Clockwise, from upper left: 1) Votaw cousins gathered on the lawn. Ronald is standing at left. The two older boys in the back are Dillard and Dudley. Twins Bea and Barbara are in the basket; Dick and Don are on the right. 2) Clayton and Harold with their families visit Clayton’s citrus orchard in California. Back row: Clayton and Harold. Middle row: Don, Dick, and Mildred. Front: Arline. 3) Clayton and Alma with their two children, Don and Arline, on Christmas Day in 1939. 4) Dick rides the tractor with Uncle Clayton in the citrus orchard. 5) Howard poses with Harold and Dick in 1934. 6) Vernon and Lucille with their two children, Eleanor and Ronald. Top of page: Dick with Beatrice and Barbara.
Dick’s father, Harold Votaw, was the fourth of five children. (You can see pictures of his family on this page.) The first child in the family was Vera; she was followed by four brothers, Vernon, Clayton, Harold, and Howard.
Vera married Wil Boyce, and they had four children: Dudley, Dillard, and twin girls Barbara and Beatrice. The two boys were quite a bit older than Dick, but Dillard used to spend Christmases with the Votaws in Indiana, and he and Dick formed a good friendship. Dick tells about this in his autobiography.
Vernon married Lucille, and they lived in Pomona. Vernon and Clayton were the original founders of Pomona Box Company, which eventually grew to include all four brothers. Vernon and Lucille had two children, Ron and Eleanor. Their next-door neighbors were a family by the name of Martin. The Martins had two kids as well, Bert and Doree. Eleanor Votaw and Doree Martin were in the same grade – they started kindergarten together – and became best friends. This relationship led to another relationship that was quite important to all of us. More on that story later!
Vernon died in the early 1950s, and Lucille was a widow for many years. We kids knew her as “Aunt Cile” and she
Sept. 5, 1943 Left to right: Aunt Virginia Votaw (Howard’s wife), Don Votaw, Eleanor Votaw, Dick Votaw. In front: Arline Votaw
In a letter written for Dick’s 60th birthday celebration Don Votaw tells about the times that Dick and his family would visit them in California, before they moved west in 1944. (Click to enlarge for reading)
lived a few blocks away from us on Philadelphia St. Aunt Cile was infamous in our family for her rigid rules on playing canasta. Actually she was a very nice woman.
Clayton was married to Alma, and they owned many acres of citrus groves in Orange County. Harold, Mildred, and Dick enjoyed visiting them there. Dick formed a close relationship with their son Don, who was about the same age, and the two cousins were friends for life. Don has a younger sister named Arline. Don and Arline both married and have families. Their children are cousins in my generation, and we cousins are partners in Votaw Properties which owns the Pomona Box Company land (at the time of this writing).
The fourth brother, Howard, was married to Virginia, and they did not have any children. Howard also worked at Pomona Box Company.
After Harold’s family moved to California, the family held a reunion event every year in December called the “Votaw Christmas.” I remember attending this event several times as a child – but I didn’t like it, because I didn’t know anybody there except my cousin Daryl (Don’s son) and we kids only got one present each. But my dad and his cousins seemed to have a great time together.
Dec. 15, 1938 Eleanor and Ron Votaw with Bea and Barbara Boyce
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