Harlyn was born 16 Aug 1891. He was the son of Edwin Luce and Maude Shay.[1]
He married Hester Kurtz on 20 Feb 1916.[1]In 1925 his occupation was listed as "chauffeur."[2]
In 1930, they lived in Hornellsville, NY, about 20 miles south of Dansville, with their first 3 children. He was a foreman for a lumberyard.[3]
When he registered for the draft during WWII he showed his address as being a resident of Providence Forge, New Kent, VA. and his contact as Charlotte S. Luce.[4] Whether this "Charlotte S. Luce" is a second wife or not is speculative at best, as no record of a divorce from Hester or a marriage to Charlotte has been found to date.[5]
Harlyn's death certificate states he was married and had lived in Fort Worth for 5 years (since about 1946).[6]
His obituary told of an odd tale.[7]
He was a native of Ossian, NY. and lived for a time in Dansville, NY. He left Dansville "several years" before 1952, and his family lost track of him. A daughter, Mrs. Audrey Krieley of Rochester, made inquiries of the authorities in Texas (presumably sometime in 1952) and learned he had died about a year prior in Fort Worth. Services and a burial had taken place in Arlington, TX. and records indicated he had died 13 Aug 1951, three days short of his 60th birthday.
The family that had "lost track" of him consisted of two daughters, two sons, two sisters in NYC, two brothers from Upstate New York, an aunt, and 10 grandchildren.[7]
No mention was made of his wife, or ex-wife. She was still very much in the Dansville area. She remarried in 1940.
Who was Charlotte S. Luce? No marriage record has been found. No death or burial record has been found (yet) under that name.
If they (Harlyn and Charlotte) were married in 1942 and he had left Dansville "several years before" 1952, were his year(s) in Virginia part of the "several"?
Had he disappeared and gone first to Virginia, then to Texas?
Did he marry somewhere other than Virginia?
Did he disappear from Virginia also?
Did Charlotte know where he went?
His death certificate states he was married and had lived in Fort Worth for five years. The informant, the owner of Hugh M. Moore & Sons funeral home, William Moore, knew he was married but little else (occupation, parents names). Was he wearing a ring or carrying identification that stated he was married? If his wife was with him why would she not be the informant?
Was he divorced from Hester, or did they go looking for him because she wanted to remarry (which she did) and she wanted to be sure he wasn't coming back?
An answer to one of those questions was discovered when Harlyn's name was found in a 1947 city directory from Fort Worth, TX, page 679. Listed as "Luce...Harlyn S. (Charlotte) millwright Armour's..." So Charlotte moved with him to Fort Worth. Turned out that she was from neighboring Hornell, NY. They were married by 1940 and, that year living in Baltimore, MD. They were married when they both moved to Fort Worth about 1945. Notably, on her death certificate, it states parents names were unknown. So we don't know what her maiden name was.
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Harlyn is 27 degrees from Herbert Adair, 24 degrees from Richard Adams, 21 degrees from Mel Blanc, 25 degrees from Dick Bruna, 22 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 34 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 22 degrees from Sam Edwards, 18 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 25 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 17 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 21 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Categories: Luce Name Study