Yesterday I decided to ask a question to my Uncle Mike about my grandpa Ray Shetler. I have always wanted to know more about my family line and ancestry and I know that he has done a lot of genealogy of our family tree. I did not know much about my grandfather prior to yesterday, and after I received his message last night with a detailed outline of some of the important male figures and more information about the family line I decided to write about them.
Something I have been wanting to know more about is Physics and Space travel. I am interested in science and astronomy in particular. I have natural abilities that I have been denying myself, however, after last nights informative realization, I now know why I am gifted in math and science.
My Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam are also gifted in Math and Science and have worked in the field. My Aunt Pam was a teacher in California, but before this she was a laboratory technician, and my Uncle Mike was in the U.S. Air force. Both of my great grandfathers Ray O. Shetler and Leslie A. Lovell were machinists at Rohr, Inc. an Aerostructures Group. in Chula Vista, California. They worked alongside my great uncles Al Shetler, Ernie Marshall, Bob Reed and Walter Roberts.
Ray E. Shetler, my grandfather, was an Engineer at Rohr. He was only high school educated but taught himself Calculus and was very good at drafting and design. He worked on many cutting edge projects, the delta wing jet design, the BART transit system in San Francisco, and jet engines used in commercial and military aircraft. He traveled the U.S. for work and was gone a lot, but was a accomplished trumpet player and vocalist.
Ray E. Shetler was the youngest of five children and was born in 1930 to Ray O. Shetler and Margaret Whelan, in Syracuse New York. Because of the Great Depression, Ray moved the family a lot and they were forced to be somewhat nomadic. They lived in Texas for a short time because his brother lived there, and then to Arizona, finally they moved to San Francisco where Ray’s sister lived. He found work at Chula Vista and got a job for a growing aircraft industry in San Diego.
The Shetler family, Ray O, Margaret, Dorothy, Albert,Evelyn, and Ray E. lived in a small trailer in the Anchor trailer park owned by Leslie Lovell. Here, Ray at 15 met Betty Lovell, 18. Ray was a mature 15, and soon started working at Rohr inc. Both Leslie Lovell and Ray O. were machinists they could hire laborers. Since my grandpa Ray was a quick learner he got promoted into engineering and was then the boss over my great-grandfathers! HA. We all have genes in our family lines that we can draw on once we know about them! In the Shetler and Lovell Family, musicians and scientists, trumpeters, vocalists. We have Forward motion thinkers in Aerospace Engineering, and Physics.
Shetler Family Lineage 