Erb Austin, Oral History

Dublin Core

Title

Erb Austin, Oral History

Description

Erb Austin Oral History

Creator

Churchill County Museum Association

Publisher

Churchill County Museum Association

Date

February 25, 1993

Format

Analog Cassette Tape, .docx File, Mp3 Audio

Language

English

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Analog Cassette Tape

Duration

55:05

Transcription

CHURCHILL COUNTY MUSEUM & ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
an interview with
ERB AUSTIN
February 25, 1993
This interview was conducted by Marian LaVoy; transcribed by Glenda Price; edited by Norine Arciniega; final typed by Pat Boden; index by Gracie Viera; supervised by Myrl Nygren, Director of Oral History Project/Assistant Curator Churchill County Museum.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewer and interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Churchill County Museum or any of its employees.

Preface:
Erb Austin has a quiet mien that belies his wonderful sense of humor. His quips are to the point and hilariously funny!

A gleam flickers in his eyes when he tells of his early years in Elko as an assistant to one of the local morticians. Two funerals in one year led Erb to comment that he never saw such healthy people! Having so much "time on his hands" he perfected his musical talent and became proficient as a saxophonist. He taught an Elko boy to play the instrument, and that young fellow went on to win state music contests and became Elko's best saxophonist! Erb even played with a small dance band while living in Elko… the small income helped supplement his meager salary.

Erb has often talked of his love of flying and has mentioned owning several different airplanes, but my surprise was genuine when I learned that the quiet man that I was interviewing was an unsung war hero who served in one of the most dangerous branches of the service during World War II . . . few glider pilots lived to tell of their exploits! Erb had his commercial pilot license when the United States entered the war, and intended to join the transport command, but Jacqueline Cochran had taken charge of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) and at that point in time her women pilots filled the available billets, so Erb chose to fly the dangerous transport gliders. His description of action in France is one of the most interesting sections of this interview.

Erb met and fell in love with Dorothy while stationed in California. The young couple returned to Reno where Erb worked for the quiet, austere Silas E. Ross and the jovial J. J. "Jack" Burke at the Ross-Burke Funeral Home. During his many years with this company he further cemented relationships with his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers and became active with the Masonic Lodge.

The opportunity arose to purchase the funeral home in Fallon, and after much soul searching Erb and Dottie made the big step, sold their Reno home and moved to Fallon in March 1951.
Throughout this interview I sensed that once in Fallon, Erb and Dottie dedicated twenty-eight years of their lives to being available for families who suffered the pain from the loss of a loved one. Vacations were forgotten and personal desires were set aside to give full attention and loving concern to the bereaved people who passed through the doors of the funeral home.

Interview with Erb William Austin

LaVOY: This is Marian Hennen LaVoy of the Churchill County Museum Oral History Project interviewing Erb William Austin at her home 4325 Schurz Highway, Fallon. The date is February 25, 1993. Good morning, Erb.

AUSTIN: Good morning, Marian.

LaVOY: How are you this morning?

AUSTIN: Very fine.

LaVOY: Good, good. We'll get started right now, and I'll ask you, Erb, where were you born?

AUSTIN: I was born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

LaVOY: And when?

AUSTIN: March 17, 1913.

LaVOY: And what was your father's name?

AUSTIN: Floyd D. Austin.

LaVOY: And your mother?

AUSTIN: Freada L. Austin.

LaVOY: And where was your father born?

AUSTIN: In Rifle, Colorado.

LaVOY: And your mother?

AUSTIN: St. Louis, Missouri.

LaVOY: Did they ever come to Nevada?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes, several times.

LaVOY: Visiting?

AUSTIN: Visiting, yes.

LaVOY: Oh, I see. What high school did you graduate from?

AUSTIN: Rifle Union High School [Rifle, Colorado].

LaVOY: In what year?

AUSTIN: 1932.

LaVOY: Now, what prompted you to come, I surmise, from high school right to Nevada?

AUSTIN: Well, I had decided to go into funeral service, and my uncle was living out here at the time.

LaVOY: Oh, what's his name?

AUSTIN: Dr. W. F. Fisher. He was with the Department of Agriculture in Elko [Nevada] at the time. He worked all over the state testing cattle for Bang's disease and tuberculosis.

LaVOY: How long was he in Nevada?

AUSTIN: Oh, God, for a good many years. He came right out of college and went up to Portland as a government meat inspector, and then he came down to Reno, and he worked there for Swift and Company for a good many years. Then he later got into the government work testing cattle.

LaVOY: Did he and his wife live in Reno?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes.

LaVOY: And is that where you lived when you first came?

AUSTIN: Yes.

LaVOY: What street was it on, do you remember?

AUSTIN: Lived on Plumas Street.

LaVOY: So, you were right out of high school. You came to Reno. Now, tell me about what you did your first years in Reno.

AUSTIN: I first went to Elko because there wasn't any room in Reno as an apprentice, and I worked for the E. T. Butler Company in Elko from September until possibly the first part of 1933 when I went into Ross-Burke Company in Reno.

