Elmer Donaldson Daily 1916-1975

In his big chair on Second Street

Elmer Donaldson Daily was born July 29, 1916 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Clara Agnes Gould Daily and Winfield Anthony Daily. His residence at his birth was 317 So. Teton Street, Colorado Springs.  His father was 31 years old and a painter, born in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas.  His mother was 25 years old and a housewife; she was born in Roseville, California. She had become a registered nurse in Sacramento in 1913 and would go on to be a practicing nurse until she retired at 50. She lived to be 106—56 years in retirement! 

Elmer as a baby ca 1917

In 1918, Elmer Daily’s father, Winfield Daily, applied for the draft. His draft card indicates his residence as 1024 4th, Sacramento, California.  It also states that Winfield worked in Berkeley California.

On February 3, 1923, when Elmer was almost 7 years old, his father, Winfield Daily died at White Hospital, 9th Ward, Sacramento. He is buried in the Old City Cemetery on Riverside and Broadway in Sacramento.

There is no written record of Elmer or his mother again until 1924 at which time Elmer would have been 8 years old.  

Sacramento City Directories show that Clara Daily lived at 1016 F Street in 1924, 3901 1st Avenue in 1925, 1120 N (Capitol Maternity Home) in 1926, 3901 1st Avenue as a widow in 1926 and 1927. 

On July 25, 1927, when young Elmer was almost 11 years old Clara married Edward Hitchin in Sacramento, California. Nothing much is known of Edward Hitchin, other than a tale from Clara that he was deported.

It is probable that Elmer lived with his mother, step father, and younger sister, Naomi, at 3901 1st Avenue, Sacramento from 1927 through 1929, although there is no written record found.  

Elmer is no longer listed in any census or written record until he applied for Social Security on December 5, 1936. At that time he lived at 1345 Gough Street, San Francisco, and was unemployed.

Day after marrying Elnora 1937

On July 31, 1937, at the age of 21, Elmer married Elnora Gorman at Holy Rosary Church in Woodland, California. [Note: Elnora was born in Dunnigan on July 15, 1918]. Elmer was working at Spreckels Sugar Company and Elnora was working at the county hospital in Woodland as an assistant nurse. Family lore indicates that Clara, Elmer’s mother, was a nurse at the hospital and introduced them.

Elmer, a factory worker (probably Spreckels Sugar Factory), according to the 1939 Woodland City Directory, lived at 422 North Street with his wife, Elnora and Elmer and Clara Clary. Clara Clary had married Elmer Clary  sometime between 1935 and 1936.

According to the 1940 US Federal Census, Elmer, Elnora, and their son, Charles (1 year old), lived at 519 Walnut Street in Woodland.  [Note: Charles was born in Woodland on July 5, 1938.]  Elmer was 22 and Elnora was 21.  The census indicates that Elmer’s previous residence in 1935 was in Auburn, Placer County, California.  His occupation at the time of the census is a filter press operator at Spreckels Sugar Factory.

On April 1, 1941, Elmer was inducted into the U.S. Army. By the time he was discharged, he was a Technician fifth Grade, 53d Infantry Regiment of the Army of the United States.  On his written forms, he was listed as a truck mechanic.

U.S. Army - Aleutian Islands

From Wikipedia: On July 1, 1940, the division was reactivated at Camp Ord, California,[2] under the command of Major General Joseph W. Stilwell.[3] The 12th and 13th Brigades did not reactivate as part of an army-wide elimination of brigade commands within its divisions. The division was instead centered around three infantry regiments; the 17th Infantry Regiment,[4] the 32nd Infantry Regiment,[4] and the 53rd Infantry Regiment.[3] Most of the soldiers in the division were selective service soldiers, chosen as a part of the US Army's first peacetime military draft.[3]

7th Infantry Division troops negotiate snow and ice during the battle on Attu in May, 1943.

The 7th Infantry Division was assigned to III Corps of the Fourth United States Army,[3] and that year it was sent to Oregon for tactical maneuvers. Division units also practiced boat loading at the Monterey Wharf and amphibious assault techniques at the Salinas River in California.[3] With the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, the division was sent to Camp San Luis Obispo to continue its training.[3] The 53rd Infantry Regiment was removed from the 7th Division and replaced with the 159th Infantry Regiment, newly deployed from the California Army National Guard.[3] The 53rd followed the 7th Division to Alaska and garrisoned Adak island.

