Sam and Eilleen: a Sweet Beginning

Sam and Eilleen 1924 It might have been Mary, Sam's younger sister, that captured one of the sweetest photos of the newlyweds, with one of the Brownie cameras that were popular at the time.

Sam was working in his Dad's cafe, the Spot Inn, in Abilene, Kansas. Tall and good looking with a quiet, calm self-possession, Sam was a hard worker. He also had a keen wit and loved to make others laugh. His blue eyes twinkled as he considered his next funny line.

Samuel Gish 1924

The diner was busy, so they put a sign in the window, "Help Wanted: Waitress ." Eilleen applied for the job and got it. She was petite, vivacious, and loved the latest fashions. In the age of the Flapper, my Grandma looked the part with her bobbed haircut and short skirts.

Eilleen 1920s

Throughout her life, she loved to tell the story that the first time she saw Sam, she told her fellow waitress, "Someday I'm going to marry that man!" Sure enough, just four months later, after a short courtship, they did get married on Sept. 19, 1923.  They didn't have a big, fancy wedding, they simply went to the courthouse in their Sunday-best clothes and said their vows. On their honeymoon, they took along Sam's five-year-old sister, Mary. When I asked her later why they took her, Grandma just said that Mary wanted to go, so they let her.

Eilleen got pregnant right away and carried a baby girl to term. Unfortunately, the baby died the same day it was born, June 26, 1924. They named her June and buried her in Junction City, Kansas. That year was to be a a hard one for the newlyweds and Sam's family. Just two months later, Sam's 14-year-old brother Glenn was hit by a train and killed. Sam's mother never recovered from the tragedy and died less than a year later of a stroke.

California lured many in Sam's family to the land of opportunity, sunshine, beaches and orange groves. First Sam's brother Dave went to California with his brother Charlie. As Dave's daughter Beverly remembers, the two didn't have very much money. Dave was an excellent mechanic and Charlie was a builder. Dave worked at a gas station and later bought a Shell Gasoline Station in Santa Ana on the corner of 17th St. and Main St. Sam's Dad and Step-mom, as well as Sam and Eilleen, followed after them. Over the next few years, Sam and Eilleen enjoyed adventures in their automobile. They traveled from Kansas to California across the desert before there were paved roads. Wooden planks over the desert sand were the only improvement over the tracks left by the wagon trains decades before!

Sam and his auto (who knew that Grandpa smoked cigars!)

Sam's first job in California was at the Sugar Beet Factory in Santa Ana. He worked at the lunch counter there. He then joined his Dad and brothers at Gish's Cafe which his Father owned in Santa Ana. Eventually Sam bought the cafe and employed his brother Ken. The Gish families lived fairly close together in Santa Ana on Eastwood Ave. Sam's brother Charlie built some of the families houses there. After they were well situated, Sam and Eilleen joyously welcomed their daughter Gloria Eilleen on March 26, 1933. She was born the same month that a 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked Long Beach and the surrounding area on March 10th.

Eilleen and Gloria 1933

Gloria Eilleen about two years old

We'll look at Sam and Eilleen's growing family in the next blog.

Note: this blog post is dedicated in loving memory of Gloria Eilleen Gish Nelson on the first anniversary of her death (Aug. 21, 2016).