LaVOY: Getting back to Elko, I'm interested where was the E. T. Butler located?

AUSTIN: It was in the old Kaiser Mortuary on Idaho Street right in the downtown part of Elko.

LaVOY: Was Mr. Butler alive at that time?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes.

LaVOY: I know Mrs. Butler took over after his death.

AUSTIN: That is correct. I worked there just a short period of time. I think we only had two cases during that length of time that I was there in Elko, and it was very discouraging.

LaVOY: Do you remember who your two cases were?

AUSTIN: The first case was Bonnie McBride [Bonnefield]. It was a coroner's case, and the second case was Don Cooper's mother [Alma Holmstrom Cooper], and those were the only two cases we had in that period of time.

LaVOY: Living in the small town of Elko you were single. What did you do to amuse yourself?

AUSTIN: I played saxophone in a dance orchestra there. I taught young Jay Garteiz to play the saxophone and. overhauled a saxophone for him so he could play it, and I met Don Cooper out there in Elko. When I first arrived in Elko, I got a job the first day there managing a service station for Jay Garteiz. He and his wife wanted to go on a vacation. I took over there just cold turkey. Took over the whole sales and service for the Chrysler garage that he had plus the service station. It was a very active service station on Idaho Street, and I enjoyed that very much.

LaVOY: You did that in addition to being a mortician.

AUSTIN: We weren't very busy at that time. Like I say, the entire length of time we only had the two cases, and you wouldn't receive much instruction that way in that short period.

LaVOY: You mentioned Don Cooper. Were you and he friends there in Elko?

AUSTIN: Yes, he played tenor saxophone, and I played alto sax. He used to play in dance bands, too, and that's how I happened to meet him.

LaVOY: Well, I must say, you trained Jay Garteiz real well because he was one of Elko's best saxophonists.

AUSTIN: Oh, fine. Happy to hear that. (laughing)

LaVOY: You stayed in Elko until 1933. Then what did you do?

AUSTIN: I went to Reno because the opening with Ross-Burke Company developed. I went in there to continue my apprenticeship. You had to serve a two-year apprenticeship.

LaVOY: Silas Ross was the owner at the time?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: What was Mr. Burke's first name?

AUSTIN: Jack. John J. Burke.

LaVOY: And Silas . . .

AUSTIN: E. Ross. Mr. Burke was an old Wells Fargo Express messenger. A tall, handsome old chap. Irish as Patty's pig.

LaVOY: And tell me a little about Silas Ross.

AUSTIN: Well, he was much different. He was not a jokester like J. J. Burke was. He was all business. Very serious in every respect.

LaVOY: Now, tell me what being an apprentice involved.

AUSTIN: You learned the basics of embalming under a licensed embalmer, and you have to serve two years of apprenticeship before you can get your license after having taken the state board.

LaVOY: I understand that you went to a school in California. When was that?

AUSTIN: That was in January of 1934, and that was the six-months school is all.

LaVOY: And the name?

AUSTIN: Los Angeles College of Embalming.

LaVOY: Did you meet a lot of people there that went into the funeral service that you met in later years?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes. We had a class of about forty fellows, and they were mainly out of California and Los Angeles and that vicinity because there was another school in California at the time, That's the San Francisco College of Embalming, but I preferred the Los Angeles school.

LaVOY: What years were you there?

AUSTIN: Just from January until the end of June.

LaVOY: In 1934?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Then did you return to Reno?

AUSTIN: Yes, I came back to Reno and resumed my apprenticeship there because you had to put in two years to serve.

LaVOY: Did I understand that you went to the University of Nevada, too?

AUSTIN: Part time, yes. I went there on and off from 1938 until I went into the service in 1942.

LaVOY: I understand that you belonged to a fraternity.

AUSTIN: Yes, I did. SAE.

LaVOY: Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Who were some of the members of the fraternity with you.

AUSTIN: Oh, there was Blake Spears, Don Kinkle. Oh, I can't remember all the old fellows then.

LaVOY: Where was the SAE house?

AUSTIN: It was on Evans Avenue right in the park.

LaVOY: Where it is now?

AUSTIN: Right.

LaVOY: Did you live at the SAE house?

AUSTIN: No, I lived at the funeral home.

LaVOY: Oh, you did!

AUSTIN: Yes, we had rooms there. We used to have quite a few of the University boys stay there at night. They answered the phone, and that gave them a room and a place to sleep and [to] call home.

LaVOY: That's very interesting. I didn't realize that.

AUSTIN: Bill Peccole--he's one that gave quite a large piece of ground to the University of Nevada for their baseball field. Peccole Field, they call it. Bill Peccole was an SAE, and he lived at the funeral home, too, at night answering the phone. He's from Las Vegas, and he returned to Vegas after graduating from the University of Nevada, and he's now in business in Vegas.

LaVOY: Was he a baseball player?

AUSTIN: He was interested in all the sports. He was a handball player, baseball mainly.

