Harvey Vernon Loffer Sr.

   Another name for Harvey was Harv.

  General Notes:

The year was 1918. The United States was struggling through the First World War. An epidemic of influenza took the lives of more than 650,000 Americans. Fuel shortages and food rationing were daily facts of life.

On July 15^th of that same year, Harvey Vernon Loffer was born in North Miami, Oklahoma. Miami was the County seat and principal business center of Ottawa County. He was the son of Thomas Emery Loffer of Leadhill, Ark. and Lucy Ann Adams of Little Rock, Ark. His older siblings, Ethel, Fred, Oscar and Floyd were all born in Bruno, Marion Co., Ark. The Loffers' had made the decision to move westward, hoping to offer their sons more than a life of working in the lead and zinc mines of Arkansas. They settled in Oklahoma in 1914. In 1916 son Arthur was born, only to die of the flu three months later.

Harvey began school at North Miami School in Commerce, Oklahoma where he attended classes with his cousins, Lorene Cooper and Lonnie and Eddie Loffer. As well as being cousins, they were close friends and spent much time together. During the summer they would spend lazy days swimming and fishing, or catching crawdads in the Neosho River.

In 1929 when Harvey was eleven, the family moved to Pryor, Oklahoma to live with Harvey's maternal grandfather Greenberry Adams, a widower who was getting on in years. Harvey attended school by day, and helped with the farm chores in the evening. He and his brothers loved baseball, and would get up a game with the other boys in the area as often as possible.

As 1932 approached, crops all over Oklahoma were suffering from drought and the endless winds sweeping across the plains. Harvey left school just before completing the 8^th grade, to work full time alongside his father and brothers. Almost 14, and nearly grown, he was capable of doing a man's job. Every pair of hands counted.

One day, with noon approaching, Lucy was getting lunch on the table, as she did every day for her "menfolk". She was a little bit edgy - the morning had been extremely humid, and she had noticed thunderclouds gathering in the distance. Aware that the wind was picking up, she carried a big bowl of pinto beans to the table and set them down next to a big plate of biscuits. As she turned to get a pitcher of milk, son Harvey burst through the door, yelling "Tornado! Come on Ma, we have to get to the cellar!" As Lucy headed for the door, growing teenager Harvey stuffed a biscuit into his mouth. He quickly grabbed an empty milk pail, and dumped the rest of the biscuits into it. Lucy was moving as fast as she could, but Harvey still caught up to her just as she reached for the cellar door! Telling about it later, brother Oscar said it sounded like a hundred freight trains, right overhead. After the tornado had passed, the Loffers apprehensively emerged from the cellar to survey the damage. By some miracle, the tornado had passed by them. The house and barn had remained largely intact, as had the house next door. Harvey's sister Ethel, husband Clarence and their children lived there. A large spreading elm, growing between the two houses had been completely flattened, branches touching both houses. Clarence, working the farm alongside the Loffers, had gotten his family safely into their cellar. Entering their home, the Loffers found the kitchen table overturned, and everything tossed about in disarray.
Everything, that is, except the bowl of beans - The tornado had apparently picked the bowl up and set it back down again on the floor. The bowl was completely full, not a drop had been spilled. The force of the wind, however, had sucked the window curtains between the walls and the window casings, and the curtains now flapped in the breeze, on the outside of the house!

Grandpa Adams passed away in the fall of 1935. In the spring of 1936, Tom and Lucy, along with Fred, Oscar and Harvey moved to California, settling in San Bernardino. They all found jobs working for Goodwill Industries, Harvey driving a delivery truck.

In early 1937, Harvey met his future wife, Theda Withem. A Co-worker, Henrietta Cowlthorpe, set him up on a blind date with her 16-year-old sister, Theda. They dated a few times, but he dated other girls, also. Harvey left the Goodwill to go into the gardening business. He also joined a minor league baseball team on which his brothers played. He was busy, and didn't see Theda again, for some time.

On April 19, 1937 Harvey enlisted in the National Guard of California, assigned to Company "M", 185^th Infantry (Rifle) division in San Bernardino. One of the functions of the Guard was to provide assistance to the public, in times of need.

A series of heavy rainstorms fell in February of 1938, causing a great flood from the mountains of San Bernardino, down into the valleys of Orange County. Parts of San Bernardino were under water. Harvey and his fellow guardsmen were called out to aid the flood victims. The Withem family lived in one of the flood areas. They, along with hundreds of others were evacuated to higher ground at the Municipal Auditorium in San Bernardino. While there, Theda spotted Harvey among the Guardsmen, and pointed him out to her girlfriend, Pearl Jarrard. She thought he was very handsome and hoped he would ask her out again.

That summer, they met by chance again, and Harvey did ask her out. They continued to see each other and on May 28, 1939, they were married. Their firstborn child, Marilyn was born May 8, 1940, followed by another daughter Sherry on May 28, 1941.

