Third Generation  

4. Robert Palmer YANKLE, son of Harold Frederick YANKLE and Marian Lucille PALMER , was born on 16 Apr 1922 in Flint, Michigan, died on 2 Apr 1997 in Interlochen, Michigan, at age 74, and was buried in 1997 in Interlochen, Michigan.

Robert lived in the Civic Park area of Flint, Michigan. He attended Civic Park School and graduated from Northern High School in 1940. He served in the Army-Coastal Artillery Corp, stationed in Africa, Sicily, and Italy. After the war, he managed the VFW hall in Flint. He then worked at the A.C. Division of General Motors for 33 years and retired in 1977. He was active in the Tall Pine Council of the Boy Scouts. Upon retirement, he moved to Interlochen, Michigan, where he was active with the Redeemer Lutheran Church, Golden Fellowship Commission on Aging, and the Interlochen Public Library. Robert was an avid gardener. He died April 2, 1997.

** Notes on Robert Yankle by his son, Robert P. Yankle II **

The notes above are a fine thumbnail sketch, but they miss a lot. Dad was a natural born leader who usually got his way. Sometimes, however, when he didn't get his way, he'd get angry and leave. That didn't apply to his family life though ......

My mother has accused my Dad of being a womanizer. She's even averred that she would have left him if she'd had the monetary resources to do so. However, that never happened, and she lived with him until he died in Traverse City, Michigan, in 1997.

My memories of my father are firmly based in the Boy Scouts of America, Tall Pine Council, in Flint, Michigan. He was the Scoutmaster of Troop 280 at Gundry Elementary School, which had another troop, Troop 208, run by our next door neighbor. Dad worked at the A.C. Spark Plug Division of General Motors, also known as "Generous Motors" because they put so much money into scouting. I've noticed from the Family Tree that Dad's father, Harold Yankle, and my Uncle Dick were all involved in the scouting movement. Dad was instrumental in starting Horten Lake Camp (later known as Camp Holaka) in Lapeer Michigan, close to Flint, Michigan. He paid (from his own pocket) to send me to the Camp Director's Course to gain my certification to be a Camp Director. That foresight paid off the next summer when the fellow who was slated to be the Camp Director that summer left scouting, and I filled the vacancy. My father was an excellent instructor, teaching his troop to camp, cook, tie knots, and do first aid, skills which I carry to this day.

Dad wasn't much for demonstrating affection. We respected our father, usually out of the fear of being severly spanked if we went up against him. He had a fear of flying, and would have missed my second wedding to Lynne Chapman if Aunt Marge hadn't agreed to drive to Virginia Beach for the ceremony. He did make it, though, and served as my Best Man.

Re his fear of flying, Dad told me his own father, Harold, took him up in an open-cockpit airplane when he was just a boy. The pilot did a roll-over and my father was falling out of the airplane until his Dad reached out, grabbed him by the belt, and hauled him back into the plane. I can see where that might have been traumatizing!

In the last years of his life, my Dad and I finally talked as equals. He held my daughter, Aubrey, on his lap and read out loud to her when I told him that she loved stories. He and Mom had found a new vacation spot in Paradise, Michigan in the upper peninsula, and he was even planning to move up there. Events caught up with him, though, and he died before he could put those plans into action.

From the Yankle Chronicle, February 2004:

Robert Palmer Yankle was born April 16, 1922, in Flint, Michigan, the oldest son of Harold and Marian (Palmer) Yankle. He was the first of the Fourth Generation of Yankles, all of whom still lived in the state of Michigan. It was this generation of Yankles, however, who would first move to other states.
Bob grew up in the Civic Park area of Flint and graduated from Flint Northern High School in 1940.

Very soon after graduation, Bob was inducted into the Army and saw service during WWII. He served in Northern Africa, Sicily, and Italy.

Shortly after the war ended, Bob met and married Evelyn Lauryne Holler, who lived in Flint, Mi. They had 4 children, Bob, Svona, Kathryn, and Glenn Yankle and lived in Flint, Michigan until he took early retirement from A.C. Sparkplug and moved to Interlochen, Michigan in 1977.

