By: Mark Holtsberry
Earl Conrad Coder was born in Charloe, Ohio August 12, 1893. The son of Charles C. born July 20, 1871 in Ohio, And Emma Elizabeth (Gary) Coder born March 17, 1873 in Ohio. This couple was married January 21, 1893 in Paulding. With children Earl, born in 1893, Katie 1894, Fay 1897 and Blanche 1899, they lived in Brown Township.
Charles was engaged in farming, Earl was in school. Three sons were born Orval was born 1902, Martin 1906 and Walter 1909. By 1910, the Coder family was still farming in Brown Township and Earl, sixteen, was still in school.
On June 5, 1917, while living in Charloe, in the West Brown Township precinct, Earl registers for the draft. Tall and slender build, light blue eyes, dark brown hair, single, working at Electric Autolight Company in Toledo.
On April 28, 1918, Earl joins the National army out of Paulding. Earl was assigned to the 158th Depot Brigade. He served until May 3, 1918. Then after training, he was assigned to Company F. 329th Infantry 83rd Division. Earl was shipped out from Hoboken, New Jersey, June 12, 1918 on the ship “Anchisis”. He served with this unit until August 13, 1918. Then he was assigned to be a Wagoner October 4, 1918.
He served in St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne defensive sectors. He was Honorably Discharged September 24, 1919. After coming home, Earl met a gal named, Olive Pearl Deveraux, born March 31, 1900 in Cincinnati, Ohio. On January 21, 1921, in Paulding, a daughter Marie Catherine was born.
By 1924, this family was living in Toledo at 732 Vinton Street. Earl was working as a laborer. Earl’s health was starting to fail, so they moved to Defiance in 1926. On February 13, 1927, Earl’s father Charles passed away, he was be buried in Sherman Cemetery, outside Charloe. By 1930, the Coder family was still living in Defiance at 1002 Jefferson Avenue. Earl was working in a factory as a laborer.
On January 30, 1932 in Defiance, Earl passed away and was buried in Riverside Cemetery. In 1934, Olive remarried a fella named Roy Myers Scheurman. Olive passed away in Defiance, February 4, 1966. She was buried in Riverside Cemetery. Roy passed away in 1970, he too, was buried in Riverside Cemetery, but with his first wife, Louella, who died in 1932.
Earl’s daughter, Marie Catherine, married a fella named James D. Imber in 1943. He served in the army in World War Two. He passed away in 1999. Marie passed away in 2009. They are buried side by side in the Military section of the Riverside Cemetery. They never had children.
…Until Next Time!
