Left: Russell G. Berrier (1899-1943); Right: Nora (Kellison) Berrier (1894-1946)

Russell Gerald Berrier

Account of Russell G. Berrier & family by daughter Eleanor (Berrier) Cool

"In 1918 the USA was fighting World War I and the newlyweds [Russell and Nora (Kellison) Berrier], along with Mama's younger brother George [Kellison], and his bride, Opal Shearer, went out to Aberdeen, Wash. where "Suss" and "Kelly" worked in the shipyards building wooden Liberty Ships. The war soon ended. They lived briefly in Casper, Wyo. and returned to Hot Springs where Jean was born in March 1920. In 1922 they stayed in Sterling, Colo. to be near Grandma [Bertha (Hagemeier)] Kellison, who was dying. Mama's Hagemeier uncles lived there and were carpenters and cabinetmakers. They taught Daddy [Russell] their craft. After Grandma died in July, Mama and Daddy returned to Hot Springs, where I [Eleanor] was born in December.

"About a year later Daddy went out to California. He stayed with his Uncle LeRoy and Aunt Maud Berrier in their big old Victorian home at 1116 W. 21st St. in Los Angeles. He liked what he saw of California. His high school chum, Mary Marty, and her husband, Charles Kime, had come to L.A. as had his two cousins, Drs. Jay and Harold Crane and his Aunt Lulu Baldwin and cousins Wayne and Beryl. He sent for Mama and us girls. We lived in a small place on Van Ness Avenue where Shirlee was born at home on [date elided] with Mary Kime as attending nurse... We moved again in 1927 to Glendale to be nearer to Universal Studios where Daddy was employed as a carpenter in the mill building sets. The new movie industry was growing fast and he found the variety of the work and challenge of all the special effects fascinating. He was to work there until 1939.

"After a brief stay in a little rented house on Doran St. (now under the Ventura Freeway) they bought a brand new home at 771 Fairmont Ave... Soon after moving west our Dad bought an automobile--a Star. Once when we still lived on 96th St. the street was being paved, and he had to drive on the sidewalk to get home...He always loved cars and spent lots of time working on them. He especially liked Buicks and had three. The first was a big yellow 1928 8-passenger touring sedan with "jump" seats that folded into the back of the front seat, roll-down window shades, crystal bud vases, and huge spare tires in wheel wells in the front fenders. There was an expanding metal fence to fasten across the running boards where tents, thermoses, and other camping or picnic gear was stored. I remember once when he was driving us home late at night over Dark Canyon Pass (now the Hollywood Freeway) the police stopped the car because the shades were down. We kids were asleep in the back and the cops were looking for bootleggers--it was during Prohibition.

"The economy of the country was getting very bad and many people we knew were out of work. Our family entertainments were fun things that required little or no money-- card parties, group singing around the piano, costume parties, camping trips, picnics, Sunday drives, watching the planes (which were quite a new thing) take off and land at nearby Grand Central Airport, and especially the movies. Everyone went to the movies often. The downtown L.A. theaters were places of unbelievable splendor. They showed double features and had live vaudeville shows. They ran continuously to full houses from early in the morning. The prices were very low. Some movies cost only a dime. For all the unhappy, out-of-work people this offered an escape. So Daddy (who was called "Gerry" by his studio co-workers) was kept busy at the studio and became foreman of the mill in 1931.

"...Dad had started working [at Lockheed] in 1940 building wooden mock-ups-- full-size models of new planes in the blueprint stage. For the interim period after he left the studio [in 1939], he had framed new houses in the San Fernando valley. The war in Europe had stimulated the aircraft business and job were finally becoming available so people could afford to buy houses again."

-- "Recollections of a Berrier Childhood" by Eleanor Berrier Cool, 1990

Above: Russell G. Berrier's high school graduation picture, about 1917. Below: Russell's draft reg. card

Census data for the Russell G. Berrier family:

• 1920 SD: Not found.
• 1930 CA, Los Angeles Co., Glendale city, Dw. 46, Fam. 47
  • Berrier, Russell G., Head, Owns $6,000 home, white male, age 30, m. at age 21, b. SD, father b. IA, mother b. IL, Carpenter in motion picture studio
  • Berrier, Nora B., Wife-H, white female, age 35, m. at age 24, b. NE, father b. WI, mother b. IA
  • Berrier, Jean, Daughter, white female, age 10, single, att. school, b. SD, father b. SD, mother b. NE
  • Berrier, Eleanor, Daughter, white female, age 7, single, att. school, b. SD, father b. SD, mother b. NE
  • Berrier, Shirley, Daughter, white female, age 5, att school, b. CA, father b. SD, mother b. NE