Relationship Record 130

Male/Husband}   Kimball, Ward Walrath		Family History} Olson
Female/Wife}   Lawyer, Mary Elizabeth (Betty)		Relationship Type} Marriage
Marriage: Date} Exa 18 Aug 1936  M	Place} Alhambra, Los Angeles, California
Ended:   On Date} Exa  8 Jul 2002                         By} Death of husband		Source 1} 257 = Interview Source 2} 1430=Marriage rec   Source 3} 325 = Business dir Source 4} 1446=1940 USA cen Source 5} 1245=Newspaper Source 6} 502 = Newspaper Source 7} 367 = Newspaper Source 8} 503 = Newspaper Source 8} 862 = Photograph Source 10} 729 = Biography Source 11} 730 = Biography Source 12} 1106=Biography Source 13} 680 = S.S. record Source 14} 687 = Obituary
1st Household No.} 310 = San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California
Photographs} Betty & Ward in 1994
Last Updated         by} Karen Hancock Date Updated}   6 Dec 2015 Date Created}    1 Jan 1992
Notes:  Ward Kimball and Betty Lawyer met in 1935 when both were working for the Walt Disney Studios.  They were married 18 Aug 1936 in Alhambra, Los Angeles, California.  The ceremony was performed by the Rev. S. J. Kennedy, a Presbyterian Minister, probably in the First Presbyterian Church of Alhambra.  Witnesses were Ward's brother W. H. Kimball of Santa Barbara and Dorothy Seay of Alhambra. In 1938 Ward and Betty bought a vintage 1881 steam locomotive from the defunct Nevada Central Railroad, and with the help of friends and relatives, unloaded it onto tracks on their property located at 1616* Ardendale Ave., in the unincorporated area of San Gabriel.  Betty's cousin Don Olson helped with the unloading.  This was the start of the Grizzly Flats Railroad.  In 1939, the couple built their family home at this location.  Betty left the studios in 1939 to be a full-time mother and housewife, and this is where they raised their three children, Kelly, John, and Chloe. In the 1940 USA census, Ward and Betty had their first daughter, Kelly, just one month old.  Ward was an artist in the movie industry, and had earned $5,000. in the prior year.  Betty had earned $950.  Their house was valued at $13,000.  Ward had completed one year of college, and Betty two years. Ward died 8 Jul 2002, when they had been married 66 years.  Betty died 1 Jul 2010.  They were survived by their three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.  Their burial place is unknown. *The 1940 USA census and a 1946 newspaper article identified the address as 1616 Ardendale Road.  The houses were renumbered at some point in time, and the present address is 8910 Ardendale, San Gabriel.
Children:	Total # of Children} 3	Seq. # of Primary}
1st Child} Kimball, Kelly   2nd Child} Kimball, John   3rd Child} Kimball, Chloe
Copyright © 2010 - 2015 by Karen L. Hancock.  All Rights Reserved.

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