LaVOY: Oh, I see. When you boys worked there at night, was there just one boy on call or two or what?

AUSTIN: There was usually two men on call each night. They mainly answered the phone, and then they would call whoever was on call at the funeral home. They would come down and make their first call and come back and embalm the bodies there at the funeral home.

LaVOY: Oh, I see.

AUSTIN: Mainly answering the telephone is what they did.

LaVOY: Do you have a lot of friends that you still keep in touch with from your SAE days?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes, yes. We get into Reno every once in awhile and have little sessions. In fact, one of our past potentates in the Shrine was an SAE, and we have a reunion every time we get together.

LaVOY: Who is that?

AUSTIN: Dorman Patten. He worked for Hilps Drugstore, and he was past potentate of the Shrine, and we made several trips together in the Shrine.

LaVOY: Well, that's wonderful. Tell me, you mentioned that you went into the service. Naturally, this was during World War II. When and what branch did you go to?

AUSTIN: I was in the Air Corps. I took my training at Sheppard Field and was rated a glider pilot. I had originally trained to go to work for the airlines, and that was stopped because Jacqueline Cochran replaced most of the civilian pilots with her flying WASPS, Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

LaVOY: Was that after the War?

AUSTIN: No, it was during the War, and so that gave me no place to go.

LaVOY: I don't quite understand, Erb. You left and went into the Army Air Corps.

AUSTIN: I enlisted in the Air Corps.

LaVOY: And you had your training at Sheppard Field. Was your training to be a commercial pilot there?

AUSTIN: I had my commercial license when I went into the service.

LaVOY: I didn't realize that. Where did you take that training?

AUSTIN: I took that with the CAA in Houston, Texas. I was, training as a transport pilot. I flew C-47's there, and I got my instrument flight training there at the standardization center there in Houston.

LaVOY: At what point in time was this, Erb?

AUSTIN: That was in 1942.

LaVOY: This was prior to your going into the service?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: You left the University and the funeral home and went down and took commercial airline training.

AUSTIN: That is correct. And during that time, well, I was home taking care of my business affairs, I was called back into regular service, and that's where I was informed there was no need for any male ferry command pilots. That's when I was advised through Colonel [William] Ghent, University of Nevada military instructor. He was commandant at Fort Douglas, and he advised me that my best bet would be to go ahead and sign up and take the glider pilot training which was offered at that time to us. After completing my glider pilot training at Wichita Falls and later graduating from Lubbock, Texas, I was assigned to the troop carrier command, and we immediately went overseas.

LaVOY: By any chance, was Lloyd Miller with that group?

AUSTIN: Lloyd Miller was a glider pilot, yes. He was a local boy. He was in the 313th, and I was in the 439th.

LaVOY: Tell me exactly what your work involved as a glider pilot.

AUSTIN: We were able to carry airborne infantrymen into combat. We could carry one 105 millimeter Howitzer, an armored jeep, or nineteen airborne infantry men in the glider, and we were towed behind C-47's into the combat or drop zone, and then we cut loose from tow and landed and went to our assembly points after landing.

LaVOY: Where were you landing, Erb?

AUSTIN: Oh, in numerous areas in France, mainly.

LaVOY: Was that not very dangerous?

AUSTIN: It was extremely dangerous. We were cut loose, and you were on your own to land and discharge the troops, and then get yourself back to your original outfit, either by hitchhiking or hopping another ride.

LaVOY: In other words, you left your glider plane right in France.

AUSTIN: Right. They were usually disintegrated. They were blown up in combat. You had several nitro charges in the wing sections and you'd pull the pin, and it would just disintegrate the glider. Blow it all apart.

LaVOY: Well, now, Erb, how did you get back to your assembly point?

AUSTIN: We would usually walk back.

LaVOY: Wasn't that terribly dangerous, too?

AUSTIN: It was extremely dangerous. You'd usually get to your command post and that way you were able to get a ride back in the jeep or something of that nature and get back to your regular field. I was stationed at A-39 in France at Chateaudun.

LaVOY: Give me an example of your landing and then exactly what you did to get back to your post.

AUSTIN: As soon as we landed, we would go back and report to the nearest command. That way you were being kept track of and that way you were discharged of yourduties and you'd go back to your own home base. When we weren't flying gliders, we hauled prisoners of war. We were making a regular run each and every day from Chateaudun into Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, and there we would pick up prisoners of war and take them back either to Brussels or Antwerp [Belgium] or Reims [France] where they were discharged and where they would separate them and send them where they belonged.

LaVOY: What kind of planes did you use to pick them up in?

AUSTIN: C-47's. They were cargo type planes.

LaVOY: And you would pilot them?

AUSTIN: I would pilot and served as co-pilot most generally.

LaVOY: I had not heard this before. That is extremely interesting. I imagine the attrition rate was very high with you glider pilots.

AUSTIN: Right.

