Living in Cleveland on East 87th St with Merle’s mother, Merle and Rosie started a family of two daughters, Myrna (right) and Brenda (left).
In the early 1940s Merle explored several occupations, including real estate, to support his new family but had long aspired to work in law enforcement. Stricken with tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that typically impairs the lungs, he spent a significant amount of time recovering at a sanitarium. For Merle, this ended his dream of becoming a police officer.
Sources
Bureau of the US Census. (1940). Sixteenth Census of the United States, Population Schedule-Ohio, Cleveland. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Conneaut High School. (1931). The Tattler. Conneaut, OH.
McCurdy Rhodes, B. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, March 22, 2015).
