Family Activities 1970-74

Our Whittier family became slightly smaller when Dave left for college in 1970. This church directory photo was taken in 1971.

By Dave

Jul 28, 2021
The Working Years, by Dick Votaw
(part 16)
(part 15) (part 14) (part 13) (part 12) (parts 10-11) (part 9
(part 8)(part 7) (part 6) (part 5)(part 4) (part 3) (part 2) (part 1)

In February of 1970 I began working full time at First Friends Church in Whittier. Carroll Hiatt was retiring as Treasurer and I was able to step right in and take the job as well as being Klane Robison’s assistant. The position was equivalent to that of an Office Manager, but I also did hospital visitations. I was not sure at first how I would get along with this latter responsibility, but I soon learned I really enjoyed visiting with people in the hospital.

September of ‘70 rolled around and Doree and I were off to Oregon to take Dave to college. A new era was beginning in our lives; our children were starting to leave home. I think it was traumatic for Dave as well as us the day we dropped him off at George Fox College and headed back home without him. We knew we were leaving him at an institution where Christian doctrine would be foremost in his daily life and this gave us a great sense of well-being. This also marked the first of many trips between Oregon and California; so many that I have lost count.

In May of 1971 we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with our first trip to Hawaii. What an exciting time! In order to hold down the expense we decided to go ‘camping’ in a rented motor home on the islands of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii, but stay in a small hotel in Honolulu where Doree’s parents had stayed many times. This arrangement worked out fine until we got to the big island of Hawaii and rented our motor home in Hilo and started out only to find out the first night the vehicle was full of roaches. Needless to say we didn’t sleep much that night and returned the unit to Hilo the next morning. They were very understanding about the situation, however, there was nothing they could do because of the high humidity; the roach problem was not controllable. They rented us a car and got us reservations in Kona at a hotel and gave us credit for the motor home. The rest of the trip was beautiful and we returned again for our 25th anniversary in 1976, but did not do the camper bit this time.

In the late 1960’s and early ‘70’s I started developing back trouble and it progressed rapidly to the point where the pain was unbearable at times and I knew that something had to be done. I had a good orthopedist in Whittier and we decided together that the only possibility of relief was to have surgery. In March of 1972 I went in Presbyterian Hospital for a fusion and a lamenectomy. This resulted in six weeks of recuperation at home, mostly lying flat on my back and still experiencing pain. I was anxiously awaiting the start of the baseball season so I would have some diversion during the day and as it turned out the players went on strike that year and the season was delayed. I don’t know now who regrouped first, me or baseball, but we both eventually got well. Within a year after surgery I was glad I had made the decision to go this route as I was much better than before surgery.

The summer of 1972 I was chosen as a representative to Friends United Meeting Triennial from California YM and the sessions were held in Green Lake, Wisconsin. I was fortunate to have recovered enough from the surgery to make the trip. I flew into Chicago and changed to a very small plane to take me to Green Bay where I was able to get a bus to Green Lake. It was a good experience for me and I enjoyed meeting many people I had only heard about. One of the people I met was Bob Gray, who at that time was head of the American Friends Service Committee office in Pasadena. He approached me about taking on a part time position working mainly with budgets. I accepted and worked there two days per week and at the church for three days.

Above are announcements of Dick’s new role at First Friends Church as published in the church letter and in the Whittier newspaper.

First Friends Church of Whittier, as it looked until this building was replaced in the late 1970s.

A portrait of Doree taken in 1970

Dick and Doree pose at Waimea Falls on the island of Kauai during their 20th anniversary trip.

In this picture Dick is standing in front of Waimea Canyon, the “little Grand Canyon” of Hawaii, in 1971.

Dick, Doree and John stand by the camper van that was our family’s first “RV”.

On vacation together, Dick, Doree and John visit a dam.

This photo was taken on Doree and John’s birthday in 1970. Click to enlarge it so that you can admire Annie’s paper animals on the merry-go-round that she made, and on parade on the table.

We had a family tradition of visiting Harold’s (Grandad’s) grave every year during our Christmas celebration at Grandma and Walter’s house in Whittier. This is part of the group that gathered at his grave in 1974. The stone was in the lawn outside of a little chapel at the very top of the hill at Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier.

I don’t know how long the summer beach house rentals continued, but here we are gathered for lunch on a sunny afternoon at that same house in Newport Beach in 1974. By this time Karen and Dave had moved back to California, so we were able to be there with the family.

The four Votaw kids, posing in the front yard of our house on Philadephia St. at Christmas 1970.

Dick at his desk at work in the 1970s. He grew his moustache in 1972, and kept it the rest of his life (along with a beard, which came later).

This photo of Dick and Doree is dated in March of 1972.

Dick and Doree rented and rode bicycles together while on this vacation.

After Karen and Dave’s wedding, the rest of the family occasionally made trips to Oregon. Here Dick, Karen and John enjoy Multnomah Falls.

Walter seems to like the new tie he received as a gift at our family Christmas gathering.

Doree is thrilled with a new gift that she has received, apparently from Dick (based on his expression).

Sue, John, Peggy and Dave by the Christmas tree in 1970. Dave was back home after his first quarter at George Fox.

Somehow Karen managed to get Dave on the back of a horse during a visit to The Dalles in 1973.

Formal portrait of Dick and Doree in the early 1970s

Doree poses with flowers in Hawaii while on their anniversary trip there in 1971.

The family celebrates Dick’s birthday in 1973 at our house on Philadelphia St.

Our family, with the addition of Karen, poses by the front door of our house on Philadelphia St. in this photo dated 1973. I love the 70s colors we’re wearing!

Dick and Doree got to make one visit to the Sutton home in The Dalles, where Karen’s parents lived, in 1974. Here Dick talks with Francis Sutton, Karen’s dad.

Doree, Karen, and Francis enjoy the view of the hills from the Suttons’ property south of The Dalles.

We always had a lot of fun at our family gatherings. Here Aunt (Tirzah) enjoys a laugh with the rest of us.

Doree and Dick, dressed to the nines.

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