DALE CALEB7 SHIELDS
(Raymond Dale6, Caleb5, Patrick4, Isaac M.3, Patrick2, Daniel1 Shields)
and
Family
DALE CALEB7 SHIELDS, second son and second child of Raymond Dale6 Shields and Sarah Margaret Creager, was born at the family home on 22 January 1908 at Beamsville, Richland Township, Darke County, Ohio.
was named for his father, Raymond Dale6 Shields;
for his paternal grandfather, Caleb5 Shields, husband of Hannah Brown.
Caleb5 Shields was named for his maternal grandfather, Caleb Brown.
Undated
Undated
Top to Bottom:
Dale7 Shields, Romia Shields, Leroy7 Shields
Imo7 Shields, Lahoma7 Shields, and Berman Shields
Siblings: Dale, Leroy, Imo, and Lahoma
Siblings: Romia and Berman
Probably 1916
1918-1919
and Joseph Preston Beihl, who would become brother-in-law to both Leroy and Dale
Greenville, Darke Co., OH
Lee was brother of Sarah Margaret (Creager) Shields.
Sarah was the eldest of her siblings, and Lee was the youngest.
Mary Maurer was Dale's girlfriend at the time.
ALEXANDERs were brothers.
Ruth (b 1909-d Aug 2000) and Mary (b 9 Apr 1909) were cousins.
Mary eventually married Louis WARD.
Clifford Alexander (perhaps related to Harold Alexander above) married another cousin, #1 Alyce Maurer (not Mary's sister) and after Alyce died, married #2 Mildred Maurer, Alyce's sister.
Maurer information was courtesy of: Pat (Weldy) Qvick of Dayton, OH, May 2002. Pat gives the following, " Lydia Hoover married Amos Lehman and Lydia was the sister of Catherine Hoover. Catherine [Hoover] was the 2nd wife of John Maurer and raised his young children from his first marriage which included my grandmother, Katherine Maurer Weldy, the mother of Ruth Weldy, George Maurer the father of Mary Maurer, and Charles Maurer the father of Alyce and Mildred.
Another photo taken the same day shows Mary, Ruth & Imo, Dale's sister. It is found in Imo's Story.
Whitey would become Imo Shields's husband.
Imo is sister of Dale Shields.
1935
age 27
Dale married 4 September 1937 at St. Boniface Catholic Church Parsonage, Piqua, Miami County, Ohio to Rita Marie Margaret LEHMANN, daughter of John Michael & Mary Catherine (MILLS) LEHMANN. Rita, the youngest of eleven children, had been married previously, but she had obtained a civil divorce and church annulment. The couple met at a picnic via mutual friends. Rita was sister of Gertrude "Gert" LEHMANN who married Joseph BEIHL. Dale was brother of Leroy SHIELDS who married Ida Belle BEIHL, sister of Joseph.
Dale and Rita moved into the upper converted duplex home of Mary Catherine (MILLS) LEHMANN, Rita's mother. The family lived there until 1946. Here their first born daughter, Mary Sandra Iris Barbara Shields was born on 22 March 1938.
Standing: L > R: Dale Shields and his father, Raymond Shields
Sitting: Caleb Shields holding Mary Sandra Iris Shields
1938
Here their second daughter, Audrey Ann Patricia Shields was born on 17 September 1939.
Here their daughters, Sandra and Audrey, were reared for a time. Residence in Piqua brought much pleasure to both Dale and Rita. Almost every Saturday and Sunday, members of both LEHMANN and SHIELDS families would gather to visit and play cards, but the closeness of family ties were not to last, as necessity eventually took this SHIELDS family far from their hometown, family, and friends they loved.
Audrey8 and Sandra8
1943-1944
A visit to Grandpa (Raymond6) and Grandma (Sarah Creager) Shields' farm home.
Dale worked for the "Piqua Daily Call" in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio for a time. He left there and went to work for the Piqua Bottle Cap Co. where he was a stereotyper. (One who designs and/or makes a printing plate made by casting molten metal in a mold.) This company made the round paper disc-like bottle caps that fit just inside the mouth of glass milk bottles. However, this factory eventually closed its Piqua plant, and Dale was laid off.
