Delbert "Shootin' the Outhouse"

My grandfather, Delbert Marion Saunders, "shootin' the outhouse" at Gold Lake  in 1939.

Delbert & Irma Go Fishing

(Click to enlarge.)

 My Grandmother, Irma (D'Angeli) Saunders,
fishing (or at least holding a fish), in Brentwood, in 1934.
In all my years knowing her, I never say Grandma fish,
but it looks like Grandpa got her to do it at least once.

I love the wide legged pants she's wearing
and the fact that she's barefoot in the photo.
They must have been having a fun time.

(Click to enlarge.)

Delbert (Bud) Marion Saunders -- Clown Extraordinaire.
This is probably my most favorite photo of my Grandfather.
Ever the jokester, I'm sure my Grandmother had just told him to smile,
and instead he did this.
These photos are from August, 1934, before Bud and Irma were married.

Delbert & Jakey Go Fishing

(Click to enlarge.)

Jakey Jilbert, my Grandfather Delbert's cousin,
fishing at Bay Point in 1934.
Jakey was the only son of Delbert's aunt Nellie,
who was his mother Nora's youngest sister.
At the time, Jakey live in Tracey with his mother, Nellie.

(Click to enlarge.)

Jakey Jilbert, Tiny the dog and (on the very edge of the photo)
my Grandfather, Delbert.

(Click to enlarge.)

If there's on thing knew about Grandpa, it was that he loved to fish.
Here he is with Jakey and Tiny.

(Click to enlarge.)

My grandmother, Irma, was the one taking the photos.
They are from her photo album and the notes on them are her handwriting.
In 1934, she and my grandfather were still dating.

Delbert & Irma Go Shooting

 My father's parents, Delbert "Bud" Saunders and Irma Saunders
on a shooting trip to the Livermore hills.
Grandpa spent his teen years in Tracy, California,
so he probably knew these hills very well.

 My grandfather, Bud, with what I'm assuming is a .22 rifle.
Grandpa wasn't one to kill animals.  But he was a top-notch tin-can hunter.
The photos are from a photo album of my Grandmother's,
from the time when they were dating.
It is her handwriting on the bottom of the photos
placing them in Livermore, on July 4, 1934.

 Grandpa, with his rifle and his dog, Tiny, perched on his shoulder.
These photos were taken two years before my grandparents got married.
No doubt he took her on an Independence Day outing,
and tried to impress her with his hunting ability.

Grandpa and his dog, Tiny.

And that there would be my gun-totin' Grandma,
with tiny in hand, of course.

Delbert Marion Saunders and Family

 This is my grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders (on the right),
with his Aunt Nellie (Baker) Jilbert, and cousin Jake (Jakey) Jilbert.

The photo is from an album of my grandmother's, Irma (D'Angeli) Saunders. The photo is dated Aug 5, 1934 and was likely taken at Nellie's home in Tracey, CA. Bud and Irma were married in 1936, so they were dating at the time this photo was taken. I imagine this may have been the first time my grandmother met Nellie and Jakey, which is why she may have saved the photos in her album.

My grandmother, Irma (D'Angeli) Saunders
and my grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders.
My grandmother was 21 years old at the time.
My grandfather was 23.

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders and his Grandmother

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders (kneeling) with his dog.
Standing behind him on the left is his grandmother, Martha Emily (Woodside) Baker.
I'm not certain who the other three people in the photo are.
The man standing on the right looks very much like Bud did when he got older,
so the man may be one of Martha's brothers.  The woman beside him is likely his wife.
The man standing beside Martha may be her son, Frank.
The photo is dated Aug 3, 1933.  Bud was 20 years old at the time.

Delbert Saunders's High School Year Book Page

Delbert Marion Saunders's Senior high school year book page.
He attended Fremont High School, in Oakland, CA.