LaVOY: Have you had any conventions that you'd met with your old friends?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes, they've had several conventions in Reno. In fact, one of the boys that I met through the glider pilot training went to the same high school as I did in Rifle. Lee Hanson. He's in the lumber business down in California, and he's quite active in the glider pilot's association, and we hear from him quite often.

LaVOY: When did you finish with your tour of duty in France?

AUSTIN: In 1945.

LaVOY: Where were you assigned then?

AUSTIN: I was assigned to come back to the United States, and I was assigned to Great Falls, Montana, and while I was home in Reno on recuperation leave, my orders were changed from Great Falls, Montana, to Santa Anna, and when I got to Santa Anna, I went into LA to visit my aunt and uncle, and then the war was over.

LaVOY: What were your aunt and uncle's name?

AUSTIN: Dr. and Anna C. Besser. They were living there in LA, and I went in to visit with them, and my wife happened to be living next door. I managed to inveigle a date, and we were married in Burbank on December 1, 1945.

LaVOY: Give me Dottie's full name. Her maiden name, please.

AUSTIN: Her name was Dorothy Elizabeth Rumbaugh. She had recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, and she and a girl friend went out to Los Angeles to work for a year. Dottie was in the personnel office of the Los Angeles Gas and Electric, and I talked her into getting married, and that work ended right quick. We moved back to Reno, and we've made this our home ever since.

LaVOY: Now, Erb, I don't mean to embarrass you, but I've heard a wonderful, wonderful story about your tossing your hat up the stairs.

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Would you please tell me about that?

AUSTIN: I went out with the boys one night, and I was supposed to have a date with Dottie, and I somehow got tangled up with the fellows and was late getting there, and when I got there, it was quite a bit later than what we had expected. I threw my cap up through the hallway stairs thinking that that would be one way of letting her know I was there, and she didn't throw it back, so I went up and continued seeing her. But that is true. She didn't throw it back at me.

LaVOY: Oh, I think that's wonderful. I surmise that was your hat to your pink uniform?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: I know that sounds like an odd thing today, a pink uniform, but that Army color was . . .

AUSTIN: That's all we wore. Pinks.

LaVOY: The Army pinks. That's a wonderful story. Where were you married?

AUSTIN: In Glendale by a Lutheran minister. Dottie was Lutheran, and I had Lutheran background. In fact, I have a cousin that's an ordained Lutheran minister.

LaVOY: Was it a large wedding?

AUSTIN: Quite large. We had our families.

LaVOY: Who was your best man?

AUSTIN: Captain Charles Handright. He and I had flown together. He flew our airplane down to Burbank to act as best man. Charlie is since deceased.

LaVOY: And who was Dottie's maid of honor?

AUSTIN: Jean Kimpel. She married a chap, Dusty Rhodes. He had a pharmacy there in Glendale.

LaVOY: Where did you honeymoon?

AUSTIN: In San Francisco on our way back to Reno.

LaVOY: That's a wonderful story. Where did you live when you returned to Reno?

AUSTIN: We lived right across from the university in an apartment house on North Virginia Street right across from Manzanita Hall, and then we built our home in Reno on Sunnycrest Drive. We had a nice home there.

LaVOY: At this time you were working full time for Ross-Burke.

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: At one point in time, you went to another funeral institute in Chicago. When was that?

AUSTIN: That was a manager school which was run by National Selected Morticians. It was a manager's course for funeral home employees.

LaVOY: What was the name of the school?

AUSTIN: It was part of the National Selected Morticians' School in Chicago.

LaVOY: The National Funeral Service Institute?

AUSTIN: No, no. The National Selected Morticians Funeral Service Institute.

LaVOY: And how long were you there?

AUSTIN: I went back there four years in a row.

LaVOY: How long were the courses?

AUSTIN: Usually two weeks.

LaVOY: Did Dottie go with you?

AUSTIN: No, no. This was strictly on my own.

LaVOY: How long did you work for Ross-Burke?

AUSTIN: From 1932 until I purchased the funeral home here in Fallon. We left Reno and moved to Fallon.

LaVOY: So you worked there for about nineteen years.

AUSTIN: Right.

LaVOY: I bet Mr. Ross was very sorry to see you leave.

AUSTIN: Oh, they were always sorry to see you leave. Especially take a lot of time training a person they like to hang on to them if they possibly could, but it was quite a break for me. It was having my own business and my own boss.

LaVOY: What really prompted you to come to Fallon?

AUSTIN: Well, we had been told that the business was up for sale. Mrs. Kaiser was a widow, and she had her stepson, Bill Kaiser, working as an embalmer who had been working for Wilson, Bates out in Ely. She was up against having help, and she would just as soon get rid of the business entirely. That's when I bought the business from her.

LaVOY: I want to ask you a little bit about the history of the funeral home here in Fallon. I understand that it started in 1904 by a Edwin Watson Black. Can you give me a little history of that?

AUSTIN: That is correct, and it was later known as the Roe and Kaiser Mortuary.

