Clifton Lavern Fero
Clifton Lavern "Cliff" Fero was the son of Harold Clare & Eva Delila (Cope) Fero. He was born on July 1, 1921 in Canada.
Around 1925, his family moved to Michigan (where his father was from).
Per the 1930 U.S. Census, he was 9 years old and living with his parents in Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan.
In 1938 & 1939, he was listed as a student on the Lansing City Directory (LCD) records. In 1938, his address was 816 Hickory (his parents address) and in 1939 his address was 905 E. Grand River Avenue (his parents address).
In 1940, the LCD indicates that he was working at the National Youth Administration (NYA) and residing at 505 N. Homer (his parents address).
In 1941, the LCD indicates that he was working at Melling Forge and residing at 650 N. Homer (h trailer) with his wife, Marion R. Unknown.
In the first part of 1944 (age 23), he was drafted in Lansing for WWII enlistment. He had been deferred for a number of years before because of his occupation.
In an interview with Paul Zarbock, a staff member with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington on April 23, 2003, he said "I was a dye repairman and assistant foreman. We had several government jobs that we were making, machine gun parts, ____ lugs. We made the gun sites for both of those rifles. My wife, she worked in the same plant I did. She pierced many of those gun sites on the M-16."
After he was drafted, he became an 1A, boom. He got a notice to go to Detroit for his physical. "I said I think I’d like the Navy, I got my bed with me." he said (he was divorced at that time). He was sent to Camp Perry (outside of Williamsburg, Virginia) for 8 weeks of boot training.
After training, he had to prove his American citizenship. Since he was born in Canada to American parents living abroad, there was some difficulty getting things sorted out. He had to go to Washington DC with all of his documentation.
The Navy sent him to the U.S. Naval Training Center at Bainbridge in Cecil County, Maryland, where he spent 16 weeks at fire control school. After school, he became a Seaman 2nd Class (S2C) and was sent to Boston Station in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, to join his crew on the U.S.S. Booth (DE-170), a destroyer escort ship.
He was discharged on December 17, 1945. He returned to Lansing and his job at Melling Forge, where he repaired dies (Melling made tie rods for vehicles). He worked for Melling for 35 years outside of the two he was gone.
In 1946, he was listed on the LCD as living at 132 Sheperd.
By 1949, the LCD showed that he had remarried and was living at 1115 Ballard with his new wife, Vivian V. Unknown.
In 1953 and 1954, the LCD showed that he had remarried again and was living at 429 Beaver with his new wife, Doris L. Unknown.
His last marriage was to Mary Jean McPhee (Babcock via her first marraige). She was the daughter of Glenn Irving & Bessie Marie (Shaver) McPhee.
Cliff & Marion had one known child: a daughter (born around 1942).