An article in Radio Age by Dick Mackiewicz states: "Elmer was involved in a severe automobile accident in 1986 and never recovered. Paul visited Elmer during his convalescence and expressed interest in carrying on Elmer's business. Elmer and his family liked Paul a great deal, and when Elmer passed away in 1987, Paul bought Elmer's business and moved it to its present location in Minnesota."

NOTE: Paul has stated that the part of the article where it says he visited Elmer in his convalescence is not true. Also, the year of the accident is incorrect. In addition, Mackiewicz wrote that Elmer was an instructor for wartime radio technicians and operators during WWII, but Elmer stated he was a Radio Mechanic. The article can be found here.

MRL was sold to Paul Nelson on or about February 1, 1988, for $7,700. Paul was to acquire the proprietorship and inventory of Modern Radio Laboratories, yet the only things left were Elmer's printer and two crystal set kits. There were no coils or other items made by Elmer Osterhoudt. Where did it all go? 31 years later, dozens of brand new MRL coils made by Elmer were found on a website that sold antique radio parts. How did they end up there?

NOTE: Prior to Elmer's house being sold, an ad was placed on January 22, 1988 in Pennysaver Magazine for a yard sale. There was also an invoice for a dumpster dated April 11, 1988, and another one on April 19, 1988. Much of Elmer's life and MRL probably went into those dumpsters.

What happened to Elmer's mother? Minnie Jane Comer Osterhoudt died of typhoid fever in Yakima City, Washington on September 28, 1903, aged 27 years and eight months. She is buried in Miller Cemetery in Silverton, Marion County, Oregon, near Scotts Mills.
 

Charles Higby Osterhoudt

Charles Higby Osterhoudt, Elmer's grandfather, also died in Yakima City Washington, and is also buried in Miller Cemetery in Oregon. He died the same year as Minnie, but earlier that April in 1903. He was 73. Why were they in Yakima in 1903?

This newspaper clipping is a clue, though the name is spelled differently. This is from the Yakima Herald April 8, 1903. If this is Charles Higby Osterhoudt, he was in Yakima City because he lived there. A second clue is that his former home is in Silverton, Oregon. The Osterhoudt farm was only about 4 miles from Silverton. Though it was closer to Scotts Mills, Silverton was a much larger town. The "son living here" would be Wilbert Osterhoudt.

He was a new arrival to Yakima City, since the 1900 census has him living in Scotts Mills Oregon, and the City Directory for Spokane, Washington shows Charles, Henry, John and Wilbert living there in 1902. It's possible that Charles, Henry, John, Wilbert, Minnie, Elmer and Cyril all lived in the same house in Yakima City, as they did in Scotts Mills in 1900. That would explain why Minnie was still in Yakima City in September of 1903.

Yakima City was 8 years old in 1903 and had a population of about 6000. It grew around a train station built by Northern Pacific Railway in 1885. The first train station was an old boxcar placed in the middle of Yakima Avenue. A larger structure was erected in 1898 to replace the boxcar. If the Osterhoudt's traveled by train, they would have arrived here. (PHOTO)

Unfortunately, in 1903 the city's sanitation and water quality were horrendous. The sewer system discharged directly into the Yakima River, which was used for drinking water. Outhouses were built next to wells, which were then contaminated with coliform bacteria. Irrigation ditches were open and contained sewage, feces and salmonella. Garbage, horse manure and animal excrement caused huge fly swarms in the entire Yakima Valley. 300,000 sheep and 15,000 cattle roamed the area.

Between 1897 and 1911, Yakima had outbreaks of scarlet fever, typhoid fever, smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Babies died of "Cholera infantum" in the summer, which was not actual Cholera, and was probably salmonella bacteria in contaminated milk. "Fever deaths" in Yakima were five times higher than the national average.

 

	Two weeks later, on October 14, 1903, the Yakima Herald published this notice.

If this was the son of Wilbert and Minnie, it meant that after Minnie died Wilbert was left with 4 year old Elmer and a 3 month old baby. Two weeks later the baby was dead. In one year Wilbert had lost his father, his wife, and his son. He then left Yakima for Eugene, Oregon, along with his brothers Henry and John, and of course, little Elmer.

Wilbert Osterhoudt died in his home at 8019 Crockett Street in Los Angeles of heart disease on December 3, 1930, aged 60. This left Alice with four children under the age of 15. Alice married James Clarence Newman on November 18, 1932. James died in 1964, aged 71. Alice lived till 1981 and was 92 years old. Wilbert and Alice are both buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Los Angeles, as are their daughters Nora and Ada May.

1936 San Francisco directory listing showing Mabel as a clerk at Southern Pacific.

*** Only one other person on the census page made this much money; he was a chemist in a paint factory.