LaVOY: Stopping just a moment before we get that far along. This Mr. Black, I understand, worked for the Black and Ferguson Store in addition to being the mortician here in town, and he was also the justice of the peace. Can you tell me what happened to Mr. Black?

AUSTIN: It's my understanding that he was in Reno---for what reason I do not know--and he either fell or… out of a hotel window and was killed.

LaVOY: Was that the Riverside Hotel?

AUSTIN: This I couldn't answer. I'm not sure. Possibly was.

LaVOY: And that left his widow. Is that correct?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: I believe he died February 1, 1912. Then his widow remarried Mr. Roe. Is that correct?

AUSTIN: Herbert Roe, yes, that is correct.

LaVOY: Now what did Mr. Roe do?

AUSTIN: He had been a railroad telegrapher and was an accountant for the sugar beet factory here in Fallon.

LaVOY: But, he was not a mortician.

AUSTIN: He was later. He became licensed.

LaVOY: Oh, I see.

AUSTIN: He was at one time--I was on the State Board--he was president of the Embalmers' Association, State Board of Embalmers.

LaVOY: You have no idea then when he passed away?

AUSTIN: It was after we had purchased the business from Mrs. Kaiser.

LaVOY: So, as you said, it was Roe and Kaiser until you purchased it.

AUSTIN: Right.

LaVOY: Was it always located in the same place it is now?

AUSTIN: That is correct. Same location. 355 West First Street.

LaVOY: Then, what prompted Mr. and Mrs. Roe to retire?

AUSTIN: Age, mainly.

LaVOY: And that left who as the sole owner?

AUSTIN: Bill Kaiser.

LaVOY: And Mr. Kaiser, who did he marry, do you know?

AUSTIN: Etta, is all I know. Etta Kaiser was the one that we bought the business from.

LaVOY: Mr. Kaiser died, I guess, in July of 1950?

AUSTIN: That sounds about right.

LaVOY: And then she ran it by herself, or with Bill Kaiser.

AUSTIN: With her stepson, yes, Bill Kaiser.

LaVOY: Until you bought it March 15, 1951.

AUSTIN: Right

LaVOY: Wasn't that a big step for you and Dottie to move from your nice home in Reno to Fallon?

AUSTIN: It was an extremely large step. We were very sorry to give up our home, but it was quite a break for us. We hated to give it up, but it was a step forward.

LaVOY: I understand that you could not move into the large home that you live in now because Mrs. Roe was still there. Would you tell me where you lived?

AUSTIN: We lived in Walker Villa. That was a veteran's organization just across from the hospital, and we lived on Richards Street for a good many years. We rented from Gus Martin, and Mrs. Roe kept going, and we were purchasing that property, but we couldn't get it occupied until something happened to her. It was a good many years before we got into our present home which we often wondered how long it was going to be before we'd ever get to use that place.

LaVOY: And then after Mrs. [Mary Ellen Hook Black] Roe passed away [July 14, 1958 at age ninety-eight] why you were able to move into the home. Tell me about something about your life in Fallon as the mortician in Fallon.

AUSTIN: That's quite lengthy.

LaVOY: Love to hear it, Erb.

AUSTIN: We had to take care of all the cemetery accounts. The public section was owned by the funeral home. They had the public section and would sell graves, and then the other graves in the cemetery were fraternally-owned groups sections. Odd Fellows [IOOF], Eagles [FOE], Elks [BPOE], and Knights of Pythias. They had their own private sections, and it was up to the secretaries of these various lodges to keep up the records of the cemetery, and they weren't always complete. They'd get busy, and they would forget to make an insertion. The public section was owned by the Roe and Kaiser which we took over, and we immediately went to work revamping the books and records of the cemetery. [End of tape 1 side A] We would complete the records and make sure that the grave spaces were properly identified by number and space, and it was a lengthy job taking care of all of these and making sure that they were correct. At the present time it's all handled by the cemetery sexton, now Dave Van Meter. All of the records have been turned over to the Fallon Cemetery Association.

LaVOY: Well, that certainly must have been a time-consuming job for you but certainly was to the benefit of the community.

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Did the cemetery always look like it looks now?

AUSTIN: It's been a long haul to get to the point that it is at the present time. Putting in sprinkling systems, improving the plots, removing copings, and like a that. It's in very beautiful shape. I have a letter of appreciation from--that I'll be able to give to you here, and you can read it and see what you think of it.

LaVOY: Well, I'd like you to read it for our tape, Erb, if you don't mind. I'd like to have you read it.

AUSTIN: This was addressed to Mr. Jim Carter, County Manager, Churchill County, Fallon, Nevada. "Dear Sirs: About two weeks ago, on a return trip from a vacation, passed through Fallon to take a look at the town and, in particular, to look at the condition of the cemetery. As a point of reference, I was born and raised in the town of Fallon and have seen the original condition of the cemetery and thereafter. Therefore, was most appreciative of what I found. I spent sometime talking with a man who cares for the grounds and expressed to him my thanks for the work that is being done in maintaining the cemetery and turning its appearance from a piece of desert into a beautiful area. We Spoons have many relatives buried in this cemetery and, ultimately, will have more. My thanks to you and your co-workers for a fine job you are doing. Sincerely, David Spoon, Saratoga, California."

