Early Married Life
They used Bill’s Skylark for the wedding, so the other car remained ready for their big trip. Because Jim’s parents could not afford the trip to MD, Jim and Ruth used the occasion to visit them as newlyweds.
Jim’s parents Adolph & Mildred in front of their Escondido, CA home where they met Ruth for the first time at the end of Jim & Ruth’s honeymoon cross-country trip.
1. Adolph & Mildred outside American Savings & Loan Association, 15725 E Whittier Blvd, where Christ The King Lutheran Church (Wisconsin Synod) was meeting for services. The church bulletin for August 16, 1964, read, “Visiting us today: Mr. & Mrs. James Neumann of Towson, Maryland. Jim is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Adolph Neumann of this congregation—he and his bride are visiting California on their honeymoon.”
Ruth & Jim visited Disneyland, where Jim got Ruth a large stuffed animal that she had to carry with her onto the plane for their flight back to MD. At the time, Jim & Ruth could scarcely have known that six years later they would live only ten miles from Disneyland.
After flying back from their cross-country honeymoon travels, Ruth & Jim moved into the bottom right apartment at 222 Donnybrook Ln, Towson, MD. The apartments had been recently renovated for students attending nearby Towson State University. They lived here for approximately two years, from roughly 1964-66, while both taught at separate schools. Where did Ruth teach??
1964–65 New York World’s Fair Unisphere
Mount Vernon (while dating???)
Jim’s parents were unable to afford the journey to MD to attend Ruth & Jim’s wedding. However, at some point early in their marriage, they made the trip to MD. Here are Jim , his father Adolph, and mother Mildred standing in the front yard of Pat & Mildred’s Kingsville home.
Ruth & Jim with her parents on the front porch of their Kingsville house in August 1966, Ruth & Jim’s second anniversary.
Almost exactly 34 years later, Ruth & Jim are joined by son Steve’s family and daughter Debbie’s family on the front porch of the Kingsville house.
From the apartment on Donneybrook Ln, Ruth & Jim moved into this lovely brick row house at 1603 Thetford Rd in Towson. This image was stamped August 1966—Ruth & Jim’s second anniversary—and perhaps when they first purchased the house.
Ruth & Jim return to their old home in XXXX.
Steve, Amanda, & their boys join Ruth & Jim in front of their Thetford Rd home in October 2000 on the occasion of Ruth’s mother Mildred’s funeral.
This is the rear view of the Thetford Rd row house as seen during Ruth and Dave’s 2022 visit. It was in this home that Ruth and Jim would start a family and from here they would depart for an entirely new life 3,000 miles away in CA.
Probably in 1968, he made a very good offer to Jim and Ruth on the wife’s one-year-old 1966 Plymouth Fury III convertible
July 17, 1969—On the way to our motel in Kayenta [Arizona], we drove through Monument Valley. Besides seeing many unusual rock formations, we saw many animals—sheep, cattle, horses, and jackasses—some of them in the middle of the road.
Arrived in Casa Grande, AZ on the evening of July 18, 1969. At church on Sunday, July 20. Next day drove to Escondido.
July 22 to July 26, 1969 Even though this is in black and white, it was clearly taken at the same time as the color photo. Jim and Ruth did not make this second cross-country trip alone. Before leaving, Ruth visited her doctor and learned she was pregnant with Steve. The doctor saw no reason for her to cancel, so they traveled as planned. This was also the summer between the dissolution of Jim’s job at First Lutheran School and starting his year at Baltimore Lutheran High School. In some subtle way, they might have imagined the move to California that would happen the following summer. Prior to this photo at Jean’s, Jim and Ruth stopped at Adolph and Mildred’s house in Escondido (see photo above). Despite their plan to play it cool, Jim blurted out “Ruth is pregnant” as soon as his parents opened the front door. They did take a more direct route back to Towson because Ruth was beginning to experience morning sickness.
Following their cross-country honeymoon journey in the summer of 1964, Jim and Run made another cross-country trek during the summer of 1969. This trip took them up into Canada and to Niagara Falls, where the river had been blocked and the falls were not flowing. This photo was taken at the halfway point, in front of Don and Jean’s house in Glendora, CA. Back: Jean, Jean & Jim’s first cousin John Desmedt, Jim, Ruth, and Mildred. Middle: Susan and Karen. Front: John and Cheryl. John Desmedt was the son of Mildred’s sister Elenore. He was a U.S. Secret Service Agent for the Carters.
Monterey, Sacramento, Eugene, Port Angeles, Mt Vernon. Spences Bridge BC, & Banff.
Jim at Lake Louise in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. Possibly on August 1, 1969, on his and Ruth’s 5-year anniversary. Niagra Falls but Ruth wasn’t feeling well so cut south from Schreiber, Ontario to Bay City, Michigan and home.
Feb 15, 1970
Feb 22, 1970
Baby shower
Five years and seven months passed as the young couple settled into married life, each carving a path into their own career. Now, Ruth resting on the verge of two seismic shifts: the arrival of her first child and the daunting leap from lifelong Marylander to Californian.
