| |Art's Obituary|
|Pictures| |Grandkids Pictures | |Vacation Pictures| |Art & M.I.D.|