| In
Loving Memory of Eleanor Gerstmyer Fehn 1916-2004 Maiden name: Eleanor Lucille Gerstmyer Former Married name: Eleanor Gerstmyer Castleman |
 |
| In
Loving Memory of Eleanor Gerstmyer Fehn 1916-2004 Maiden name: Eleanor Lucille Gerstmyer Former Married name: Eleanor Gerstmyer Castleman |
|
Eleanor Lucille Gerstmyer was born on August 17, 1916 in Towson, Maryland to Elmer and Ada (Larkin) Gerstmyer. Her sister, Katherine (Willett), was 6 years older. Eleanor attended Towson Elementary School from 1922 to 1929 and graduated from Towson High School in 1933 with a Commercial diploma.
Early
Adult Years in Maryland:
In 1933, she took a
position with a law firm in Towson at $30 per month. In November, 1933,
she transferred to an insurance agency run by the sister of the attorney
she had worked for at a salary of $40 per month. She left this position in
September of 1936 because there were no advancement possibilities. After
several interim positions, she decided to work in Baltimore and had
several jobs with accounting and secretarial duties, each successively at
a better salary. From June, 1940 until March, 1942 she was employed by a
law firm for legal secretarial work at $25 per week. She met a handsome
Army 1st sergeant from Berryville, VA named William Laurence (Larry)
Castleman who was stationed with field artillery at Fort Meade, MD. They
were married on November 7, 1941 in Rock Hill, SC.
 Eleanor (left) and sister Katherine in early 1920's |
 Eleanor as teenager in the 1930's |
 Eleanor at home in Towson at 19 or 20 years of age (1935) |
 Eleanor in 1941 on an outing with Larry Castleman |
 Eleanor's engagement/wedding announcement photograph in 1941 |
 Eleanor with husband Larry in early 1942 while he was still a 1st sergeant |
Wife and Mother
of Young Children During World War II
She left her legal
secretary position in March, 1942 when Larry was reassigned. Larry was
selected for officer candidate school at Fort Knox, KY and was
commissioned 2nd lieutenant in May, 1942. He was assigned to the U.S. Army
5th Armored Division (AD) stationed at Camp Cooke near Lompoc, CA (Now
Vandenburg AFB). Eleanor's official residence during the war was her
parent's home on East Joppa Road in Towson. However, she traveled to
California to be with Larry at least part of the time his division was
training at Camp Cooke. This must have been very happy time for them since
they decided to move to San Bernardino at the edge of the Southern
California desert after the war.
Eleanor's first child, Wendy
Lynn Castleman, was born in Tennessee on May 7, 1943 while Larry was on
maneuvers with the 5th AD in that state. The 5th AD was transferred to
Pine Camp, NY (now Fort Drum) for additional training. Eleanor joined him
in NY for at least some of his leave time, and they took a trip to Canada.
The 5th AD moved to Indiantown Gap, PA prior to Christmas, 1943 for final
training in preparation for their embarkation on February 11, 1944 from
Brooklyn to England.
Eleanor was home raising infant Wendy and
carrying her second pregnancy while Larry was undergoing further training
in Wittshire, England from February through May, 1944. Larry was assigned
as a replacement officer in the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
several days after D-Day landings and was in combat in June and July and
participated in the breakout of the Normandy invasion force from the
hedgerow country and Operation Cobra near St-Lo, France in July. Eleanor
told her children that she sensed the time when Larry was seriously
wounded by sniper fire on 26 July, 1944 near St-Lo (Many wives of service
men reported being aware when their husbands were wounded or killed in
action during World War II). Larry underwent surgery and initial recovery
in Europe before being transferred in November, 1944 to hospitals in
Richmond, VA and Washington, D.C. for further surgery, recovery and
physical therapy.
Eleanor gave birth to Sandra Lee Castleman on
November 14, 1944 while Larry was still hospitalized.
 Eleanor and Larry out on the town in California in 1942. |
 Eleanor with Wendy and Larry in 1943 |
 Eleanor in the early 1940's. |
 Eleanor and Wendy with Larry (now 1st lieutenant) at the end of 1943 or very early 1944. |
 Eleanor took this photograph of Larry with Sandra while he was on leave in 1945. |
The San
Bernardino Years
After Larry recovered and was discharged
from the Army in August, 1945, the family moved to San Bernardino,
California in 1946 where he established a contracting business as a
homebuilder.
Son William Laurence Castleman, Jr. was born on
March 28, 1949, and daughter Jennifer Susan Castleman was born on February
26,1951.
