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Graydon Richard Woodhurst was born in Michigan on February 10th 1915 to parents Ralph A. Woodhurst and his first wife Vina Pearl (nee) Hills.
Neither he nor his mother Vina has been found in the US 1920 Census, at which time his father was in prison. On December 9th 1920 Vina, having divorced Ralph, remarried to Charles N. Berger but this marriage failed too and on January 16th 1928 she remarried yet again to Leroy ("Roy") A. Creusere.
The US 1930 Census finds Graydon at age "15" living with his mother and step-father Roy, a serviceman in a paint factory, in Detroit City, Wayne Co., Michigan.
On October 17th 1936 he married in Detroit to Georgia Rose (nee) Hagle. He was aged "21", residing at 411, Delaney Court in Jackson, Michigan and occupied as a salesman. She was aged "20", residing at 15464, Hazelton Avenue in Detroit and occupied as a clerk. Her parents were John Frank Hagle and Junia (nee) Dempsey.
A city directory for 1937 lists Graydon, a salesman with the Smith-Winchester Company, and Georgia living at 713, Lansing Avenue in Jackson. By 1938, however, they were listed at 1124, 1st Street in Jackson.
At about this time they evidently divorced. The US 1940 Census finds Georgia, entered as a divorcee, living with her parents in Hazelton Avenue, Detroit and occupied as a typist in the "W.P.A." [Work Projects Administration] scheme. Graydon has not been found in this census. Georgia Rose subsequently remarried into the Baird surname.
Soon after this Graydon partnered, and reportedly married, a divorcee Letha Wave Platz, born in Boise, Idaho on May 30th 2014. Both of their obituaries state that they had married in Bryan, Williams Co., Ohio on May 21st 1941, but an official record of such a marriage has not yet been found. Letha's maiden name is unknown: she was the adopted daughter of a plumber John E. Platz and his wife Susan Adele (nee Shreve) with whom she was living at age "15" in Buchanan township, Berrien Co., Michigan at the time of the US 1930 Census. On March 15th 1932 she married in St. Joseph, Indiana to Paul Ovid Nicodemus but divorced him for "cruelty and non-support" on July 2nd 1934, being granted alimony of $3 per week for her "16-month-old child William". She remarried on June 16th 1936 in Michigan to Robert Hooten but divorced him too, for "extreme cruelty", on December 18th 1939.
A city directory for South Bend, Indiana lists Graydon and Letha as residing at 707, Rex Street. Graydon was employed as an aero worker with the Bendix Aviation Corporation.
He died aged "72" on August 23rd 1987. His death certificate describes him as a drill press operator in manufacturing and residing at 100, Ottawa Street in Buchanan 49107. The cause was certified as pneumonia and respiratory failure. He was buried at the St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park in Granger. This obituary was published in the South Bend Tribune on August 24th:
Graydon "Woody: Woodhurst BUCHANAN
Services for Graydon Richard Woody Woodhurst, 72, of 100 Ottawa St, who died at 5:15 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Hospital South Bend, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday (Indiana time) at Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren, South Bend. Burial will be in St Joe [Joseph] Valley Memorial Park. Friends may call from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday (Michigan time) at Swem Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the church. Mr. Woodhurst was retired from Bendix Corp. South Bend, where he worked for 32 years. He was born Feb. 10, 1915, in Jackson, Mich. On May 21, 1941, in Bryan, Ohio, he married Letha Platz. She survives with five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A son, William, died in 1978. He was a past state commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Fathers Auxiliary of Indiana; a past commander of VFW Post 9 Fathers Auxiliary, South Bend; and a member of Moose Lodge 449.
The American Social Security Death Index states that his SSN was 367-03-9191.
Directories show that Letha continued living at the Ottawa Street address in the 1990s.
Letha died aged "96" on August 14th 2010 at the Milton Home (a nursing home) in South Bend. Her death certificate describes her as a (former) bank teller whose family address was 206, East Marion Street, South Bend. The informant was her grandson Timothy W. Woodhurst. The cause of death was certified as diabetes mellitus.
She was buried at the St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park in Granger and an obituary in the South Bend Tribune was published on August 16th:
May 30, 1914 - Aug. 14, 2010
BUCHANAN - Letha W. Woodhurst, 96, formerly of Buchanan, MI, died Saturday, Aug. 14th, at 2:40 a.m. in the Milton Home, 206 E. Marion St., South Bend, IN. Letha was born May 30, 1914, in Boise, Idaho, to the late John and Susie Shreve Platz. On May 21, 1941, in Bryan, Ohio, she married Graydon R. "Woody" Woodhurst, who preceded her in death on August 23, 1987. As well as a son, William O. Woodhurst, on Feb. 21st, 1978. She is survived by a daughter-in-law, Linda Woodhurst McCune, South Bend. Letha is survived by five grandchildren, Tim (Karen) Woodhurst of South Bend, Sue (Anne Janzen) Woodhurst, Walkerton, IN, Patti Anderson of South Bend, Debbie (Scott) Kwast, Elkhart, IN, Ann (Tom Nagy) Woodhurst, Lakeville, IN; eight great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. Letha worked for many years as a bank teller for the First Bank & Trust of South Bend, was a member and past president of Ladies Auxiliary VFW Post 1167 where she was junior bowler coach and Life Member of Women of the Moose #450 in Buchanan, Michigan, along with holding a membership in the Mishawaka Women's Auxiliary of M.O.C.A. pup tent. Letha enjoyed her dogs and loved playing bingo. Visitation will be Tuesday, August 17th, in the Swem Chapel, Buchanan, Michigan, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. when services will be held. Private burial will take place following services on Tuesday. Memorial contributions may be made to any area pet refuge. Those wishing to sign the online guestbook may do so at www.swemchapel.com.