Elmer was discharged on June 27, 1945 at Camp Beale, California.  He had 3 decorations/citations: American defense Service Medal; Asiatic Pacific Campaign Mefal; and Good Conduct Medal.  The 53rd Infantry Coat of Arms stands for  “Light, Silent, and Deadly.”

On June 19, 1947, a daughter, Susan Claire Daily was born in Woodland, California. Her brother, Charlie was almost 9 years old.

On July 17, 1948, another daughter, Nancy Louise Daily was born in Woodland, California. The Woodland City Directory for that year indicates his occupation was driver and that he and Elnora lived at 440 3rd Street.

1952—A Change is Coming 

(a personal story by Susan Daily Torguson - 18 Jan 2013)

Los Molinos, Palermo, Paskenta, Orland, Gerber, Richfield, Red Bluff, Corning….just a few of the places in Tehama, County California where I lived during my early years.

My dad must have been a jack-of-all-trades; we moved a lot to find work.  He was a mechanic, farm worker, truck driver, olive picker, and more after having served in the Army until 1945.

It was 1952 at LaConda Ranch outside of Corning. My sister, Nancy and I were 4 and 5 years old. We were dressed as twins most of the time—two little towheads traipsing after our big brother, Charlie, who was 14.

LaConda Ranch, an olive orchard, was home, though the plain little white house we lived in was a converted chicken house. My dad was the foreman of the orchard and we were given housing on the property next to a huge plantation-type home where the ranch manager and his family lived.

Walking into our house from a side door I recall an open kitchen and dining table and chairs. This is where I received a first doll made of soft plastic with blond vinyl hair and a gray shiny dress with a multi-colored polka-dot design. I loved that doll and recall chewing each of the soft rubber finger tips off—a precursor to my life long nail biting habit?

At the north end of the long narrow house were two small bedrooms and a bathroom. My tiny bedroom, shared with my sister and brother consisted of two cribs, one with brown enamel paint and chew marks on the top rails…hmmm…and the other white, along with a single twin bed. I recall bouncing exuberantly in those cribs as if they were trampolines—not a care in the world.

Charlie would in turn entertain us and scare us at night in our cribs with his finger shadows on the ceiling.  The bathroom, too, was a spooky place on moonlit windy nights.  The shadows cast on the walls by the fluttering leaves and a huge swaying tree outside were ominous to a five-year-old. My teasing brother enhanced the spookiness, of course.

On hot summer evenings I recall the sound of music, laughter, and square dance calls coming from a farm building near our house. My mom and dad were members of the local folk dancing club and loved music and dancing.

During this particular year, 1952, life as I knew it, changed. My entire family, mom, dad, and we three children were stricken with Polio during one of the largest epidemics on record. Dad was paralyzed from the hips down. 

Square dancing, of course, and constantly moving from place to place subsided. Our lives took a major turn towards recovery, reinvention, and stability. All would work out over time.

Elmer spent time at Children’s Hospital (Oakland or San Francisco) and returned to Corning where the family had moved after he was stricken. The memories are not clear, but the story goes that several in Corning were in iron lungs; not sure if Elmer ever was. Elnora supplemented physical therapy for him over the years.  By 1955 the family moved to Esparto, California where Elmer was trained by the March of Dimes as a watch repairman and jeweler. He had a small shop in the local drug store. Elnora opened a tropical fish store next door. Charlie attended and graduated (1956) from Esparto High School and Susie and Nancy attended school there until 3rd and 4th grades.

Elmer moved from crutches to full leg braces. In 1956 the family moved to Woodland and Elmer was employed as a stereotype operator for the Woodland Daily Democrat newspaper. It was heavy, hard work in the pressroom loading lead pegs and running the presses. Susie and Nancy attended Holy Rosary Catholic School. Charlie attended Sacramento City College and then went into the Navy.

Doing what he loved most

The family lived in various rental houses on West Street and on Locust Street. By 1957 through 1968, the family lived at 146 Second Street in Woodland, just two blocks from Elmer’s work at the Woodland Daily Democrat.

In 1969 Elmer and Elnora moved to 1109 39th Street in Sacramento. Elmer was employed by the Sacramento Union Newspaper until Cancer forced him to retire. Elmer died on January 26, 1975 at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery on 65th Street.