In addition to raising 4 young children and moving and
establishing homes in 5 separate houses in San Bernardino by 1956, Eleanor
studied and qualified for her California Real Estate license. Eleanor and
Larry Castleman gave their children wonderful memories of warm, beautiful
homes on Valencia Avenue and Edgehill Road in San Bernardino and summer
vacations spent on the beach at Diver's Cove in Laguna Beach, California.
The marriage to Larry Castleman ended in February, 1956 in
divorce.
 Eleanor and Larry at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 1950's |
 Family portrait from 1954 or 1955. |
Eleanor met Charles Henry Fehn in 1956, and
they were married on April 2, 1956. Charlie Fehn was an inventor and
businessman, and the Castleman children moved into the 6th home that
Eleanor established for them on I Street in San Bernardino. Charlie had
made his first money in turkey farming in Devore, California during World
War II and in gold mining in the late 1940's and early 1950's in Nevada
and Alaska. He then established successive businesses with partners that
included his first stepson, Donald Chance, in his hometown of San
Bernardino including an earthmoving business (Crown Lee Corporation), a
brief movie producing effort, and then established an aircraft component
refurbishing business (Arrowhead Aircraft Company) for U.S. Air Force
heavy transport planes. The company was established at the Shandon Hills
Airport in San Bernardino and resurfaced fabric-covered control surfaces
(rudders, elevators, ailerons) for C-133 and C-124 transports in addition
to performing other contract work (e.g., C-47 and C-54 components).
Charlie
and Eleanor plunged into the previously unknown details of stripping,
re-canvassing, riveting, doping and painting aircraft fabric control
surfaces. Eleanor played a key role in problem solving during the early
years of the business and supervised the predominantly female work force
in the canvas and doping shops to make the business a success.
Eleanor
and Charlie loved to go camping and trout fishing in streams (Walker
Creek) on the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada above Mono Lake. They
introduced Eleanor's younger children, Bill and Jennifer, to the elemental
pleasures of early morning and late afternoon trout fishing as well as the
majesty of high Sierra sunrises and sunsets.
Eleanor loved to
sing and had a beautiful voice. One of her day-dreams was to be a torch
singer. There was a piano in the home, and Eleanor and Charlie took
pleasure from singing together (and going to piano bars). They enjoyed
dining out, and Eleanor continued her development of taste for the
outstanding Mexican food that was available in San Bernardino. A special
treat for the whole family was to go to Mitla's Mexican Restaurant (a
family tradition started by Eleanor and Larry) to enjoy the freshly
hand-made corn tortillas, chili and hot sauces with the meals. Eleanor
loved her many dogs and had two boxer dogs (Zee-Zee was the last), an
airedale dog (Michael McTavish), a collie dog (Shep), cairn terrier dog
(Mr. McNamara, the head of her Department of Defense), and German shepherd
dogs (Brian, Captain Nemo and Foxy).
Eleanor and Charlie
developed and shared many dreams surrounding his inventions (Welding Combo
T-square and Trailmaker two-wheel drive motorcycle [marketed as the
Trail-Breaker]) and surrounding his business schemes. They made plans to
build a house on land they purchased in Devore near the Cajon Pass.
Charlie was the inventor/dreamer, and Eleanor helped provide the
supporting text, brochures, and other written materials to make his
presentations and correspondence look professional and served as the
bookkeeper. She also helped him make photo displays and movies of the
Trail-Breaker in action in efforts to find investors to manufacture and
sell it. They established TOD-O Manufacturing Company to manufacture and
sell the Combo T-square from their San Bernardino machine shop. For big
orders, Eleanor would go into the machine shop to help lathe, mill, box
and ship Combo T-squares. Production of Combo T-squares became a small
family industry.
Wendy went to college at UC Berkeley in 1961,
and Sandra married and established her own home in 1962.
 Eleanor and Charlie Fehn in 1956 after their marriage. |
 Eleanor sitting on Charlie's 1954 Cadillac after their marriage in 1956. |
 Eleanor with their catch during a 1957 fishing trip with Charlie to Mazatlan. |
 Eleanor riding the first prototype of Charlie's Trailmaker at Shandon Hills Airport in late 1958. |
 A photograph that Eleanor took of Charlie riding the first complete demo prototype of the Trailmaker (Trail-Breaker) in 1959 at sand dunes in the San Bernardino County desert. |
 Eleanor with Mike and Shep in her San Bernardino home in December, 1958 |
 Eleanor with Jennifer in 1961 or 1962 |
The Move to
Thousand Oaks
In 1962, after Charlie's parents had passed
away, properties/businesses were sold in San Bernardino and Devore.
