There are three versions of this story! It all began with Dick’s cousin, Eleanor Votaw. She tells the story in a letter, written almost 40 years after it happened. The letter is transcribed here at right.
Below, an excerpt from Dick’s autobiography (written in the 1990s) tells the same story from his point of view.
Doree wrote the history as it happened, almost in real time! She kept a scrapbook listing all of their dates and where they went. The typed captions that appeared in the scrapbook with her photos and mementos are reproduced here as well. All of them can be enlarged for reading – just click on them.
The Learning Years, by Dick Votaw (part 6)
(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5)
I started to do quite a bit a dating after moving to Claremont and probably my grades suffered from that extra curricular activity. My cousin, Eleanor Votaw, introduced me to a few of her girl friends and I dated two or three of them simultaneously for awhile. I also dated a girl from Pomona College and went with her almost exclusively for a period of time. It was she and I that introduced Norm Anderson and Joan Matthes, who were eventually married. Two of my favorite places to take a date were the Pasadena Civic and the Palladium ball room in Hollywood. These were the two best places to go for dancing.
When Eleanor finally saved the best for last and I got to meet Doree we would go to the Palladium almost every weekend. We got to see all the great bands, like Tex Beneke, (who took over for Glenn Miller after his death), Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Les Brown, Duke Ellington, and many more. The big band era was coming to a close in the early ‘50’s, as rock-n-roll took over and we didn’t care for the ‘new’ music.
In late October on a Saturday, Aunt Lucile invited me to go with her and Eleanor to their mountain cabin at Lake Arrowhead as she was preparing to close it for the winter. I gladly accepted because there was nothing else to do that day. Unknown to Aunt Cile, Eleanor also invited Doree to come along with her. To this day I am not positive if this was planned or really just a happen so. During later years those involved say there was no scheme to have Doree and I meet in this way. However, we did meet and had a wonderful day. I couldn’t keep my eyes from her as she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and she had the most pleasant personality and a beautiful voice. I knew right then I had to ask this girl out for a date. It took me three weeks to get up the nerve to call her. I was somewhat apprehensive about dating right then because I had recently ended a relationship that was going no where. Of course, in the meantime, I had asked Eleanor everything I could about her.
I decided to make the call and Doree seemed just as desirous to go out with me. I had decided to double date with Norm and Joan to the Palladium so there would be easier conversation. I wanted to drive because I did not want to be alone with her in the back seat. We all had a wonderful evening and I found out she was an excellent dancer. Time went by so quickly that we lost track. All of a sudden we realized we only had one hour to get to my car and get back to Joan’s dorm in Claremont before her curfew took effect. The girls at Pomona College were allowed only a few late evenings per semester and if late they would lose some of those privileges. Ignoring most of the driving laws, we made the deadline without the aid of freeways and I am glad the police were not close. We have talked about this in later years and still wonder how we made it. I then drove back to Pomona (after taking Norm back to the dorm) to take my girl home, wondering all the time what her parents would say about their daughter being out so late. I do not remember any reprimand.
After our first date I knew this was the girl I was going to marry. Everything was uphill from that point forward. My grades improved, and I was a very happy person. We would spend most of our evenings studying at the library together as she was finishing her two years at Mt. San Antonio College. We were together every weekend as much as possible and Dick Secord, my college roommate, thought he must have a room by himself as I was hardly ever there. Doree loved to bake pies and every week she would bake a pie for me to take back to the dorm to share with my friends. Naturally she made a lot of friends this way and to have some home cookin’ was terrific. We became engaged on New Years Eve, December 31, 1950, at a party Eleanor was having at her parents home. No one knew of our secret until a few days later as we could not keep it private very long. The next morning we went to the Rose parade in Pasadena and then to our homes to tell our parents.
November 25
I remember that Mom & Dad took us to Bit of Sweden restaurant when we were kids – my first experience of Swedish meat balls. That must have been fun for them!
December 22
Joan married Norm Anderson, and they remained Dick & Doree’s friends for life. They were part of the bridge club.
December 24
December 31
They made their promises to each other on New Years’ Eve, 1950, at 11:58 p.m. They had been dating for less than two months! But it all worked out pretty well, I think.
Dick, you and I have so many “remember whens” to share, but one in particular that now is shared only by you, Doree and me is the day you two met! – – –
My folks and I were planning a Sunday trip to the house at Lake Arrowhead to check on any problems the winter snows might have created. In those days Doree and I were attending Mt. Sac and were best friends and you were a student at C.M.C.
Knowing that you and I were also close friends Mother invited you to go with us that day. Here the plot thickens – – ! Somehow a family outing wasn’t my idea of wonderful unless I could take along a friend and, not knowing of Mother’s invitation to you, I asked Doree to go.
When Mother and I compared notes she thought perhaps Doree and I would be so consumed with girl talk that it might not be much fun for you, and she suggested I give Doree a raincheck. However Doree had expressed such delight at being asked to go that I just couldn’t say “some other time.” So, you both went with us to Lake Arrowhead that day and as the day progressed so did your interest in each other!!
What a great mix-up.
Boy was that a long time ago.
Happy, happy birthday Dick. We sure thought back then that only our folks and other old people ever got to be 60!!
Love,
Eleanor
This letter was written to Dick by Eleanor Votaw Lucy on the occasion of Dick’s 60th birthday in 1988. In it she tells the story of how Dick and Doree met in October, 1950. Eleanor’s parents, Vernon and Lucile Votaw, lived in Pomona down the street from Doree’s parents, Herb and Mary Martin. The two girls started kindergarten together and were friends. At the time of the story told in this letter, they were students together at Mt. San Antonio College (“Mt. Sac”). Dick was a student at Clarement Men’s College (“CMC”).
November 22
The Santa Claus Lane Parade was an annual Hollywood event featuring the biggest radio and movie stars from Hollywood. It always signaled the beginning of the Christmas season. Dick and Doree attended on Nov. 22, 1950, and the above parade order list is pasted in her scrapbook.
December 17
“The Drunkard” was the name of a live theater show that was in the 18th year of its run in Hollywood, according to the matchbook ad that is in Doree’s scrapbook, as well as a 14-page souvenir program (cover pictured above). This was a double date with Dick’s parents.
December 28-30
It was a long drive out to Palm Springs, but I imagine that the two words “bring date” at the bottom of the invitation clinched Dick’s acceptance.
Eleanor Votaw, Dick’s cousin and Doree’s best friend from Pomona
October 29
November 11
December 3
On Sunday Dec. 3 Dick took Doree to the football game between the L.A. Rams and the Green Bay Packers at the Memorial Coliseum in L.A. Note the ticket price: $2.
December 18
December 25
In this letter written on the occasion of Dick’s 60th birthday, Shirley Votaw (Don’s wife) tells some stories. Don and Shirley were engaged a few months before Dick & Doree started dating, and got married in June 1951.
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