1899 - 1949

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• Birth	10 Jan 1899	Evanston, Cook, Il
  Gender	Male
  Died	1 Dec 1949	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Ca   [1]
  Buried	Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Ca
  Person ID	I45513	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	27 Apr 2005 00:00:00
  Family	Berenice Evelyn HOLBROOK, b. 21 Feb 1901, Provo, Utah, Ut
  Married	1 Jun 1924	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Ca
  Notes	Custom Field:<_FA#> 1 Dec 1949Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA _MENDDeath of one spouse Guil & Bea were married in Losangeles then stopped at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. They then left on their honeymoon, driving their 1923 ModelT Ford, to Torrey Pines, CA, where they spent the night camping. On their way through San Bernardino they stopped at a roadside stand and bought a gallonof green olives, which were completely consumed by the time they got to thetop of El Cajon Pass. This love of olives was passed down through all furthergenerations of Aikins. They then drove through Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon. They encountered steep grades which the car could not negotiate because thegas tank, just forward of the windshield, fed the engine via gravity feed. So, Guil turned the car around and backed up the grades. This solved the gravity problem. During their courtship, and even after their marriage, they tookweekend trips to such faraway places as Carmel, CA, Cambria, Death Valley, Mount Whitney, Old Baldy, Idlewilde, Palm Desert, (Palm Springs was yet to be built), Tijuana & Escondido, Mexico. Considering the lack of decent roads, and the unreliability of cars in the 20's, this was considered an act of daring do!!
  Children	1. Neil Holbrook AIKIN   2. AIKIN
  Family ID	F20135	Group Sheet

• Notes

  Cause of Death: Coronary Thrombosis REFN: 2 "Guil" entered the Marine Corp on May 2, 1917, took his Boot Camp Training with 27th Co. 2nd Regiment, Marine Barracks, Paris Island, SC and fought with the 74th Company of the 6thMarine Regiment, Fourth Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). He was seriously gassed at Camp Fountaine, St. Robert, on the plains of Picardy near Verdun, France on April 13, 1918. The story goes that he and 3 buddies were in the trenches preparing fried potatoes. A gas attack came so the guys covered their potatoes. A artillery barrage followed. When they returned to their potatoes, they had become uncovered, but they ate them anyway. Two of his friends died from ingesting mustard gas. Guil was unconscious for 72 hours. Apparently his taste buds were all but destroyed. He could never get food spicy enough from then on. He was hospitalized at Ramblasaunt, (sp?) France. He tells of the French doctors applying tape underneath his arms and between his legs to keep the gas from coming out through his pores. When they took the tape off it tore skin loose. He was not a happy camper.His outfit, assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry (Indianhead) Division saved Paris from being taken by the Germans by holding, thenturning them at the Marne River. It was the practice then to assign Marine outfits to Army regiments, which was the case here. This action gave the 38thregiment the title "The Rock of the Marne" Regiment. His son Neil fought inKorea with the same Regiment. (See Neil Aikin notes) He was discharged on June 13, 1919 after returning to the states. On May 25, 1921 he was hospitalizedfor 98 days in the U.S. Health Service Hospital No. 60 in Oteen, North Carolina for tuberculosis. Upon returning to Chicago, IL he was admitted to U.S. Public Hospital No. 73 for another 30 days for chronic bronchitis and released. Condition unimproved. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920's and metBerenice Holbrook where both worked for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph. As ofJanuary 24, 1922 he lived at 618 Lincoln St, Alhambra, CA. On June 21, 1923he lived at 801 N. Marguerita St Alhambra, CA. (See USMC correspondence in his Biography album). It's interesting to note that the 1920 census shows the Holbrook family living at 1337 Waterloo St. in Los Angeles. They had a husband & wife couple boarding with them. The husband, Percy Davis was an Efficienty Engineer for the Pacific Tel & Tel. They were married in 1924 in Los Anbeles(?) & took pictures at the Riverside Inn, Riverside, CA. They moved to Lakewood, Ohio sometime later (abt January 1927) where he worked as a travelingsalesman for Beldon Plug (a wire manufacturer). Neil was born there in 1929.(1249 W. Clifton Blvd.) They moved to Oak Park, Ill., then to Niles Center (now Skokie, Ill.), where Bob was born. In 1933 they moved to Hollywood, CA. andlived at 1030 North Orange Grove Ave. In 1935 they bought a 2-bedroom home at 1947 West 80th Street which was on the southwest edge of L.A. (Manchester & Western) for $4200. He remained there for the balance of his life. He worked for Pacific Tel. & Tel. in Directory Advertising, then as a supervisor forCoin Box Collection (pay phones). He loved to fish (salt water), was an excellent mechanic and supplemented his income by making redwood lawn furniture for the neighbors. When asked where he learned to do something he would say "Ilearned it in the Old Country." Neil Aikin 30 June 2002

• Sources

  [S534] BURIED: INGLEWOOD PARK CEMETARY (LA). BURIED: INGLEWOOD PARK CEMETARY (LA)