Sometime in the early 1930s, Leta met and married Robert Fields, her sixth (or fifth) husband. This perhaps is Leta’s second longest marriage, lasting over ten years. In fact, I suspect that this was a time of great stability for her. While I do not know the date of their marriage, it followed a period of romantic dalliances and sexual escapades that included three short marriages, one of which was shorter than a month. (It is possible that this month-marriage occurred after the marriage to Robert Fields, but verifiable information is elusive.)
Leta and Robert lived in the Point Place district of Toledo, on the northeast side of the city, very close to where the Maumee River empties into Lake Erie. According to Google Maps, the house is still standing.
Robert Fields was born in Butte, Montana on November 14, 1893, making him 2-1/2 years older than Leta. They were in their early forties when they married, his first and only marriage. While the detail is not specific, he settled in Toledo after World War I. He served with the Engineer Corps and the Army of Occupation for several years. In Toledo, he got a job at Spicer Manufacturing Company. Originally, based in New Jersey, the automotive parts company with the financial backing of investor Charles Dana, relocated to Toledo, Ohio in 1928. It is possible that Robert returned from the Great War to New Jersey first, and moved with the company. Once in Toledo, he met my great-grandmother (for they were married in the 1930s. Shortly after Robert’s death in 1946, Spicer became Dana Corporation (which still exists).
Incidentally, Robert secured employment at Spicer/Dana for his stepson Dale, who would retire from the company many years later. Further, when my parents married, Dale secured employment at Dana for my father. (My father didn’t stay; in 1963, he became a police officer in our hometown and stayed there until he retired.)
In 1942, Robert registered for the draft; he was 48 years old. Earlier, in September 1940, with War already raging in Europe, Asia and the South Pacific, the U.S. instituted national conscription for men between the ages of 21 and 45. This was the first peacetime draft in U.S. history and established the Selective Service System. Service was set for one year, and increased to 18 months in 1942. Later legislation expanded the age requirement to men from 18 to 65, with those aged 18 to 45 being immediately liable for induction. Service commitments for inductees were set at the length of the war plus six months. At this time, U.S. participation in World War II was increasing quickly. (The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the U.S. subsequently entered into the War as an Ally by declaring war on Japan on December 8. Both Germany and Italy subsequently declare war on the U.S. on December 11.) Robert was never called, but his stepson Dale served, and his stepson-in-law/my grandfather, while not drafted, did serve by developing and installing radio communications for the air force.
During the time my grandfather served in World War II, my grandmother and father lived with Leta and Robert. Born in 1939, my father was a small child during the War, but he still holds a specific memory of going to a local bar every Friday night. While his grandparents and mother had a few beers, “I got all the root beer I could drink,” he said. There was also an experience while my grandfather was stateside in Pennsylvania. My grandmother and father visited him, but as my dad had chicken pox at the time, they were all somewhat quarantined in their hotel room. In retrospect, this was most likely not the wisest of decisions, but my grandparents were young, missed each other terribly and with the war raging wanted to spend some time together.
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