With the lay-off, Dale found himself unable to find local employment, so he packed up the family and moved to Beaumont, Texas. However, employment there proved unsatisfatory because he discovered the factory union was "on strike," thus making him what is defined as a scab laborer, which put him in jeopardy. His sojourn there lasted a mere three months, and he and the family returned to Ohio.
Upon returning to Ohio, Dale and Rita found themselves without a place to reside, as Rita's sister and her family had moved into their duplex even though rent was being paid to Mary (Rita's mother) for holding it for them. Nothing could be found in the way of a home for the SHIELDS family, because apartments and rental homes were nil. At this time, Dale and Rita had to rely upon the generosity of Dale's parents, Raymond
Spring 1949
The car was Kaiser.
And...in the meantime, Dale had taken a temporary job in Joliet, Illinois with a newspaper company. He did not wish to move his family to the area, so the family remained on the farm with his parents. During this time, their youngest daughter, Karen, was born. Dale would travel back and forth on weekends, until he eventually found a permanent job working on a newspaper in Decatur, Illinois.
The family was repacked and relocated to Decatur, Illinois. Here they resided for about three years. Dale worked nights for a local newspaper, and with Rita's help, passed his journeyman's test. This made it easier for him to be eligible for other jobs and moving to other locations.
1950
May 1950
6 August 1950
Wishing to move nearer to Piqua and the family that they missed, Dale took the opportunity to stop at Anderson, Madison County, Indiana on one of the family's trips between Illinois and Ohio. Here he interviewed for a newspaper stereotyper/pressman position for the Anderson Herald or Bulletin. Thus, Dale was able to secure another newspaper position in Anderson. Here he and the family remained until his retirement from that place.
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana
June 1956
1957
Karen, Audrey, & Sandra
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana
June 1959
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana
1969
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana
celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary
on the same day that their daughter Karen marries.
With their daughters, now grown and married, and absent from the area, the two made plans to sell their home at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, Indiana and return to the place of their youth. So it was...they returned to Piqua, Miami County, Ohio. Through the years they had missed the close relationships with their siblings, but they soon discovered because of their long absence that the life they had once known was now lost...lost to those fun years of a bygone era. Relationships were there, but not the same. And...they, too, through the years had changed, as was inevitable.
When Dale and Rita were breaking up housekeeping, he was smashing other old wooden cigar boxes like this and burning them in the fireplace. Audrey was able to salvage two for keepsakes.
Dale was a cigar and pipe smoker. In later years he developed a hacking cough as a result. As with most smokers, he failed to see that the years of smoking was injurious to his health, even though he wished to live to a ripe old age as some of his forefathers.
We, girls, were not too pleased when Dad would smoke his cigars, especially when traveling with him...pre-airconditioning days...windows down. Dad would spit out one window...and we'd get it in the back window. Finally we realized to ask him to let us know when he was going to spit...so up our window went or YUCK!
at his home in Anderson, IN.
While visiting their daughter, Karen, in Indianapolis, Indiana in June 1982, she insisted that Dale and Rita have a photo taken. As fate would have it, Dale never lived to see this photo, but the family (thanks to Karen) has this wonderful picture to treasure. They would have celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary in September.
One hot summer day, after mowing the grass Dale sat down to rest in his red lawn chair. On 1 July 1982 at Piqua, Miami County, Ohio, Dale was discovered by a neighbor lying on his patio with Rita being unaware of his physical state. CPR was attempted. He had succumbed to a fatal heart attack. He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Piqua, Miami County, Ohio on 4 July 1982.
Behind Dale and Rita's gravestone at Forest Hills Cemetery is the gravestone of Leroy (bro/o Dale) and Ida (BEIHL) SHIELDS. Within the cemetery lies numerous members of both the SHIELDS & LEHMANN families.
- Mary Sandra Iris Barbara8 SHIELDS
- Audrey Ann Patricia8 SHIELDS
- Karen Eileen8 SHIELDS