Violet (Walker) Olinghouse

Violet at work in the Post Office

Childhood and The Great Depression

The third of four children, my grandma grew up during the Great Depression and turned 14 years old at the start of World War II in 1939.  Times were hard when she was a child, and her father earned a living where he could find work in California.  The family moved frequently, causing Violet and her siblings to attend multiple schools during their childhood. 

A teen boy moved in next door in Chico, California, when Violet was about 11 years old.  Arriving from Grants Pass, Oregon at the start of his senior year in high school, Orville’s parents bought the little grocery store with gas station.  Their living quarters were in the back of the building.  A friend of Orville’s taught him how to fly a crop-duster, a skill that later placed him in the cockpit of a B-17 during wartime.  Violet and Orville became good friends.

Violet and family moved back to southern California when she was a teen.  She held part time jobs picking fruit and then sorting and canning fruit in Orange County, California.  Her mother worked for the USPS in various locations, and Violet pitched in and helped deliver the US Mail with her mother.  When Violet was old enough to drive, she would help by driving while her mother delivered the mail.  She was paid for her work by the USPS even though she was under age 18.

Post War

Violet and Orville married after his return from World War II in 1945.  A local store owned by Marjorie Woods and her husband entered into contract with the USPS to open a Post Office in Citrus Heights.  Marjorie was the Post Mistress and set up the Post Office in the back of their Wood’s Variety Store.  Marjorie knew Grandma’s background with the USPS and hired her – kicking off her career with the USPS, retiring in the late 1970s.  In her last year of life, she was admitted to the hospital for short-term care.  The registration clerk asked her when she had retired.  She promptly provided an exact date and time of her retirement!  I don’t remember the date she told the clerk, but she had not hesitated in her answer. 😊

Family Life and Retirement

Violet and Orville raised their family in Citrus Heights, California, just north of Sacramento.  They bought a house in a recently built development, providing for a stable home environment.  Then sold their house after the kids had flown and bought a home in a manufactured home park for seniors.  They then bought a travel trailer, hitched it to the truck and took off for months at a time traveling the country!  They were fortunate to retire early in life, and visited close and distant family and friends often.  Grandma enjoyed researching our family tree, back when one needed to travel to courthouses, libraries, or research facilities.  Grandpa would drop her off for her research and he would spend those days with his love of photography. 

Life is full of ups and downs for everyone.  Violet saw her way through every day, knowing the good days were coming, and enjoyed them all the more.