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Ira Earl Woodhurst was born on February 16th 1894 to parents Earl George (1) Woodhurst and his wife Nellie Belle (nee) Morse.
The US 1900 Census finds him at age "6" living with his parents in Pennfield township, Calhoun County in Michigan. This describes him as born in Michigan in February 1894.
The US 1910 Census finds him at age "16" living with his divorced sister Jessie E. in North Granger Street, Saginaw City in Michigan in the household of Henry Frank Stevens, his mother's second husband.
Presently his family moved to Moscow in Latah Co., Idaho where he was mentioned in The Star-Mirror on March 15th 1913 for his contribution to a meeting of the Carpenters' Union, to which his step-father (a carpenter) presumably belonged:
Carpenters' Union Enjoys Fine Meeting
With a pleasing program of music and addresses, followed by an elaborate banquet in the K. of P. hall last evening, the local union No. 1605, Carpenters and Joiners of America, were hosts to the members of their families and to other unionists and friends. Joseph Kimberling presided over the meeting, which was opened by music by Holman's orchestra. Vocal solos by Ira Woodhurst and C. W. Aids, a vocal duet by Misses Inez and Edith Plummer, a violin solo by Henry Goodwin ... [and others] ... were the entertainment features of the interesting program ...
The occasion of his 20th birthday was reported in an issue of The Idaho Post published on February 19th 1914 as follows:
Ira E. Woodhurst was pleasantly surprised at his home, 402 Fifth street, Monday evening. The occasion was his 20th birthday. Several recitations by Miss Gladys Hodge, also games and music were enjoyed. A bountiful lunch was served after which the party broke up, wishing him many more happy birthdays. Those present were Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mr. and Mrs. Halverson, Mr. and Mrs. Ara Woodhurst, The Misses Gladys Hodge, Mabel Nolan, Myrtle Hegstead, Martha Grange, Edna Orr, Dora Otter, Neeta Frazier, Gladys Bailey, Neeta Stevens, Goldie Munson, Anna Halverson, Ruby Dowdy, Paul Halverson, Ed Thompson, William Bell, George Hepstead.
On February 19th 1917 he married in Spokane, Washington State to Helen A. (nee) Heywood (some sources spell her maiden name as Haywood). The marriage certificate describes Ira as aged "23" and occupied as a merchant. Helen is described as aged "21", born in Missouri and occupied as a telephone operator. Her parents are named as Clarence D. Haywood [sic] and Millie A. (nee) Smith.
Their marriage was reported in an issue of The Star-Mirror published on February 22nd 1917 as follows:
J.[sic] E. Woodhurst and Miss Helen Haywood [sic], both of Pullman were united in marriage [Monday, February 19] at Colfax. They will spend a short honeymoon in Spokane and will return to Pullman where they will make their home. Mr. Woodhurst was formerly associated with the J. C. Penny company of this city and is at present connected with the same company at Pullman. Mrs. Woodhurst was chief operator with the Pullman Telephone company.
The California Death Index states that Helen was born in Missouri on November 24th 1889.
Ira and Helen then moved to Pullman City in Whitman Co., Washington State, where they were living when their first child Helen (1) was born in late 1919.
The US 1920 Census finds Ira's family living in Pullman, but the schedule is too faint to make out any of their details other than their names.
The birth of their son Clarence was announced in The Pullman Herald on September 30th 1921:
Mr. and Mrs. Ira Woodhurst are the parents of an eight and a half pound baby boy, born last Saturday.
The US 1930 Census finds Ira, Helen and their two children living in Clinton Street, Marion township in Jasper Co., Missouri where Ira was occupied as the manager of a dry goods store.
The same census finds another woman, Ruth E. (nee) Ingram, unmarried and living with her parents Charles and Clarissa B. (nee Needham) in N. McGregor Street in the same township; she was occupied as a stenographer in an overall factory. At some point in the next few years Ira and Helen divorced, after which Ira remarried to Ruth in 1936. Their marriage certificate states that they married on July 30th in Aurora, Jasper Co. and had both been living in Carthage, Jasper Co. His age is given as "42" and hers as "28". Some sources state that Ruth's second forename was Edna.
The US 1940 Census finds Ira and Ruth living in Marion. Ira was still the manager of the dry goods store and Ruth was still a stenographer. No one else was in their household. Meanwhile, Ira's former wife Helen, described as divorced but still bearing her Woodhurst surname, was lodging in the household of another divorcee Mary Jane Walters in Auburn City, King Co., Washington and with no occupation cited.
A city directory for 1941 lists Ira and Ruth at address r601 E. 6th Street in Carthage.
The California Death Index states that Helen died aged "68" in Los Angeles on January 4th 1958, that her SSN was 534-12-4171 and that her mother's maiden surname was Smith. She had died at Altadena in Los Angeles Co. She was buried at the Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier in that county. An obituary for her was published in the Star News on January 6th:
WOODHURST - Mrs. Helen Heywood Woodhurst passed away Jan. 4, 1958, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Carrier of North Grand Oaks Ave. (Altadena, L.A. Co., Ca.) A native of Missouri, she had been a resident of Southern California the past 17 years. Besides her daughter Mrs. Carrier, she is survived by one son, Clarence R. Woodhurst of La Puente (L.A. Co.), and nine grandchildren, also five sisters, Carrie Heywood McNeil of Vancouver, Washington; Mabel Heywood Sorensen and Gertrude Heywood Barcley, both of Seattle, Washington; Miss Eunice Heywood of Washington, D.C. and Peggy Heywood Ometo of Jackson, California. Services will be held Tuesday, Jan. 7, 1958 at 2 p.m. at the Lamb Funeral Home, 415 E. Orange Grove Ave., conducted by Reverend Frank A. Robertson. Interment Rose Hills Memorial Park.
Ira died in December 1973. The American Social Security Death Index states that his SSN was 490-10-0048 and that he had resided at 64836 Carthage, Jasper Co.
The same source states that his widow Ruth was born on March 9th 1908 and died on September 18th 2000, that her SSN was 490-10-0922 and that she had likewise resided at 64836 Carthage, Jasper County in Missouri. Her obituary, published in The Joplin Globe, states that she was buried at age "92" in the Park Cemetery in Carthage.
Helen (1) was born in Pullman, Washington State on December 8th 1919. Her birth was reported in an issue of The Idaho Post published on December 12th 1919:
Mrs. Ben Hadsell has received word of the birth of a great-grand-daughter last evening [December 8] at Pullman. The baby girl Helen [Woodhurst], is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Woodhurst, of Pullman. Mr. Woodhurst is in the employ of the J. C. Penny company in that city.
Mrs. Ben Hadsell, the mother of Ira's mother Nellie B., was probably then living in Moscow, Idaho situated a little to the east of Pullman.
The US 1940 Census for Auburn City, King Co., enumerated on April 15th, finds Helen (1) listed in the household of a Brown family, occupied as a waitress in a private home. She also appears in the 1940 census for St. John township in Whitman Co. enumerated on May 10th, where she is again described as a waitress in a private home. Her location in this period is therefore uncertain.
She married Charles R. Carrier in about 1942 but they divorced, at Santa Barbara, in 1967.
Clarence Richard was born in Pullman, Washington State on September 24th 1921. He married Ellen Elizabeth (nee Clark) Freeman and produced several children - Diane Louise (who died in childhood), Linda Jo, Janalee, Sharon, Susan and Clarence Richard (junior). He died at his home in Chino Valley, Arizona on October 26th 2008. His obituary was published in the Daily Courier of Prescott, Arizona [issue of October 28th].