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} 2191=Newspaper   Source 4} 2194=City directory   Source 5} 325 = Business dir Source 6} 1446=1940 USA cen Source 7} 1245=Newspaper Source 6} 2192=1950 USA cen Source 8} 502 = Newspaper Source 9} 862 = Photograph Source 12} 1106=Biography Source 11} 680 = S.S. record Source 12} 687 = Obituary Source 13} 2196=Obituary   Source 14} 2141=Cemetery rec
1st Household No.} 310 = San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California
Photographs} Betty & Ward in 1994
Last Updated         by} Karen Hancock Date Updated} 28 Jun 2025 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, in her family home.  Witnesses were Ward's brother W. H. Kimball of Santa Barbara and Dorothy Seay of Alhambra.  They spent their honeymoon at Lake Tahoe, returning to live in her family's home. 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 a 2½ acre 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 U.S. census, Ward Kimball, 26, and Betty, 26, were living at 1616 Ardendale Avenue, San Gabriel, California.  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.  Betty had completed three years of college, and Ward, one year.  Their daughter Katherine was 1 month old. In the 1950 U.S. census, Ward Kimball, 37, and Betty, 37, were enumerated in their Ardendale residence.  Ward was an artist musician and Betty was keeping house.  Their children were Kelly K., 10, John R., 8, and Chloe, 3. On 23 Jan 1988, two planes collided over the San Gabriel Valley, sending one plummeting into their front yard.  Betty, Ward, and Kelly were in the house at the time, but were not injured.  Two aboard the plane were killed. 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.  Cremation and private services. *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, 2025 by Karen L. Hancock.  All Rights Reserved.

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