I remember being so proud of my dad when this issue of our church newsletter came out.

Quakers were often involved in peace talks in those days, and Mom and Dad represented our church as part of a delegation that visited the United Nations. Here they are pictured near the U.N. building.

Here I am having fun with Dad on his 35th birthday in 1963. I thought 35 was pretty old.

Mar 10 1962
Dear Dick –
I’m thankful for another birthday with you. When we were apart on birthdays we were both looking forward to day we were hoping to celebrate together. I’ll never forget your first day in this world, such a happy day for all five of us. I loved you then and more every day since. Your joys and sorrows are mine and I’m so proud of you. You have measured up to the man I expected you to be and this year will be added another joy and also more responsibility.

My prayer is you may have more wisdom, patience and all the things you need to be the man your children need to help them become the people you want them to be. The training of home is most important of all it seems to me.

Thanks for all your goodness to me and Unc thru the years. I hate to think of what our lives would have been without you. Nothing nicer than you could have happened to me on my birthday. I’m deeply thankful.

Much love,
Aunt

The Working Years,
by Dick Votaw (part 11)

I was getting more and more busy at Pomona Box and with commuting each day to Pomona made for long hours. Between the years of Vernon’s death and 1955, Clayton, Dad and Howard were continually looking for property nearer the Whittier-La Habra area as they all wanted to move the business closer to their homes. The actual physical location of the plant really made no difference as we did not rely on drop in customers.

They eventually found a location on Harbor Blvd. in La Habra on the railroad tracks as we were still receiving a lot of supplies by rail. The summer of 1955 we all made the big move from Pomona. I remember driving a truck load of materials home every evening to the new location and then driving back empty in the morning for another load. This move was a long process and made everyone very tired before we finally finished. Most of the employees we had in Pomona did not stay with us after the move. Only Dale Brown, our mechanic, and Ray Ward, our #1 truck driver stayed on, so this made it necessary for Don to hire all new help in La Habra. We were fortunate in that four or five of the new employees turned out to be very faithful workers and stayed with the company. Two or three of them are still there today.

My first assignment outside of office work was to take over the Avocado shippers that we had for customers. There were packers and shippers in La Habra, Yorba Linda, Fallbrook, Vista, and Escondido and a few points in between.

At that time avocados were packed in new wood for out of state shipments and in used for local. All of the containers needed covers, so this was a big item for us to sell. I started out in a small way in the local area and gradually expanded to San Diego county. I never have thought of myself as a salesman, but after a while I got used to it and did develop quite a bit of loyalty. I kept these accounts as long as I was with the company.

In 1957, Dad and the others found some property on Imperial Highway in La Habra. Imperial Highway at that time was undeveloped and almost any zoning was possible to achieve. They thought this would be a good investment as Imperial was a major highway and expansion had to come eventually. As it turned out this was perhaps the best buy that could have been made at that time, for the street did develop and good tenants were subsequently found for the acreage that Pomona Box did not use.

Yes, we moved again! We thought we were settled on Harbor Blvd., but this was a deal that could not be passed up. This move was not near as hard as before, as we were moving within one city. We did not need to be on a railroad spur now as everything we were buying came by truck. There was also no problem in keeping our employees. The property in La Habra consists of 7+ acres and was divided into two parcels when purchased. The corner property and a little less than half the total acreage was purchased by Clayton and Alma and the balance was purchased by Votaw Properties which at that time consisted of a 

1/3 interest each for Clayton, Harold, and Howard. Pomona Box occupied about half of this parcel and the balance was leased out to Orvin Engineering Company, who subsequently sub-let to other tenants.

At the time of Howard’s death his portion was inherited by his wife, Virginia, who subsequently sold it to Don and Shirley, and Marlin and Arline Davis. Mother was given a chance to buy half of Virginia’s share, but declined as there was not enough money to do this. After I inherited my parents share the division of the property now stands as 4/12 still belonging to Clayton, 4/12 belonging to Doree & I, 3/12 to Don & Shirley, and 1/12 to Marlin & Arline.

With Dad no longer with us a Pomona Box, many changes had to be made. I had gradually been taking over more and more of Dad’s work as he was slowing down. Many days the last couple of years of his life he would only come in the office for a few hours each day. He was a good teacher and gave me lots of good advice about the customers and suppliers. We had some good accounts in Imperial Valley that had been loyal to us for many years. The Thornburgs especially were more than just customers, they were friends. They grew and packed lettuce, cabbage, and carrots, with their office and packing shed in Holtville. All these items were shipped in wooden boxes for many years, until gradually, one by one, we saw it change to corrugated containers.

We had other accounts in the area also that grew and shipped tomatoes mostly to eastern markets. All rail