Bertis Franklin Heath & Olive Gladys Shepherd Family
This page is devoted to all of the documents and records collected for the Bert Heath family. Bert lost his father just before his 3rd birthday. Life after that was not easy. His mother remarried (William Smith) and Bert suffered under his stepfather. He finally left home and lived with a neighboring family until his mother left William Smith and Rachel's father rented a farm for them. Bert returned to the family at that point until he left for the oil fields of California. Once there, he persuaded 18 year old Olive Gladys Shepherd to travel from Kansas to California and marry him. Gladys (as she was known for her adult life) had been born in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. Her family spent a few years in Missouri before returning to Kansas. Her mother died just as the family was settling in to life in the town of El Dorado, Butler County, Kansas. Gladys was just 12 years old. It was in Butler County that she met the young oil worker Bert Heath.
Immediately married after her arrival, they started a full life in California. They had 2 children and were active in their church and community. Bert worked steadily in the oil fields even through the Great Depression. Eventually they grew apart and were divorced in the 1940s. Each later remarried (Gladys twice). Bert died in 1964 due to complications from a cancerous tumor. Gladys lived until 1994. She enjoyed a long fruitful life.
Bert Heath Federal Censuses : 1910 1920 1930 1940
Kansas State Census : 1905 1915
Olive Gladys Shepherd Birth Record - A delayed birth certificate when she needed to prove age later in life.
Olive Shepherd 2nd Grade Report Card - The second page grading was done by her mother.
Bert Heath and Olive Gladys Shepherd Marriage Certificate
Gladys Baptism Certificate - Gladys was baptised as an adult during a visit to Kansas in 1929.
1923 Long Beach Directory - This was prior to Bert's marriage to Gladys.
1st Home for Bert and Gladys - Compliments of Google Maps. They lived in an upstairs back apartment.
1926 Land Purchase in Orange County- Index page
Newspaper Articles for Bert and Gladys' family. There are so many we have separated them by decade - 1920s 1930s 1940s
Heath Voter Registration : 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942
Bert Heath Social Security Application
Letter from Bert to Pat & Bob ; This was written not long before he died
Bert Herath Funeral Announcement
Gladys Marriage Cert - This is for her third marriage to Earl Choate in 1959
Gladys 87th Birthday - This was a lovely article by a local newspaper in 1993
Olive Gladys Shepherd Heath King Choate Death Certificate
Updated on 20 October 2020
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