LaVOY: And, naturally, County Commissioner [actually, Churchill County Manager at that time] Carter sent that to you because you were the one that was responsible for getting the cemetery to look like it does today. Well, that's certainly a kudo for you, Erb. I also understand that about twenty years ago you were kind enough to let the Mormon Genealogical Society--is that what it's called?--copy a lot of the records?

AUSTIN: They took all of the records that we had of the funerals, and they copied each and every one in great detail. It went on from 1904 up until 1951. Those were all turned over to them. They did a wonderful job.

LaVOY: And they are in Salt Lake City [Utah].

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: In their repository there.

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Now, that had never been done before, and what prompted you to think that that would be a good idea?

AUSTIN: The records weren't too good. There was quite a void, and this gave them a very complete bit of information on all the old cemeteries that were around this area. There were several different cemeteries in the different districts. Every district had their own cemetery.

LaVOY: Now, Erb, I understand that when you own a mortuary and are the mortician that you deal with the living rather than the dead.

AUSTIN: That is true.

LaVOY: Tell me exactly how you go about when a person passes away handling the entire funeral.

AUSTIN: Well, the first thing that you obtain is the statistical data. Date of birth, place of birth, doctor in attendance, and all of that. That is recorded in a book, and that gives the information that you need to make up your death certificates and removal permit if they are removed to another area. Also gives the doctor's name and in case of no doctor, it could be coroner, and that is where you are able to help families out. Instruct them properly as to what disposition has to be made of the dead human body. At the present time there is quite a marked change in the method of handling. The costs of funerals have increased and at the present time there is quite an increase in the number of cremations that are handled because of cost. That's about the only thing I can say at this time.

LaVOY: Did it ever trouble you with the survivors when they came to pick out the casket?

AUSTIN: Well, you had to instruct them as what type of caskets are available.

LaVOY: Excuse me, would you tell me what type of caskets are there? I'm not familiar with this.

AUSTIN: There are different type caskets. Mainly wooden, fiberglass, metal caskets, hardwoods, and like a that, and it's up to the individual. You can explain the protective features of the various type caskets, whether they be hermetically sealed or a non-sealer type casket, and that is a protection to the human remains that are in the casket.

LaVOY: When is the liner--I've heard that different morticians speak of the liner. What is that?

AUSTIN: That is usually referred to as the liner that lines the grave, whether it be a wooden box. A sectional cement grave liner is widely used now to keep any graves from settling or caving, so to speak.

LaVOY: Oh, is that why the old graves gradually settle down?

AUSTIN: That's right, and sink. They collapse.

LaVOY: Because the casket has deteriorated.

AUSTIN: Could be, yes, and they sink and cave in. With your metal air sealed vault, which they're usually twelve gauge Armco [American Rolling Mills] iron, they are an air sealed vault and they work on the same principal as a diving bell. You could place them in any amount of water, and no water would ever come in contact with the casket or the remains. It's just like a diving bell, and they do protect against any caving or settling of the grave. It's very unsightly to go out and see a sunken grave, especially where they're irrigated and keep lawns nice and green. There's a lot of water. In fact, the graves are really sinking because of over watering, and that is a protection for the grave and its contents.

LaVOY: Now I noticed in some of the cemeteries they have the double graves. Would you explain that to me?

AUSTIN: Because of space, they do utilize multiple depth graves. However, it doesn't work out too well. They have discontinued using the multiple depth graves in Reno. They just don't seem to work out.

LaVOY: For what reason?

AUSTIN: Well, I mean, the fact is they have to dig quite deep, and that is the only reason that I can see.

LaVOY: Well, in a multiple depth one, the first member of the family, say, of a husband and wife to pass away is on the bottom. Is that correct?

AUSTIN: That's correct.

LaVOY: Then, is there a cement top to that?

AUSTIN: Usually not. There's a kind of a grave liner which is a sectional cement deal.

LaVOY: With no lid.

AUSTIN: It's a lid. It's just a reinforced concrete slab that goes over that, and then the next body is put on top of that and then it's filled back, but you do have to go down quite some distance, and that's a lot of their problem because often times you encounter water. The water level's high. In Mountain View Cemetery they've discontinued all multiple depth graves.

LaVOY: Now, Erb, did you ever consider putting a mausoleum here?

AUSTIN: No. They have those all over the countries. Elko is one place I know of, mausoleums, and they're very nice. They are above-ground crypts, but there's quite a bit of expense to them, too, and they're quite popular anymore.

LaVOY: Now, you mentioned that in modern times that very much they've gone to cremation. The reason for that being?

AUSTIN: Cost. You see, the cost of cremation, you don't need a casket or anything like that. They even use cardboard cartons to encase the body.

