Eva Bernice Kesterson was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, on April 4, 1916, to Irving Ernest Kesterson and Goldie Sylvania Jennings Kesterson. Irving was also born in Grants Pass; Goldie’s family had migrated to Grants Pass from Pennsylvania. Eva was the oldest of three children. Her sister, Aimee, was born two years after Eva; her brother, Irving Ernest Kesterson Jr. (known as Buzz), was adopted ten years after Aimee’s birth.
Irving was co-owner of a lumber mill in Grants Pass with his brother Ivan. The lumber business in those days was very lucrative for them, and Eva grew up in a financially comfortable home. In Eva’s early years, her parents spent a lot of time with Ivan and his wife Bonnie. Eva became very close to her uncle, who was quiet, but warm and friendly and easy to be around. His wife Bonnie was an extravert and a lot of fun. Irving, unlike his brother Ivan, was very domineering and liked being in charge of everyone and everything. Goldie was more of an introvert like Ivan, but she too liked spending time with Bonnie, who helped her to be more extroverted.
Ivan and Bonnie had two daughters, and Ivan and Irving also had a sister Florence, who had two daughters. The cousins were close in age to Eva and Aimee and the six girls spent many happy hours in each others company.
Like all families, everything wasn’t perfect. Irving was a philanderer--a quality Eva despised. When she was twelve, Eva went to his office and said, “Everyone in town is talking about your running around with other women. You are hurting my mother!” Eva was not intimidated by her father’s sense of superiority. She always felt confident in speaking her mind, even to her father. Irving undoubtedly disliked some of the things his daughter said to him, but he always admired her independence and self-confidence.
Irving and Ivan had a falling out when Eva was in junior high school. They split the lumber business, and Irving moved his family to Klamath Falls and started a lumber mill outside the small town of Topsy, south west of Klamath Falls. Irving and Ivan never spoke to each other again, but Ivan and Bonnie always maintained a close relationship with Goldie and Eva.
Eva quickly made new friends in Klamath Falls and enjoyed spending time with both her sister Aimee and new baby brother Buzz. When she started high school, Eva became involved with many activities, both in and out of school. Her father loved horses and taught his kids to ride. Mother was not an avid or enthusiastic rider, but she rode well. She played the piano beautifully, having taken lessons for twelve years. She was elected to the school pep squad, and was a “Pep, Pep, Pepper Girl” for the boys’ athletic events.
When starting her sophomore year in high school, Eva was attracted to a new boy on campus. Don Bradley had just arrived from Superior, Wisconsin, to start his junior year at Klamath Union High School. He was tall, dark and handsome, and a football, basketball, track, and baseball star on the high school athletic teams. Don also noticed the Pep, Pep, Pepper Girls, and was especially drawn to the little dark-haired sophomore, Eva. Don’s father Dean had transferred from the Great Northern Railroad to the Southern Pacific railroad, where he worked sixteen-hour days as a conductor. Don’s mother Grace was a homemaker like Eva’s mother Goldie. Don was an only child and adored by both his parents. Eva and Don dated until Don graduated and joined the navy. Eva continued to write to him throughout his four years in the navy.
Shortly after Eva graduated from high school, Irving announced he was leaving Goldie and moving to San Francisco. He had met a woman named Martha and wanted to marry her. Eva had been accepted into Dominican College in San Rafael, all too close to San Francisco for her taste. She hated to leave her mother, six year old brother and sixteen year old sister behind, but she headed off to college. Irving insisted that Eva visit him and Martha on weekends. She despised Martha for taking her dad away from her mother. After six months she could stand it no longer, so she dropped out of college and returned home to Klamath Falls.
Eva was still writing Don, but felt very lonesome in Klamath Falls without his support. When her childhood newspaper carrier Wayne asked her on a date, she accepted; a few months later, she agreed to marry him. Her primary motivation, not a good one she later admitted, was to “show her father.” The marriage was not a happy one. When Don got out of the navy, he was still getting letters from Eva and knew of her marriage. By chance, he ran into Wayne downtown; he was surprised but delighted to hear Wayne suggest that he call Eva because they were divorcing and he knew she was still in love with him. Don was working with his dad at the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the first long weekend they had available (July 4, 1940), they all drove to Reno, where Don and Eva married.
Eva’s childhood was behind her and she was happy at last, married to the man she loved; they started a new family with the arrival of Michael on November 18, 1941, and then Nola on March 26, 1943. Her adult years lay ahead of her, but that is another story.
To be continued
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