Bob was actively involved in the Boy Scouts of America, serving as Scoutmaster of Troop 280, and as an active member of a number of Tall Pine Council planning committees. He was a natural born leader and planner. This desire to be actively engaged in community affairs carried through to his retirement as well. He took leading roles serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Golden Fellowship, the Commission on Aging, and the Interlochen Public Library.

Bob enjoyed gardening and he and Evelyn had the most beautifully landscaped gardens in their neighborhood. Only months after his 50th Wedding Anniversary, Bob died of esophageal cancer, exactly 2 weeks shy of his 75th birthday.

Robert married Evelyn Lauryne HOLLER on 14 Sep 1946 in Flint, Michigan.

The child from this marriage was:

2         i.   Robert Palmer YANKLE II (born on 6 Dec 1947 in Flint, Michigan)

5. Evelyn Lauryne HOLLER, daughter of Glenn Lee HOLLER and Anna Maria ASMUSSEN , was born on 9 May 1921 in Flint, Michigan.

b. May 9, 1921. Evelyn was born in Flint, Michigan to Glenn L. and Anna Marie (ASMUSSEN) HOLLER. Evelyn has one older sister, Dorothy. Her father was a tool and die maker and her mother was a salesperson prior to marrying her father. The family lived in the Mott Park area of Flint. She attended Durand Elementary and Longfellow Jr. High Schools. She went to Central High School and graduated in 1939. Evelyn worked as a Service Representative of Michigan Bell Telephone. She and Bob met at a Valentine's Day dance. She married Robert P. YANKLE on Sep. 14, 1946, in Flint, Michigan. The couple had four children and lived in the Northwest area of Flint, and then, Interlochen, Michigan. Evelyn works at the Libary in Interlochen and loves gardening, ceramics, and crocheting as hobbies.

** Evelyn's comments on her mother and father, Glenn and Anna Marie Holler: **

Both my parents were workaholics. They never took a vacation because, as they averred, "Vacations are for rich people". Both of them were cold, and never gave me or my sister a hug or compliment.

Evelyn married Robert Palmer YANKLE on 14 Sep 1946 in Flint, Michigan.

6. Otta Boyd CHAPMAN, son of Robert Lee CHAPMAN and Nancy Emeline MORROW , was born on 13 Dec 1916 in Douglas County, Georgia.

From information gathered by Faye (Chapman) Harrington on her father, Otta Boyd "O.B." Chapman:

The store building that Mellie had rented was to play a big part in Esther Lee's future. In the back of the building was a furnished room. It was sparse and simple. One of the renters was a young man, on his own from Georgia. He had black curly hair, a car, a job, a few clothes and little else. His name was O.B. Chapman.
Mellie and Esther Lee spent the years from Avery's death to after Esther graduated, trying to finish off the inside of their home. For a time they lived in only 1 room. The house had no electricity, a well on the back porch and an outhouse behind and to the left of the house. The big day arrived when they finally finished the living room and Esther Lee went seeking help to move some furniture. She found O.B. and he helped arrange the long-waited-for living room. They had no idea just how much other furniture they would move over the next fifty plus years.
They were married on May 22, 1941. O.B. moved in with Mellie and Esther Lee to keep from taking Esther away from her mother and leaving her alone. O.B. worked as a painter by day and handyman and farmer at night. He wired the house with electricity himself with the help of a diagram drawn by a salesman at Sears where he bought the wire. He put sheet rock up over the rough boards on the walls and ceilings of the house. He dug another well, mostly through rock to replace the well on the back porch which went dry more often than it had water. He carried water by hand - a 5 gallon bucket in each hand - from a spring across the road and about a mile away until he finished the well. He then put plumbing in the house for running water. Hot water came later. He was no stranger to hard manual labor. O.B. was the second child of five children born to Robert Lee Chapman and Nancy Emaline Morrow Chapman.

