Orin Frederick Schwanke
.O. F. Schwanke
Index
C. F. Schwanke
H. S. Gillespie
C. E. Gillespie
Lois & Bill
Carl & Leslie
Ray & Pat
Alan & Sharon
Pete & Sharon
The Palmers
Dan & Brandy
Curt & Jenny
Jesse & Diana
Orin F. Schwanke married Hazel Deane Bennett
at Macomb, Illinois on August 27, 1923
Orin and Hazel spent most of the first four years of their marriage on a dairy farm near Macomb, Illinois where Bill was born on September 2, 1924. From there they moved to Burlington, Iowa where Orin worked as a salesman in a shoe store and Bob was born on April 21, 1927. He was next employed by Sears Roebuck & Co.  as manager of a store in LaFayette, Indiana and Lou Deane was born on June 16, 1929, Hazel's birthday.
When the stock market crashed and the depression hit, the store closed and we moved to Plymouth, Illinois and lived with Grandpa who was alone following the death of Grandmother Lu on October 29 of that year. Orin worked at many jobs, construction, sales and others but could find nothing permanent.
In 1933 we moved to Bristow, Oklahoma to seek employment in the oil fields. Hazel lost a fourth child at Bristow. We moved to Stroud, Oklahoma where he found part-time work with Mid Continent Oil Co. as a "roust-about". He was soon employed regularly as a "pumper" on a lease known as the Mary Ellis near Prague, Oklahoma. The folks chose to send us to Prague to school, paying tuition, rather than sending us to the little country school nearby.
In 1939 he was promoted to Lease Foreman and moved to the Chenault Lease near Sweeny, Texas.  In about 1946 he was again promoted. This time to the position of District Superintendent in production and they moved to Carthage, Texas. He held that position until retirement, spending several years at Witchita Falls, Texas, then Hobbs, New Mexico and finally back to Stroud, Oklahoma where they completed thirty years with the company and retired.
Upon retirement they moved to a small ranch midway between Mason and Fredicksburg, Texas that Rae and Lou had located for them and they had purchased. They remained on the ranch until just a few months before Orin died in March, 1979 and then moved to a house in Mason where Hazel lived until she passed away in October 1982.
50th wedding Anniversary
August 27, 1973
Rae & Lou, Dad & Mother, Les & Carl, Terry & Brad
The Ranch, a place they dearly loved.
Mother & Dad, Lois, Sharon, Carl, Patricia, Alan, 1968

1974
S. S. Huston
J. M. Bennett
Shoebox
History
History II
Wildlife
Christmas
Centerfold, Bill
Two years
Brother Bob, sister Lou, Bill, 1929
Mary-Ellis lease, well and company house, near Prague, OK, 1936-1939
First rifle & first rabbit, Christmas 1936, Christmas 1938
Sweeny, TX home, 1942. I built the pagoda just to the left of the house.
Bill at well head, Bob as drum major, and Lou with baritone.
Sweeny Football Team, 1939
Front: "Pig" Ogden, David Hammond, Johnny Bass, Leroy Stockman, Ballard, Bob Baugh,
Durant Canfield
Back: Bill Schwanke, Stuart Todd, Jimmy McKinney, ??, Buddy Blunck, Jamie Chenault
In the days of soft helmets, no face guards and light pads.

Boot Leave
Camp Elliot, San Diego
On Liberty
Home on Maui
ShoeboxII
God's Plan
Mother during the early years of their marriage.
Bill Schwanke, on the right in his early years. Both taken in Macomb, Illinois
This page was last updated: April 6, 2009