Birthdate and birthplace
He was born March 14, 1911 in the Crozerville section of Aston, PA. His
place of birth was designated as Lenni, PA because his family's mailing
address was Lenni, PA.
He was never listed in any Lenni census. Map of Lenni area.
In 1978
I obtained a copy of his baptism certificate from the St. Francis de Sales Church located in Crozerville. |
The
earliest record about my dad that I found was the census for Aston, PA taken on January 13-14, 1920. |
One of eight children
My dad was the youngest child of Grant and Bridget Yarnall. He had three brothers
(George,
John, and William) and four sisters (Ellen Catharine - who was called
Nell, Rose Cordelia - who was called Rose, Sarah Marie - who was called
Marie, and Catharine Rose - who was called Kay). John, William, and Rose
never married. I found a
picture of my dad and four of his seven siblings. I also found some newspaper articles on the Internet about his relatives. Grant Yarnall family photo.
Young promising athlete
In his late teens dad was a handsome local sports hero. He earned money
playing basketball and football in the semipro leagues in Delaware County.
On the right we have a clipping from a basketball game in which he played for Clifton Heights in 1928 when he was age 17. I do not know who the M. Yarnall was that played for the Essington team. Their games might have been played in Upper Darby where my mother went to high school.
He did not go to school after the eighth grade (1925). My mother was a
big sports fan. My guess about how they met was when she saw him play in a basketball or football game because they did not live near each other and they did not go to the same schoool. She never told me.
| I heard a rumor that he owned a neat Model A Ford. On the right is a newspaper clipping from May 8, 1930 that might validate such a rumor. |
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