Grandpa was due to graduate from high school in June 1930.  Sadly, he never finished.  Times were hard and he dropped out of high school to work full time, in order to support his grandmother, with whom he was living.  In his own words (from a letter he wrote to us the year before he died):

"I studied hard in school and managed to skip a grade. I worked as a house boy for a family in Piedmont. Then I worked in a boarding house... They treated me like a slave. From there, I got a job working at an auto laundry, on Fridays and Saturdays, and also ran some poker games on the side. My problem holding that job was the extensive lying I had to do to my school counselor, regarding reasons that I was missing all my Friday classes. This had to end, so I managed to get a job driving for the Manila Meat Market, after school and all day Saturday. The job was punishing because of the long hours involved, and the difficult transportation getting to 82nd Avenue from High School. I had to do my homework on the street car and sometimes fell asleep on the way home, waking up at the end of the line in San Leandro. Never the less, I enjoyed it very much. The people I worked for, a nice German family, treated me just like a member of their own family.  As would be happening all over, the depression was building up and the company went broke; and with it went my job. That ended my chance of going to college. But not all was lost. I had found the love of my life -- your Grandmother.  Of this good fortune, I have been very blessed."

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders in his Late Teens

Delbert Marion Saunders.
This photo is actually a small proof, about 1-inch in size,
that I scanned at 300% to make it larger.
It appears to be from a sitting he took as a Senior, for his high-school yearbook.
The photo is not dated, but it is probably from 1930.

Delbert Marion Saunders,
looking strikingly handsome in a tux.
This photo is also a small proof, about 1-inch in size,
that I scanned at 300% to make it larger.
These photos would have been taken while he was and a senior at
Fremont High School, in Oakland, CA.

Delbert Marion Saunders, at the beach.

Two things I love about this photo are the old fashioned swim suit he is wearing and the fact that whomever he was there with is cropped out of the photo. I found this in the front of my grandmother's teen-age photo album, along with the torn photo below.  Clearly, she wanted to save a photo of him, but not of the girl he was with at the time.  How adorable.

Delbert Marion Saunders wearing some dandy knickers.
He on a beach and, from his stance (and knowing what Grandpa loved most),
I'm guessing he was fishing.
Scroll down to reveal the mystery of who is cut out of the photo on the left.

Delbert Marion Saunders, on a beach picnic with a girlfriend.
Looking through my grandfather's High School yearbook,
I found a photo of someone who looks like this girl, who also signed the year book.
Her name was Geneva Proctor.  She may have been his High School sweet heart.

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders as a Toddler

Delbert Marion Saunders, as a toddler.
This photo and frame are tiny -- only about 1x1.5 inches.
I found it way down in the bottom of my grandmother's photo box.
My guess is that this is "Bud" at about age 3, in 1913.

Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders, as a small child
with his aunt, Ruby (Baker) Finney, who was Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's sister.
The back of the photo indicates it was taken in Dillon, Montana, but there is no date.
Judging from the approximate age of Delbert (2-3 years), this photo is probably around 1912-1913.

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders,
with his grandmother, Martha (Woodside) Baker.
The back of the photo says it was taken in Bannack, Montana.
There is no date on the photo but it is likely from around 1915.

My paternal grandfather, Delbert "Bud" Marion Saunders
(standing with his hand shading his eyes).

The others in this third photo include Delbert's grandmother, Martha (Woodside) Baker (standing) and her second husband Dan Dwight (standing, cropped) whom she married after her first husband, Fred Baker died.  The younger woman sitting in the center of the photo is Delbert's aunt, Maime (Baker) Myers, who was Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's sister.  The child on he lap is her son Kenny Michaels, who was a child of her first marriage to Joe Michaels.  Kenny died in childhood and was not spoken of after Mamie remarried Henry Myers, whom she remained married to until death.  The man in the lower right corner is Frank Baker, my grandfather's uncle and Nora Belle (Baker) Saunders's brother.  There is an unknown boy poking his head into the frame of the photo on the left.  There is no indication on the photo who this child is, but I love the expression of curiosity on his face.  There is no location or date indicated on the photo, but it is likely from around 1918.