Randolph Wilson Fife

The following was found on Family Search.com and describes how Randolph Wilson fife taught his son, Calvin Barnard Fife to drive: "Calvin Barnard Fife recounts an experience he had with his father, Randolph Wilson Fife, during the year 1935 when he was eleven years old. My father was a plastering contractor and was going through Colusa, California, to Williams to bid on a job. I went with him, along with my sister, Mabel, and my brother, James. The route from Gridley to Colusa was on back roads. My father taught me to drive the car that morning. We had a 1929 Willys Knight with a stick shift. The battery wasn't working right, so you had to crank the car to get it started. As we were going to Colusa that morning, my dad taught me how to use the clutch and the brake, and how to stop, start and steer the car. I drove that 30 miles to Colusa with the help of my dad. We went to Williams to bid the job. On the way back, as we hadn't eaten, my dad stopped at a Safeway store and said I could go in and get something for us to eat on the way home. I came out and gave the candy bars to the ones in the car. My dad backed out on the main street and started heading for home.

We just barely got out, heading down the main street, when my father had a heart attack. He stiffened right up in the seat. I had to pull his foot off the gear, drive the car, pull the car over to the side, and get the car stopped. By the time I got it stopped, we had driven several blocks. I stopped in fron tof the Ford Garage in Colusa. I sent Mabel (I was 11 and she was 8) over to get some help. She went over to the Ford Garage and two men came over to help. They had to start the car by cranking it. They got the car started, and then they drove us to the hospital.

This was quite a frightening event. We went to the hospital. My father was unconscious for about two hours. The hospital called my mother in Gridley and told her what had happened. My Uncle Will drove my mother in his car to the hospital to get us. It was strange that nobody really knew what had happened. My dad regained consciousness and was able to come home. My dad handn't really had a heart attack, but he had blacked out and had stiffened up. We found out later that he had a leaky heart valve, and it would just shut down every once in a while. This was really quite an experience in my life and in Mabel's life, to have my father pass out at the wheel. But the miracle of it was that he had taught me how to drive, start and run the car that very morning as just an eleven-year old boy. It really shows the inspiration he must have had He went a year or so without any more attacks, and then his condition worsened."

Just 8 years later, Calvin's father, Randolph Wilson Fife, passed away. I would assume that it was as a result of his heart valve condition described above in Calvin's story.

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From Find A Grave.com:

Birth and death dates and locations, mother's maiden name, Stewart, from California Death Index Records.

Gridley-Biggs Cemetery records indicate that burial was on November 19, 1943; with Randolph aged 51 years, 8 months, 19 days, married, residence: Gridley.

Butte county, Block Funeral Home Records, 1928-1953, book F-G, provided birth as Utah and death in Gridley.

From his daughter, Gwendolyn Fife Bushman's obituary in 1977, Randolph Wilson Fife was married to Mabel Victoria Erickson. Besides Gwendolyn, Randolph and Mable had six other children: Helen-Joe Fife Stoddard, Mabel Fife McDowell, Florence Fife Draper, Randolph Fife, Jr., Calvin Fife, and Dr. James Fife.

After Randolph Wilson Fife passed away, his wife, Mabel, married his brother, Leland, who passed away a few years after their marriage, and then Mabel married a Mr. Roberts.

Randolph's daughter Gwendolyn had 4 daughters and 3 sons, as well as seven grandchildren at the time of her death in 1977.