Whaddaya mean Walloon? Not sure why the confusion?
Donald Eugene Ivens had a brother. That brother (who is still alive) had a daughter, Kathleen, who I spoke with over the phone today. She’s been trying to find her uncle (D.E. Ivens) for several years, at the request of her dad. Sorry if I was unclear.
Thanks again Airblair for the breakthrough moment, and to everyone else who helped tremendously throughout – especially Walloon, who put a lot of time into this.
As to whether he lived here, I don’t think he did. I have no idea how his wallet ended up in my wall. Refresher – someone tried converting my garage into an apartment, long ago. We converted the unfinished bathroom into a closet, and that’s when we found it behind the wall. Maybe a construction worker mugged the guy? I really have no clue.
As LurkerInNJ points out right above, it was him/her who posted the message at ancestry.com in May, not me. I was just poking around that site for some reason, remembered this thread, and decided to throw Mr Ivens’ name in the hopper to see what came up.
I’m just pleased that for once in my life, I’m able to marshal my superpowers for aimless web surfing in the name of the forces of Good, not Evil.
Well I’m so glad you did because I totally forgot to check the “alert me when anyone replies” box on Ancestry, probably because I asked that anyone with any information register and reply here so that we could all share it … and they posted on Ancestry instead.
Hi everyone. Got busy at work and forgot to post this… this is the email I got from Mr Ivens’ neice.
Folks . . . I’m Uncle Donald’s niece (girl).
I been doing genealogy for years . . . and I’m member of Ancestry.com. I’ve talked to my parents again, Dad believes the last time he saw his brother, my Uncle, was at there Aunt L. home about 1986. My parents believe Aunt L. told them Donald wife Evelyn has passed away. Evelyn is buried in Rose Hills, Whittier, CA. But . . my mother believes the last time my Dad saw his brother alive, was at my gr. grandmother funeral. I need to call my Dad sister and find out when, where, etc. she saw my Uncle alive. I been checking Ancestry,con . . SSN Death Index for infromation on my Uncle. for over 10 years with NO LUCK. . . My husband has gone on line and checked phone/address directory in CA, UT, CO, AZ, NV. NM,
OR, WA. The family doesn’t believe he would leave the state of CA. According to my parents, “The best weather in the County.” I think I have found his step-daughter. More research is needed. My father doesn’t believe he every worked in construction. My Uncle has a history of drinking to much. The family is growing older and not to many older folks are left. So if anyone fines any new information please contact me or post on Ancestry.com.
Indeed a Mystery . . . someday I will fine him . . . dead or alive.
Oh, I should had mention, I was surfing the boards on Ancestry.com when I came across infromation on Donald E. Ivens. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. A matter of fact, I must had read it several times. I immediatlely posted a reply and phoned my parents.
I have faith my Uncle is still alive and well. He maybe living with one of his step-children, possibly in VA home/hospital. Why/how his wallet was in the garage wall . . . many questions and we may never know. Thanks again Michael. . . I promise, I will return the wallet to my Uncle Donald.
I’m thinking I should write a letter to CA . . SSN, see if they will forward a letter to my Uncle. Getting a letter from family, he might just answer it.
That’s amazing. My bet is he’s passed away, but I hope she can pin him down for her and her family’s own sake. Funny how these things work, and would not have been possible without the dubya-dubya-dubya. Too cool.
If Donald Ivens was alive circa 1990, the odds are that he is still alive today. The Social Security Death Index records about 95% of all deaths in America, and he’s not there.
I was gonna leave this post alone, but since it’s been updated, what the heck. I thought my wife had mailed the wallet to his niece, and my wife thought I had done it, but it turned out it was hidden under a pile of papers on our counter for months.
But we found it last month and sent it off maybe, oh, 5 or 6 weeks ago. So she should have it. But I have not heard anything back from her, and an email I sent her asking if she had received it went unanswered.
Over $200 in search fees and 2 years later, and now I have no idea if they even got the wallet back.
