Children of Reason C. and Lois Jane (Shaw) Bigelow:
14246.25131 Frayne Shaw, b 23 Jan 1920 at West Union, IL; d 07 Jan 1976; m 07 Jan 1944 Betty Jean Smith (b 14 Nov 1922 Orange, CA, dau of Clarence George and Mary Rhea (Anderson) Smith); no children.
14246.25132 John Alfred, b 01
Feb 1922
West Union, IL. On 07 Nov 1943 he married Emily A. Tate. 1
child. John Alfred Bigelow was listed as Missing in Action China
18
July
1944 and later declared dead. Emily later married (2) John O'Brien, and
(3) Arthur Sattler. Child of John Alfred and Emily A. (Tate) Bigelow:
1. Jon Allen, b 07 Sept 1944 Covina, CA.
14246.25133 Ralph Emerson,
was
born 30 July 1927, Covina, CA; d 26 June 2003 Anaheim, Orange co, CA;
On
05 Dec 1953 he married Gertrude Ann Euler (b 02 May 1929 Hereford, TX;
dau of Elmer S. and Martha (Mooter) Euler). They
divorced
in 1977. (see below) Ralph and
Gertrude
had 2 children.
Children of Ralph Emerson and Gertrude (Euler) Bigelow:
1. Jane Elizabeth "Lisa", b 26 July 1958 Buffalo, Erie, NY; m ___
Lavender
2. Lars Euler, b 04 Feb 1962 Los Angeles, LA co, CA;
14246.25134 Mildred Jane, b 19 July 1929 in Covina, CA, was unmarried and living 1in 2003.
Sources:
Bigelow Society,The Bigelow Family Genealogy, Vol II, pg 292;
Correspondence with Bigelow Society historian/genealogist, over a
period of years, and descendants.
Note:
Newspaper article sent by Bigelow Society friend:
By Robin Hinch
The Orange County Register
There was a certain comfort in being with Ralph
Bigelow. He was steady, dependable and someone who would keep you safe
and never change. Someone who would always be there.
Quiet and learned, gently persuasive, he liked to
suggest but never dictate. ''This might be a better way of saying
that," he'd offer, or, "To polish that up, let's try doing it this way."
As a longtime dean at California State University,
Fuller-ton, he helped countless students, friends and children of
friends sort out decisions that loomed large until they talked to Ralph.
"You'd go to Ralph with a crisis and suddenly, there
was no crisis," said former colleague Jim Young. "He was the kind of
person
that you almost didn't know he was there until he wasn't there. Then
you
really missed him."
Ralph saw potential in everyone. He knew there was a
better person inside even the most recalcitrant youths, and he would
not
judge them. Everyone in the world is different, he said. You must let
people
be who they are. He firmly believed there is a way and hope for
everybody.
He was 75 when he died June 26 of an aneurysm.
A Southern California native, Ralph grew up in West
Covina. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University
of Rochester in New York and a doctorate from the University of
Southern California. He also studied trombone at Eastman School of
Music in Rochester.
He continued to play trombone throughout his life as
a member of the Moravian Trombone Choir of the Moravian Church of
Downey
and as director of the Bones West trombone group that played throughout
Southern California. (He also practiced his scales at home with
nerve-grating frequency.)
But he chose the academic life for his career. He
served as registrar at Cal State Northridge until 1966, when he moved
to Placentia and became dean of admissions and records at CSUF,
retiring in 1989. In retirement he continued to work as volunteer
coordinator for academic appeals.
Although dedicated to his job, Ralph was hardly an
ivory tower scholar with his head in an intellectual cloud. He had a
variety of down-to-earth interests, not the least of which were
cribbage, poker and pugs.
He also collected rare books, books on politics and had recently
amassed books
on bridges. He took up photography, made a darkroom in his bathroom,
and
was passionate about baseball and his grandchildren.
He read, studied and jotted down notes constantly -
reminders of things that intrigued him or things about which he wanted
to learn more, in a steady quest for greater understanding of his world
and its inhabitants.
He also kept notebooks handy for watching or
listening to baseball games, painstakingly logging each play. He still
had his notation from July 3, 1970, when Clyde Wright pitched a
no-hitter for the Angels against Oakland at Anaheim Stadium.
His love affair with pugs -the friendly little dogs
with smooshed-in snouts and wrinkly brows - began 13 years ago when a
friend brought his dog to Ralph's house. The dog iumped right up on the
arm of Ralph's chair, went to sleep and began to snore, sounding rather
like a dozing Ralph.
"I love this!" said Ralph, who acquired his own pug,
Chip (short for Poker Chip). Chip didn't sleep on the arm of Ralph's
chair,
but the two were pals from Day One.
Ralph also acquired a vast collection of pug
memorabilia, from "Pug X-ing" signs to pug mugs and shirts. When
granddaughter Elise gave him her drawing of a pug, he was so
charmed by it that he had postcards made.
His grandchildren were a constant delight and source
of pride. He bought them books and read to them from the time they were
only a few days old. When, later, they could read to him, he was
thrilled.
His family threw a surprise 60th birthday party for
Ralph attended by many of his trombone-playing friends. They played
"When I'm Sixty-Four," changing the words to "When I'm Sixty-More." It
brought the usually steady, imperturbable Ralph nearly to tears.
CONTACT THE WRITER: rhinch@ocreqister.com
Ralph Emerson carried on extensive correspondence with Loring Bigelow
and
supplied what we have on this family.....ROD
rodbigelow@netzero.net
