The Biography of Canby Adams Clark

Canby enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17 and served for five years as a hospitalman on the ships USS Vestal, USS Alert, USS Eagle No. 11, and the submarine USS Ortolan. He was honorably discharged as the rank of Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class.

While serving in the Navy, he met and married Mae Irene Whitney, daughter of Delmore Lorenzo and Rose Ellen (Proffer) Whitney, on 17 November 1921 in Los Angeles, California. Irene was born on 15 May 1903 in Centralia, Orange, California.

After leaving the Navy, Canby and Irene continued to live in the Los Angeles County area. They had one child, a son, named Donald Lee, born on May 12, 1930 in Long Beach, California. Canby worked as a steamfitter and welder for the Union Oil Co, and later for the Southern California Edison Co.

Canby and Irene were separated by Canby's early death after 20 years of marriage, and at that time were living in Hynes (now Paramount), California. The circumstances of his death were as follows. Upon the outbreak of World War II in 1941 Canby attempted to re-enlist in the Navy, but was not accepted, possibly for age and health reasons. In order then to make a direct contribution to the war effort he quit his job with the Edison Company and took a job as a marine machinist at the Todd Naval Shipyard in San Pedro, California. Four weeks later, while working on the USS Ajax, a General Repair ship, he suffered a heart attack, fell from the superstructure of the ship, and was killed instantly.

Irene later married Robert Minor Dempsey, Senior, a widower, a noble man loved and admired greatly by his stepson, Donald. They were married about 30 years when Bob passed away in 1972 at the age of 77; Irene finally passed away herself in Norwalk, California, in 1978, having reached the age of 74.

---Michael L. Clark