LaVOY: Where is the closest crematory?

AUSTIN: Reno. They have two crematoriums in Reno, one in Carson City. I don't think they have any in Elko, and in Vegas they have several.

LaVOY: The business has certainly changed a great deal since you retired.

AUSTIN: Yes, it has.

LaVOY: Were you ever on the State board?

AUSTIN: No, I never was.

LaVOY: I understand that you have the honor of still having your mortician license. Is that correct?

AUSTIN: I still have my license.

LaVOY: And you are the what?

AUSTIN: Number fifty-eight.

LaVOY: In the state of Nevada?

AUSTIN: That is correct.

LaVOY: Number fifty-eight. In other words, you mean, throughout the whole state you were the fifty-eighth mortician in the state of Nevada.

AUSTIN: Right. That was issued back in 1934.

LaVOY: So does that make you the oldest living mortician in the state?

AUSTIN: Probably so.

LaVOY: That is really great.

AUSTIN: And my daughter, Colleen, she is a licensed embalmer and funeral director, also.

LaVOY: I did not realize that at all. Would you tell me right now, since you've mentioned Colleen's name, would you mention the names of your children and when and where they were born?

AUSTIN: Colleen is the youngest daughter. Her name is Colleen Palludan. She was born in Reno, and Shelia Pontius-that's our oldest daughter--she was born in Reno, also.

LaVOY: Since Colleen was born in 1952, did Dottie go back to Reno to have her?

AUSTIN: Yes, she did.

LaVOY: St. Mary's?

AUSTIN: We had an R-H factor, and it was necessary that she go into Reno at that time just to safeguard against any transfusions that had to be made. Dr. Dingacci recommended that we go back in there because they had the facilities there, rather than Fallon.

LaVOY: Now Colleen being a licensed mortician, I'd love to hear how she happened to go into that and where she trained.

AUSTIN: She served her apprenticeship under me, of course, and she went to--after she graduated from the University of Nevada, she went to the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, and our other son-in-law, Sheila's husband, he, also, went to embalming school after he graduated from the University of Nevada.

LaVOY: And this was?

AUSTIN: Ernest Pontius, and he and Colleen went to the embalming school in San Francisco at the same time.

LaVOY: Why did they decide that they didn't want to continue?

AUSTIN: They preferred not being confined as much as Mother and Dad had been over the years, and they liked payday and five o'clock, they liked their vacation time. Colleen is teaching now a kindergarten. She taught sixth grade for quite some time, and Ernie taught special ed for some time. He quit that and went to work for UPS. He has more time off then.

LaVOY: And Sheila has the . . .

AUSTIN: She has a dress shop here in Fallon. Lady Faire.

LaVOY: Well, I imagine that you and Dottie must have been really very tied down if just the two of you.

AUSTIN: We worked around the clock twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. For about twenty-five years we never had a vacation or a day off from the work.

LaVOY: As far as you can recall, what was the largest funeral that you had in Fallon?

AUSTIN: Probably one of the very first ones we had when we came here was for I.H. Kent, and the funeral home was much too small, and we had the services in the high school auditorium at the Churchill County High School. That was the largest funeral we ever had.

LaVOY: Then, what would be, say the second largest one?

AUSTIN: Oh, gosh, I wouldn't . . . it'd be hard to say on that. They were all large funerals because it's a small community and everybody's well known, and they do turn out for funerals. [End of tape 1]

LaVOY: Erb, I just wanted to ask you, having been in the business for such a long time, when you first came, did you inherit some help?

AUSTIN: Yes, we did inherit some help. Our first employee was an old harness maker by the name of George Wilbur, and he lived across the street from the funeral home. He was eighty years old and did not have a phone, and at night if we were to have a call, we would go over. and rap on his window, and he would get dressed and go out and help me make the call. And the other was an old grave digger by the name of Jack Grant, and he lived out by the old alfalfa mill where they made the alfalfa pellets, and he always had a great number of dogs that he had as pets, and he would always see that his dogs had plenty to eat, and on holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, we would always see that he had his dinner, turkey and plenty of treats for the old dogs. Then we had a couple of young chaps by the name of Tony Testolin and Louie Guazzini. Two young men that dug the graves for us, and they would use scoop shovels to fill back instead of the ordinary hoes, and they would make very light work of the graves digging and closing.

LaVOY: About how much did they earn doing that?

AUSTIN: Around thirty-five dollars per grave.

LaVOY: Are they still using the hand grave diggers today?

AUSTIN: No. Most of the graves are dug with a backhoe now, and the sexton of the cemetery, Dave Van Meter, takes charge of the opening and closing of the graves.

LaVOY: Something I've wondered about. Someone told me that the sugar beet factory was where the cemetery is. Is that correct?

AUSTIN: No, the existing cemetery, the sugar beet factory was out to the extreme east, and that property has been turned over to the cemetery for use by the Kent family. Tommy [Thomas] and Kenny [Kenneth] Kent gave that all to the cemetery for usage, and at the present time it would require quite a bit of work to utilize that property because the cement slabs were just blasted and when the building was decommissioned why it'd have to be cleaned up from the cement blocks and like that, that are in there.