Then came the unthinkable - On Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese Imperial Navy Carriers launched airplanes, wave after wave, to bomb Pearl Harbor, where the majority of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was anchored. Harvey, like all Americans, experienced shock, horror, disbelief, and anguish that such a thing could happen on U.S. soil. The following day the enlistment center in downtown San Bernardino was overflowing with men who vowed to protect their country. To Harvey's disappointment, he did not pass the physical. Repeated bouts of pneumonia in his teen years had left spots on his lungs. He was told he could be re-evaluated at a later date. A few months later, he received word from Oklahoma - his cousin Lonnie Loffer, had enlisted at Fort Sill on Feb 12, 1942. Over the course of the war Lonnie would participate in five major battles, earning him the Silver Service Star.

Harvey hung blackout shades on all of the windows in his home, as directed by the U.S. Government, and did what he could to support the war on the home front. He took a job as a Civilian Policeman, assigned to Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino. On February 17, 1943 daughter Patty was born. Later that year Harvey made another attempt to enlist in the Army, and was again physically deferred. In the spring of 1944, Theda announced they would be having another baby in the fall. In August, Harvey took a job on the Hendricks Ranch in Moreno, Ca. He plowed fields by tractor, planted, cultivated and harvested wheat, oats, barley and assorted fruits. Son (hallelujah! It's a boy!) Harvey Jr. was born on Oct 21, 1944. The family had outgrown their home.

After lengthy discussion, Harvey, parents Tom and Lucy and his brothers Oscar and Fred jointly bought a 20 acre parcel of land in Perris, Ca., where there would be plenty of room for the children to grow up. There were two existing homes on the property. Harvey and family would occupy one, Tom, Lucy, Fred and Oscar, the other. The move was completed by January of 1945.


In February of 1945, Harvey received a draft notice from the U.S. Army. Expecting to again fail the physical, Harvey reported to the draft board on February 28th. Not only did he pass the physical, but was immediately conscripted into the Army. The assumption had been that he would have at least a few days to go home and pack a bag, and say goodbye to his family. That did not happen. He and the others reporting that day were, within hours on a bus headed to Fort MacArthur, San Pedro, Ca., then on to Fort Ord, Ca. for processing. It would be three days before Theda would know what had happened to Harvey. From there he was sent to Fort Hood, Texas where he underwent 4 months of infantry and rifle training. He was specially qualified as a Marksman with the M1 Rifle.

In July, training over, he was allowed a three-week furlough with his family before leaving on overseas assignment. On Aug 6^th, a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On Aug 9^th, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On Aug 11^th Harvey boarded a ship in San Pedro harbor, bound for the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations. After three days at sea, word came that the Japanese had accepted unconditional surrender. His ship, however, continued its course for the Philippine Islands. On Sept. 2, 1945, the formal Japanese surrender Ceremony took place on board the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. As the final surrender document was signed, 1,000 carrier based U.S. planes flew overhead.

That very same day, the 304^th Field Artillery unit went ashore on Leyte. They were a mop-up unit - recovering fallen comrades, burying innocent villagers who had become victims of war, and flushing out Japanese soldiers who had not yet surrendered. Harvey drove the trucks, hauling personnel and supplies wherever needed. The next stop was Cebu, where their actions were repeated. From there his ship sailed to Hokaido, Japan, where he remained until Jan 9, 1946. He arrived back at Fort MacArthur on Jan 25, and was honorably discharged on Jan 28, 1946.
He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Metal.

He went back to working at Hendricks Ranch for a few years longer, then took a job within a mile of home, working for Oscar Sherman, on Sherman's Hog Ranch. The next 18 years passed with the birth of eight more children: Barbara -1947, Susan-1949, Gary-1950, Betty-1952, Dena-1954, Kathy-1957, and Bonnie in 1959. Sadly, in 1961 Harvey and Theda's third son was stillborn. He was named Fred Arthur, after two of Harvey's brothers. Their last child, Beth was born in 1964. Through these years Harvey never missed a day's work. He was a good provider for his large family.

In 1962, Harvey was diagnosed with a heart condition, Angina. He was put on permanent disability. He had to surrender his driver's license to the DMV, as a result of the medication he was taking. Of all the restrictions placed on him, he probably missed driving the most. His life remained fairly low-key. He spent a lot of time reading, and read just about every western novel written by Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. He looked forward to Saturday night penny ante poker games with his sons and sons-in-law, and went on occasional fishing or camping trips with his children and grandchildren.

On May 28, 1989, surrounded by family and friends, Harvey and Theda celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. It was a daylong celebration, filled with tributes, toasts and tears.

On July 26, 1990 Harvey's tired heart finally gave out. He was given a Military funeral with Honor Guard and buried in Riverside National Cemetery. Though we mourn his loss, we still celebrate his life.

Harvey married Theda Luella Withem, daughter of Oscar Ray Withem and Cassie Evelena Rowe.