Lawrence McKinley Marken (1897 - 1978)

Born 16 May 1897 in West Salem, Wayne, Ohio, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Sep 1978 at age 81 in Loudonville, Ashland, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Steven Hannan [send private message]

Biography

L.M. Marken (written by his youngest son, Howard):

Born near West Salem, Ohio. Grew up in Akron, Ohio. Never mentioned he went to high school. First job was a water boy for the company building the International Harvester truck plant in Akron. (1909?) His uncle, James McDaniel (husband of his mother's sister) was the contractor. Pay was 12 and 1/2 cents per hour.

Attended the Christian and Missionary Alliance church. Went to their West Nyack, New York, mission school for a short time around the time of WW I. Did not finish and did not become a missionary.

Married in 1918. Met his wife at a birthday party for Mable Newcomer (last name spelling?) wife's cousin I think. Was working for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company operating a bead making machine, at the time of marriage and their first home was in company provided housing in Goodyear Heights in Akron. They also lived in Copley near Akron before moving to the country near Seville, Ohio.

He was a self taught man, who took International Correspondence School Courses. In June 1918 he received a diploma in the following: Arithmatic Logarithms, Elements of Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, Geometrical Drawing, Mechanical Drawing, Sketching, Practical Projection, Development of Surfaces. In November of 1946 he received the degree of Design Engineer from the Ohio Institute of Technology. During the depression he acquired a loom and he and his wife did custom weaving making rag rugs. He also painted mail boxes with a decorative flourish. He showed me one years later where a beautiful rose flower was still visible.

He borrowed money from a friend, (Dana Krider, who owned a nursery business and went to the same church. Dana also had a nice singing voice and sang at dad‘s funeral.) and bought a ‘31 model A Ford panel truck and bread route for $400 and delivered bread to homes for 10 cents a loaf. He also offered donuts and other bakery items. He would get up at 4:00 A.M. drive from Seville to Akron to the Nickel's bakery Co. and load up his truck. return home, eat breakfast and set out on his route.

One of the things he studied was chemistry and we had a little chemistry lab in our basement with test tubes, retorts, Bunsen burner, glass desiccating bowel and all kinds of paraphernalia to hook it all together. (Just think of your high school chemistry class and you get the picture.)

During the war he worked at the Vaughn's Machine Co. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, as a draftsman. They made ship propellers for the Navy. He stayed there through the week and came home on the weekends. I remember taking him to Wadsworth every Sunday night to take a bus to Cuyahoga Falls.

After the war he worked for the Mansfield Sanitary Pottery in Perrysville, Ohio as a draftsman and design engineer. The family moved from Seville, to Loudonville, Ohio in 1948. He designed several experimental ball cocks for toilets (and put them in our toilet to see how they worked.) He set up a brass foundry at the company to make ball cocks and all the machining process to finish them.

After leaving the Pottery, he worked for the Akron Brass Co. in Wooster, Ohio as a draftsman. They made fog nozzles and other brass fittings for fire departments.

After the war he began collecting Edison cylinder phonographs and then branched out into Swiss music boxes, both cylinder and disk type.

He had a very keen understanding of mechanics and could repair almost anything mechanical. He could operate a lathe and milling machine and he had a tool room lathe and milling machine in our basement. He also had a drafting table and drafting machine in the basement.

He was a reader and was always trying to learn something new. He encouraged me, as a boy, (during the war) to see if I could make rubber from the sticky juice of the milk weed.

He read his Bible every night before going to bed. He was a thoughtful and kind person always interested in others. If he were taking a trip and would pass twenty miles from where you lived, he would say, "Lets drop over and see them for just a minute."

I don't ever remember hearing him criticize or make a negative comment about anyone.

Obituary

Wooster Daily Record – Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1978: Lawrence (Mac) Marken, 81 of Loudonville, died Tuesday at People's Hospital in Mansfield after a short illness. Services will be Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church at Seville. Friends may call tonight from 7-9 at Banks-Byerly Funeral Home in Loudonville or Thursday from 2-4 and 7-9 at Armstrong Funeral Home in Seville. burial will be at Acme Church Cemtery. He was born near West Salem to Frank and Mary Ellen Marken. He was a retired employee of Akron Brass of Wooster, where he had worked 10 years. He formerly worked 15 years at Mansfield Pottery Co. He was a member of Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church and Mohican Historical Society. Surviving are his wife Rena Fulton Marken; sons Donald of Point Pleasant Wa., Kenneth of Richmond Va., and Howard of Goesse, Ind.; daughters, Mrs. Nora friestad of Stillman Valley, Ill, Mrs. Kathleen Hannan of Loudonville, Mrs. Miriam Switzer of Lucas and Myrna at home; 27 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren and sister Mrs. Anna Gault of Ashland. Daughter Evely and son Gerald died previously.

Sources

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/167599131/person/172178159234/facts