LaVOY: So that will be future cemetery.

AUSTIN: That's right.

LaVOY: I see.

AUSTIN: But that is the trend for the cemetery to move to the east.

LaVOY: Now, Erb, tell me something about the cemetery association.

AUSTIN: The cemetery association was formed by a group of interested men and women about town. Morris Meister was one of the old members, John Berlin, and Clara Flippin, Smokey Flippin, and they would meet in these various homes and discuss the needs of the cemetery and take care of details like watering, mowing, trimming, cleaning the flowers up from the cemetery, disposing of the rubbish and like that that accumulated out there, and seeing that the needs were taken care of at most reasonable cost. Hiring a caretaker to do the watering, mowing, and trimming of the graves.

LaVOY: Was there money for the mowing and trimming, or did the people have to pay that?

AUSTIN: That was usually money that we collected for the pay of the caretaker during the summer months, and it was a very small amount. We usually had that as a contract, but it was pretty hard to scrape up enough money to do the job that we'd like to do, like Terry Dupont, he would go out, and he'd work his fool head off. He was quite an individual to have working because he was of the Dupont family, but he was a kind of a black sheep of the family, and he was doing that as a kind of a hobby more than anything else. But we've had quite a number of good men out there. Shorty Morgan. He would work each and every summer taking care of the lawns, replanting, hoeing, trimming, like that. He did a beautiful job. He did it at a reasonable figure. They never got rich at that job.

LaVOY: And, basically, your cemetery association were all volunteers?

AUSTIN: That is correct. All volunteers. No pay.

LaVOY: Thank God for volunteers! Now, let's get into some of the things besides the mortician's work that you did. I understand that you had your own private plane here.

AUSTIN: Yes, I have owned several airplanes during my lifetime. My last one I sold about two years ago.

LaVOY: Where did you fly? Which airport?

AUSTIN: At the Fallon Municipal Airport. I had my own hangar out there. It was at the existing, present airport.

LaVOY: Did you ever fly in and out of the old airport that was at Regional Park?

AUSTIN: Right, I did. That's when--I can't even think of his name, now--you'd have to slip in over the old county farm there to land. It was not the best. York had the airport out there. Andy Drumm used to land out there, too. It's right across from the experimental farm, That was quite a transition, and we had Andy develop this airport at the existing airport. We have a nice mile-long runway. Multiple runways. Yes, I have made a good many landings at this airport.

LaVOY: Do you still have your pilot's license?

AUSTIN: No, I let it go. Comes a time when you have give some of these things up.

LaVOY: Did you and your family fly many places together?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes. We had a number of times that we would fly together. We had these breakfast clubs, and we'd fly different places for breakfast and then come home.

LaVOY: Like to?

AUSTIN: Carson City, Yerington, Hawthorne, Austin, places like that.

LaVOY: You'd get together on a Sunday morning, fly together.

AUSTIN: Usually.

LaVOY: And then have your breakfast and then fly home.

AUSTIN: That's right.

LaVOY: Sounds like it was lots of fun. I know that you have belonged to a lot of organizations here in Fallon. Would you name some of them for me?

AUSTIN: Yes, I belonged to several lodges. I belonged to Reno Lodge Thirteen F and AM [Free and Accepted Masons] of which I'm a fifty-year member, and I belonged to the Scottish Rite and York Rite bodies. The York Rite body's here in Fallon and the Elks Lodge. I'm number ten. One of the charter members in the Fallon Shrine Club.

LaVOY: Do you not belong to the Rotary, too?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes, I'm a Rotary member and Paul Harris Fellow.

LaVOY: You've been a very, very busy gentleman all of your life, Erb, and still going strong.

AUSTIN: Oh, I hope so. Keep my name out of the paper.

LaVOY: (laughing) Do you have any other things that you would like to add to this interesting history?

AUSTIN: It's been very gratifying to have the people accept us the way they have accepted us here in Fallon, and it's quite a good feeling to know that you were able to help families in a time of need and take care of their loved ones in the manner that they were happy with.

LaVOY: Well, I imagine so, and I'm sure that you and Dottie did a beautiful job with that.

AUSTIN: Yes, it's been very gratifying.

LaVOY: All right, Erb, on behalf of the Churchill County Museum Association Oral History Program, I want to thank you for taking the time to record this this morning. We do appreciate it.

AUSTIN: You're certainly welcome.

Interviewer

Marion Henne LaVoy

Interviewee

Erb Austin

Location

Fallon NV

Comments

Files

Erb Austin.JPG
Erb Austin Oral History Transcript.docx
Austin, Erb.mp3

Citation

Churchill County Museum Association, “Erb Austin, Oral History,” Churchill County Museum Digital Archive: Fallon, Nevada, accessed March 28, 2024, https://ccmuseum.omeka.net/items/show/7.