Canby Adams Clark
Canby Adams Clark is my grandfather. He was born to John Adams Clark and Arilee May Petteys Rashe on 28 December 1901 and died on 19 May 1942.
Canby enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17 and served for five years as a hospitalman on the ships repair ship USS Vestal (AR-4), submarine tender USS Alert (AS-4), patrol craft USS Eagle No. 11 , and the submarine rescue vessel USS Ortolan (AM-45). He was honorably discharged with the rank of Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class.
While serving in the Navy, he met and married Mae Irene Whitney, daughter of Delmore Lorenzo and Rose Ellen (Proffer) Whitney, on 17 November 1921 in Los Angeles, California. Irene was born on 15 May 1903 in Centralia, Orange, California.
After leaving the Navy, Canby and Irene continued to live in the Los Angeles County area. They had one child, a son, named Donald Lee, born on May 12, 1930 in Long Beach, California. Canby worked as a steamfitter and welder for the Union Oil Co, and later for the Southern California Edison Co.
Canby and Irene were separated by Canby’s early death after 20 years of marriage, and at that time were living in Hynes (now Paramount), California. The circumstances of his death were as follows. Upon the outbreak of World War II in 1941 Canby attempted to re-enlist in the Navy, but was not accepted, probably for age and health reasons. In order then to make a direct contribution to the war effort he quit his job with the Edison Company and took a lesser-paying job as a marine machinist at the Todd Naval Shipyard in San Pedro, California. Four weeks later, while working on the USS Ajax, a General Repair ship, he suffered a heart attack, fell from the superstructure of the ship, and was killed instantly.
It is perhaps noteworthy that the USS Vestal which Canby served on during his time in the Navy was damaged in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which brought the US into WW2. Later in the war, the repair ships USS Vestal and USS Ajax served together at the same location while repairing battle damaged US Navy ships.
