Orlando Mauel

Orlando was the second of 10 children born to William and Anna Hall Mauel. He grew up in a small town called Theresa, Ashford Township, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. Four of Orlando’s brothers and one sister died before reaching adulthood, between the years of 1902 and 1918. Childhood epidemics, such as diptheria, were common then. Orlando left school by the 9th grade, which was fairly common in those days. One of his school teachers encouraged Orlando to stay in school as he had a good mind and felt that he could really do something with himself, but his mother told him he had to go out and get a job. Orlando’s father was the head of maintenance at a table factory in Ashford, so Orlando got a job there for awhile. He continued to live at home for a time with his 4 sisters and parents, and perhaps as one relative suggested “he got tired of all the women” and eventually decided to strike out on his own. It is said his mother was the “ruler” and spoke with a heavy German accent; his father was quite hard of hearing after years of working at the nosiy table factory, which turned out to be a big blessing in that household. In the early 1920’s, Orlando jumped on a freight car and went to various places, including Ohio and Detroit. It was not uncommon then for a man looking for work to show up at a factory or dock and wait for a foreman to come out and select some workers. They would ask what skills you had, and if yours matched what they needed, they would hire you. Work was not often guaranteed, however, so employment was considered a temporary thing. When the work ran out, they would go on to another place. Orlando wasn’t afraid to speak up for himself and could get feisty at times, which according to son Marvin, caused at least one foreman to let Orlando go. He eventually ended up working in Hartford, Wi, a small community between Kenosha and Milwaukee, and worked at the Kissel Car Company.

He met his future wife, Barbara Mares, in Kenosha sometime around 1924 or 25. Her parents had a large home and took in roomers, while some people just came and paid for dinner served in their large dining room. Nobody recalls exactly how Barbara and Orlando met, but likely one of Orlando’s friends, who possibly stayed at the Mares’, told him about Barbara. Orlando, using his math skills and good common sense, helped Barbara’s parents figure out that were loosing money on the meals they were serving because they were not charging enough and putting on too big a spread at dinner.

Barbara and Orlando were married in 1926 in Kenosha. They lived in one of the small guest cottages on the Mares’ property after they married. Nine months and 2 days later, daughter Margie was born. Over the next 14 years, seven more children were born to the couple. After child number 4 arrived, they ran out of room in the cottage and moved to a different house around the corner from Barbara’s parents. Barbara’s father, Chris, had a big Nash car the grandchildren recall being parked out in the back ally.

Eventually the family moved to Beloit, where Orlando worked at Fairbanks Morse, where they produced diesel engines for locomotives, tugs and ships. During WWII, they manufactured submarine engines. They first rented a home on Wisconsin Ave, then moved to Keeler Ave. for a time. They had a baseball field across the street and a stream nearby, offering lots of fun for the Mauel children. Most people had large gardens out back, and many neighbors raised chickens in the back yard. The family got a black and white dog named Bingo, which eventually developed a taste for the neighbors chickens, and much to the dismay of the Mauel children, had to go. In 1944, the owner of the house on Keeler Ave sold it, so the Mauel’s bought their house on Broad Street. They had some difficulty in securing their new house as the previous owner didn’t get out in time, and narrowly missed having all their furniture put out to the curb. Barbara went to work nights at Fairbanks Morse for a 4 year period to help pay for the new house, which cost $5000. This was during WWII when many women entered the work force, and although Orlando was not in the war, there were many openings at the factory and Barbara had the experience they needed from her previous job in Kenosha. All of the kids were expected to chip in too. Margie was old enough to help watch the kids, and Ginny was responsible to make dinner after school. Orlando continued working at Fairbanks Morse during and after the war as “head of tool cribs”. Post-war, the company changed production, expanded and was bought out by another company. Anybody in a supervisory position had to have at least a diploma, which Orlando never got. He had to take a written test which he scored very well on, and was asked how he knew the answers to all those questions. Despite his good performance, he didn’t have a diploma so couldn’t keep his job as a supervisor. He was upset about this demotion and didn’t tell anybody about it for quite some time. In 1958, at age 60, he started working for a company called American Car & Foundry in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ACF was under contract to the the Atomic Energy Commission and produced the MK-6 bombs as well as the first thermonuclear device. Because much of their work was classified, the FBI came around to research Orlando’s background and interviewed neighbors, co-workers and family before hiring him. Barbara was reluctant at first to move, but after a time came to enjoy Albuquerque. Son Marvin drove Orlando out to Albuquerque so he could find a place to live before Barbara, daughter Phyllis and Barbara’s sister Alvina moved out there. Marvin had to hitch hike home and met up with a dental student driving to Illinois, then a truck driver who dropped him off at their home on Broad St. in Beloit. There was often someone from the family coming out for a visit, and traveled Route 66 to get there. Marvin, daughter Ginny, her husband Jerry and their two children, 2 year old Matt and infant Monica drove out there in Jerry’s new Thunderbird in 1958. There wasn’t much traffic on that road in those days and because they had a new car with good tires, found themselves going close to 100 miles an hour. They did get pulled over in Texas, but probably because of the two little ones in the back of the car, only received a warning.

Orlando retired from ACF after 5 years, and they they stayed in Albuquerque another 5 years. Orlando was a very good golfer but found himself getting bored after awhile. He suffered a minor heart attack while in Albuquerque, but never really admitted it. In 1968, they returned to Beloit and their home on Broad St. which Marvin lived in while they were gone. Orlando was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1977; he was admitted to Beloit Memorial Hospital on April 3rd 1978 and kept a diary every day of all the tests they did, what medicines or treatments they gave him and who stopped by to visit. He died 10 days later, having kept the diary up until 2 days before he died on April 13, 1978.