Otta married Esther Lee PAYNE on 21 May 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The child from this marriage was:

3         i.   Judith Lynne CHAPMAN (born on 16 Oct 1956 in Greenville, South Carolina)

7. Esther Lee PAYNE, daughter of Avery G. PAYNE and Mellie Josephine SMITH , was born on 2 Sep 1921 in Greenville, South Carolina, died on 13 May 1994 in Greenville, South Carolina, at age 72, and was buried on 16 May 1994 in Greenville Memorial Gardens, Greenville, South Carolina.

Notes on Esther Lee (PAYNE) CHAPMAN by Denise Chapman:

Buried at Greenville Memorial Gardens in Greenville, SC. Faye remembers her mother being a church going lady. She never had tell you that she was a christian she radiated what a christian should be. The smallest things in this world seemed to give her joy, i.e. the first spring flower, wandering through a dime store, even if she didn't buy anything. Esther loved anything that was flavored with lemons.

From information written by Esther Faye (Chapman) Harrington about her mother, Esther Lee Payne:

We know life for Mellie and Esther Lee was not easy after Avery's death. Mellie rented out the store to provide some income for her and her only daughter. We know Esther Lee sold magazine subscriptions to help pay for her high school ring. Esther Lee graduated from Mauldin High School, (which is now Mauldin Elementary School, in 1938. She received an award pin for, "Expressive Reading". She enjoyed reading and history. We feel she would have loved helping her daughter. Faye and her first cousin Mary complete this family history and we know she could have supplied many of the missing pieces of information. When Alzheimer's took Esther Lee's memory, another part of Avery and Mellie's history went with it.

more ......

With all the pain, suffering, heartache, and losses Mellie endured in her lifetime, we know she turned to God and not away from Him. Mellie's last 7 years of life were spent being cared for by her daughter, Esther Lee, and her family. She had, "hardening of the arteries", which caused her to be senile and lose her ability to talk or care for herself at all. Esther Lee would go in each morning very early to clean and bathe Mellie before she fed her breakfast. On the morning of November 1, 1967, Esther found her mother in respiratory distress and could not awaken her. Dr. William Banner of Simpsonville was called and he found Mellie in a stage known as, "actively dying", meaning her heartbeat and breathing were erratic and slowing. Esther Lee and Dr. Banner decided to allow Mellie to complete her life where she had spent the past 45 years…in her own home. By about 9:00 a.m. Mellie got to leave this world behind as she slipped into the next to be reunited with pieces of her heart that had gone on before. She left very quietly, very sweetly and with no pain. Life did not always give Mellie it's best but she took what was given, mostly without complaint and did what she could to make life for those she loved better.

The store building that Mellie had rented was to play a big part in Esther Lee's future. In the back of the building was a furnished room. It was sparse and simple. One of the renters was a young man, on his own from Georgia. He had black curly hair, a car, a job, a few clothes and little else. His name was O.B. Chapman.

After high school Esther Lee worked in a school, we think in the cafeteria, since she had to wear a white uniform. She had to take a bus to get to work. A neighbor took in laundry and we know Esther Lee paid to have these uniforms washed, starched and ironed. She did not develop her well-known skill of ironing until later.

Mellie and Esther Lee spent the years from Avery's death to after Esther graduated, trying to finish off the inside of their home. For a time they lived in only 1 room. The house had no electricity, a well on the back porch and an outhouse behind and to the left of the house. The big day arrived when they finally finished the living room and Esther Lee went seeking help to move some furniture. She found O.B. and he helped arrange the long-waited-for living room. They had no idea just how much other furniture they would move over the next fifty plus years.

They were married on May 22, 1941. O.B. moved in with Mellie and Esther Lee to keep from taking Esther away from her mother and leaving her alone. O.B. worked as a painter by day and handyman and farmer at night. He wired the house with electricity himself with the help of a diagram drawn by a salesman at Sears where he bought the wire. He put sheet rock up over the rough boards on the walls and ceilings of the house. He dug another well, mostly through rock to replace the well on the back porch which went dry more often than it had water. He carried water by hand - a 5 gallon bucket in each hand - from a spring across the road and about a mile away until he finished the well. He then put plumbing in the house for running water. Hot water came later. He was no stranger to hard manual labor.

Esther married Otta Boyd CHAPMAN on 21 May 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina.