by Nancy D. Aylesworth (White)
The author was born in Appleton, WI. in January 1926. Ten years later his
parents, Frederick and Adeline, packed up their four children and followed other
family members west to California. Owen brought along his zither to help pass
the hours. By the time the family hit the Mohave Desert, Fred had had enough of
his musical son and warned that if he heard one more note out of that zither
Owen would be put out of the car to brave the elements on his own. Sure enough,
there was soon one more note (Owen claims his foot hit it by mistake). The car
screeched to a halt, the door was flung open and he was ordered out. The
automobile, a 1930 Hudson Super-8, sped out of sight as he stood in the middle
of a burning desert, alone. After what must have seemed an eternity, a car
approached from the distance, it was that same Hudson. It pulled over in front
of our young author and without a word he jumped inside. At that moment Owen
probably thought his Dad had taught him a valuable lesson about playing the
zither, but in later years the subconscious lesson learned would prove to be a
hallmark of his character -- always be a man of your word.
After completing his secondary education in Santa Barbara, Owen joined the
war effort early on; first as a civilian overhauling aircraft engines for the
Army, and then as an enlisted man with the Navy. As an Aviation Electrician's
Mate 3/C he served aboard the USS Bering Strait & USS Antietam during
engagements in Okinawa, Saipan & Iwo Jima, the occupation forces at Sasebo,
Japan, and the independence of the Philippines. He was honorably discharged in
1947, and returned home to Santa Barbara and started a family.
After a three-year stint as a mechanic for Sears Roebuck, he received an
appointment to the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. Over the next 29½ years
he moved up the ranks from Hose man through Fire Alarm Operator, Engineer, and
Captain to Training Officer and Acting Battalion Chief. During this time, he
returned to school and earned an Associate in Science Degree in Fire Science,
along with a Community College Teaching Credential. While still on the Fire
Department he served as Program Coordinator and Instructor for the Fire Science
Program at Santa Barbara City College. He also served as member and officer of
the Santa Barbara City Employee's Association, Santa Barbara Fireman's Relief
Association, the Radiological Defense Officer's Association, and many other
vocational groups. Owen retired from the Department in 1979, but continued his
work in 1980, developing the Firefighting Academy for female firefighters to
augment the Recruit Training Course he had developed some years earlier. He has
been honored with life memberships in the California Fire Chief's Association -
Training Officer's Section, the California State Fireman's Association and the
Santa Barbara Firefighter' s Association.
The lure of the South Pacific implanted in him during the War drew him back
on numerous occasions to explore more than 18 island nations. In addition to his
south sea travels Owen has ventured to 12 North American countries, two in Asia,
47 of the United States and 12 countries in Europe. Legend has it that he was
almost evicted from a French hotel in 1974 when an innocent request was
misconstrued as an indecent proposal. It seems he and his daughter had been
traveling throughout the Continent for some weeks, relying heavily on her
somewhat limited knowledge of French. After an exhausting day and a trek up five
flight of stairs, Owen was disheartened to discover that the maid had forgotten
to put clean linens in his room. Armed with his daughter's scribbled French on a
sheet of hotel stationary, Owen bounded down the stairs and presented the note
to the desk clerk. She chuckled and passed it to the matronly maid who was
standing nearby. She too laughed, which prompted him to supplement the note with
his best American body language. Somewhere between pointing at himself and the
maid, and making walking motions with two fingers, the maid grew quite
indignant, throwing the note back at him and pointing toward the stairs. Owen
returned to his room (minus the towels) with a puzzled look on his face,
demanding a translation. It was soon discovered that the word used for "maid"
was the same word they had seen inscribed on numerous statues of Joan of Arc,
who was known as the Maid of Orleans. So, instead of requesting the maid to
bring clean towels he had said, "Please send a virgin up stairs and have her
bring fresh linens." They moved on to the next city first thing in the morning.
Still active in community work, Owen is member of the Board and Treasurer for
the Santa Barbara High School Alumni Association. For the past 15 years he has
participated in the famous weekly Santa Barbara Arts & Crafts Show, both as an
exhibitor and Advisory Committee Chairman. In addition to the book you are
holding, he has also published Caleb Sheldon Aylesworth, His Descendants (1963)
and Hauert Family Genealogy (1965 & 1973). When he was finishing typing the
manuscript for this book, the culmination of over 17 years research, he phoned
me with a progress report. He said he wasn't quite happy with the completeness
of the index, but was just too tired to redo it one more time. I reminded him of
something he'd told me on innumerable occasions, "If a job's worth doing, it's
worth doing right." The result was a new and revised index over 38 pages in
length. (This will no doubt prompt future genealogists to nominate him to
sainthood for his diligence and thoroughness.) It just goes to show that he's a
man who puts action behind his words.
I first met the author over a quarter of a century ago when I was lucky
enough to be born his daughter (the same one who can't speak French). He has
raised me and my two brothers mostly by himself and we have grown to know a man
of intelligence, humor, honesty, and compassion. He's slow to pass judgment, but
quick to lend a helping hand; demanding the best from others because that is
what he gives of himself. Many of you know him personally, but for those who
don't, I hope I've helped you learn a little bit about the chronicler of our
family history.
By the way....he still has the zither, thank God Grandpa came back for him in
time!
