Ronald Francis Swaim

Other Events:

• Residence: 1910, Penn, Parke, Indiana, United States
• Residence: 1920, Penn, Parke, Indiana, United States

Notes:

!Ronald known as "Babe Swaim".
In file are letters on brother's estate, Owen Swaim. Papers on Babe's
funeral, State Controller's office, & SS reports. Affidavit of birth,
census record, 1920, affidavit of family Bible record, marriage recor d,
death record. Also funeral service remembrance card. On file with
Alice Swaim Schnakenberg RIN 1

Ronald (Babe) came to California when he was 19 with two of his frien ds
from Indiana. They went to Whittier CA where his friends stayed. Dad
wanted to live in the country and be a cattle rancher so he headed for
Lancaster CA where he met Frances Rauch, his wife for nearly 41 years.
After he and Frances were married they went to Bloomingdale Ind to li ve,
but when they found that they were about to become a family, they ret urned
to Lancaster CA to stay and raise their 5 children. Four of which we re
born in and around Lancaster. The first three were born in Dr. Savag e's
Hospital in Town and Becky at home out in the old Tierra Bonita distr ict,
out east of town.
He missed WW 1 as he was too young, and WW 2 because he was too old . So
he spent the war building B17's at Lockheed in Burbank CA where he wo rked
from 1942 until his heart attack in 1958, after which he retired an d helped
Frances with her Amway business. The Swaim family moved from Lancaste r CA
in Dec 1934 to Venice CA Then to Santa Maria in the spring of 1935, i n the
fall of 1935 we moved to Santa Monica. During this time he and his f ather-
in-law, N H Rauch and his brother-in-law, George Rauch formed a Compa ny to
sell wood. Babe cut, the reason for moving up to Nipomo, near Sant a Maria.
George drove the truck to haul the wood to LA and N.H. found the cust omers
and sold the wood. Because of Mother's health in Santa Monica, and a lso
because I was coughing and unable to go to school, dad sold out and w e moved
to AZ. My cough cleared up within a week and was able to start schoo l again
and it was dicovered that mother's illness was caused by her heart no t by the
climate. We moved to AZ in Feb of 1937 and moved back to CA in Marc h to
Tarzana then we moved to the West Adams district of LA about Nov 193 7 because
it was to far for dad and grandpa to drive in to work every day. Ou r grand-
parents were living with us because of mother's health and dad was no w working
for his father-in-law and brother-in-law. During the summer of 193 8 we moved
to Culver City over the store which was now called R & S Feed & Fuel.
Easter Vacation of 1939 mother was now strong enough to care for us s o we
moved back to Lancaster where dad got a job working a ranch in the De l Sur
district where I finished grammer school and started hi'school. We m oved into
town, Lancaster before school started in fall with dad working fo r a farm
equipment Co. The pay was not very good so in Dec 1940 we moved bac k to
Culver City and dad went back to work driving a truck for R & S an d then
for Northern & Western Transportation Co's. With the war starting i n Dec 1941
dad got a job with Lockheed and we moved again this time to North Hol lywood
where mom and dad lived until they moved to Poway CA about 1962.
While he was working at Lockheed he suffered a major heart attack i n 1958
which forced his retirement. The attack was caused by working in th e fuel
tanks of a jet. The fumes burned his lungs which caused blood clout s to
form and enter his blood stream causing an aneurysm to form near hi s heart.
This caused his death in 1965.


Facts about this person:

Fact 1
Eternal Valley, Newhall, LA county, CA

Ronald married Frances Emily Rauch on 07 Nov 1924 in Whittier, Los Angeles, California, United States. Frances (daughter of Nathaniel Harvey Rauch and Gracie Rebecca Tarter\Elgin) was born on 23 Nov 1905 in Ipava, Fulton, Illinois, United States; died on 12 Nov 1988 in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

!In file held by daughter Alice Swaim Schnakenberg, Certificate of
birth. Funeral service remembrance card. RIN 1

Frances lived in Fulton Co. Ill until she was about ten, then, because
her father had TB the family sold their farm and moved to a cattle
ranch in Colorado Springs CO where the family lived until about 1920
when her parents went broke and left to live in Pueblo CO. From there
the family, which was really hard up by this time, built a canvas
house on the back of an old flat bed truck and traveled to Yuma AZ,
from there they traveled across the old plank road into California
and ended up in San Fernando CA where Grandfather found a job working
for a turkey ranch about 60 miles away in the Antelope Valley.
Here Grandfather was able to get ahead enough to homestead a ranch in
the Tierra Bonita district east of Lancaster. This is where France s met
Babe(Ronald) Swaim. After I was born, Babe & Frances lived and dad w orked for his father-in-law until after Ronald Jr. was born. Then w e moved to another ranch near-by called Avreys. From there we move d to McDonald's
ranch and then to the dairy where dad drove the milk truck until we
moved to Venice CA in Dec 1934. Early in 1935, in Feb. I think, we m oved up to Nipoma, near Santa Maria, where dad cut wood for George t o haul to LA for Grandpa Rauch to sell. Ronald Jr and I finished th e school year there, then we moved back to Santa Monica in late Aug . or first of Sept. and I, Ronald, and Richard started school at McKi nley. We stayed there with Granddad, George, and Babe in the wood bu siness. We stayed there from Sept. 1935 until Feb.1937 when we move d to AZ because the doctor thought mother had TB. Uncle Arthur and h is family moved to Nipoma to cut the wood, with Daddy driving the tru ck. We only lived in AZ one month as the doctors over there said mot her had had a heart attact due, I think to stress, so we were able t o move back to CA and Daddy back to working with George & Grandpa i n the wood business, but now he was no longer a pardner, but an emplo yee. Ronald, Richard, and I finished out the school year living in T arzania. Becky had started to school in Santa Monica, but couldn't f inish the year as Tarzania didn't have a kindergarden. Becky then st arted first grade there, but then we moved again to the West Adams di strict in LA where I graduated from the sixth in Feb. of 1938. Whe n mother got sick, we started living with our Grandmother & Grandfath er Rauch, so Grandma could take care of mother and us kids. That sum mer, before school started again, we moved over the store in Culver C ity. That winter, mother started to feel that she was well enough t o start caring for us again. So in March or April of 1939 we moved b ack up to Lancaster where I graduated from the eighth grade and enter ed Antelope Valley Hi'school.


Facts about this person:

Fact 2 February 19, 1999