Eleanor and Charlie bought 4 acres of hill property in Conejo Valley and
moved the home with Bill and Jennifer to Thousand Oaks, California.
Eleanor initially established a home on Cunningham Road where Jennifer
could own and ride her own horse, and Bill could go hiking and hunting
everyday in the surrounding hills. Charlie was working on several
inventions (Trail-Breaker with Nethercutt Industries and the Pistolite
Cylinder). The Trail-Breaker is still in production and is produced now by
Rokon.
Charlie and Eleanor planned, designed and then built a
beautiful hill-top home on Sundown Road with Spanish tile floors, open
beam ceilings, beautiful stone work and a spectacular view of Conejo
Valley. During this time at Cunningham Road and Sundown Road (1962-67),
Eleanor worked at successive secretarial positions at Rocketdyne in Canoga
Park and the Science Center in Thousand Oaks.
From 1964 through
1967, Charlie started a paving business with a new partner (Boone Paving
Company), and Eleanor was the bookkeeper and co-owner while also working
most of the time in salaried job.
The Move to
Ventura
When Boone Paving went bankrupt in 1967, Eleanor
got a job with the County of Ventura and established a new home at 4399
Sweet Briar St. in Ventura. Bill left for college at UC Davis in 1967.
Eleanor was able to secure better jobs at Boyle Engineering and then Vetco
Offshore Industries in Ventura in 1967-8 and rose to the position of
Senior Executive Assistant at Vetco. She enjoyed her position the most
when she was organizing the writing of the Vetco Secretary Manual.
One
of Eleanor's co-workers at Vetco, Rosemary Beilschmidt in a letter to
Jennifer wrote, "Your Mom was a real classy 'broad' - synonym for
classy lady, so independent and way ahead of her time without the aspect
of women's lib. Very few women in the business world can have all four
attributes and succeed (survive?), i.e., Good Looking, Intelligent, Well
Educated, and Very Competent. In the 1970's, very few successful women had
the combination of being competitive and collaborative at the same time.
But Eleanor did."
Jennifer left for college at Chico
State University in the Fall of 1969.
Charlie was able to
re-establish his finances in the late 60's and early 1970's in a gold
mining business. Eleanor and Charlie purchased hilltop property in
Carpenteria, California with long-term plans to build another home. Those
plans ended when Charlie died from complications of heart disease in 1972.
From 1972 to 1982, Eleanor lived independently at Sweet Briar
and worked at Vetco. She loved her flowers that grew robustly in the
temperate coastal humid environment of Ventura. She had had gardens in San
Bernardino and Thousand Oaks. Every time she moved, she would dig up the
bulbs and carefully re-plant them at the new home. Eleanor had lovely
fuchsias and honeysuckle surrounding her back porch at Sweet Briar and
jonquils, iris and gardenias in the surrounding flower beds.
Jennifer
moved to a job in Los Angeles after college, and Jennifer and Eleanor
became very close during this period. She would drive to Eleanor's home
every weekend, and they shared each other's company and planned
adventures. Jennifer recalls one of Eleanor's last trout fishing trips. On
June 22, 1975, Eleanor and Jennifer loaded Captain Nemo into Jennifer's
Toyota station wagon, and they drove across the Sierras to Lee Vining
where Bill met them for a few days of trout fishing in local streams. Many
trout were caught, and all enjoyed the meals that Eleanor prepared and the
conversation in the evenings.
Jennifer recalls Eleanor's fabulous
holiday special prime rib when family members could get together at Sweet
Briar. A sumptious meal would be laid out for the family. Half-way through
dinner, Eleanor would ask everyone, "What do you want for dinner?",
and we would all laugh.
 Bill, Charlie, Jennifer with Eleanor in December, 1970 |
 Eleanor on her back porch at Ventura on Aug. 17, 1974. |
 Eleanor with Bill at UC Davis Veterinary School graduation in 1977 |
 Eleanor with her last dog (Foxy) in 1979. |
|
The Move to
Oakland and Claremont House |
|
On the evening of December 9, 2004, Eleanor passed
away following sudden complications of a bacterial urinary infection.
She leaves behind her children Wendy Ferrari, Sandra Castleman,
William Castleman and Jennifer Castleman and 4 grandchildren. On January
8, 2005, her family scattered her ashes at sea off San Francisco, and
memorial services were held for her at Claremont House.
Posted 12 January 2005; updated 29 December 2006
