Edward Vial + Ella Robertson

This little family stayed with me…

Ella Amelia Robertson was born at Prince Edward Island to James William Robertson & Catherine Arbuckle.  Ella met and married a Quebec born boy named Dennis ‘Edward’ William Vial, the son of Dennis Vial of England and Azilda Cloutier of New York.

The pair married and remained in Massachusetts where they had 3 boys – Edward, Norman & Donald - and they ensured their children were well educated.

Edward Sr did various jobs such as a steam fitter assistant to selling beef wholesale but by 1930, he was the owner/operator of a taxi business in Boston.   
Unfortunately, Ella died at Boston in 1942 and later, Edward moved to California to be with his son Norman – this is where he died in 1960.

Edward Robertson Vial, the oldest boy, was the only one who married.  He was born in 1912 and married Anna Sarkiunas in 1935 and they had one son, Ronald in 1937.  He was a reporter turned news editor.

Edward was 32 when he died....

Berkshire Evening Eagle, 20 Jan 1945
Sailor Injured By Helicopter
Quonset Point, RI (AP) - Seaman First Class Edward R Viall, Boston, suffered a fractured skull yesterday when struck by the stern propeller of a helicopter shortly after it landed at Quonset.  Navy officers said his condition was critical.

I couldn’t find any military documents for him so I don’t know if he had enlisted or was working on a story when the accident occurred.  Also, I don’t know what became of Anna and Ronald – I found them on the 1940 census and a couple of directories but then nothing.

Donald Gregory Vial, the baby of the clan, attended Harvard and studied mathematics. He did enlist and joined the fight in Yugoslavia but sadly, he died there in 1944 at the age of 20.  His body was returned for a military burial in 1949 as a part of the Belgrade-Yugoslavia WWII Dead Program.

Norman Gifford Robertson was the middle child and was a building inspector.  Although he outlived the rest of his family but...was only 58 years old when he died!  He was buried with his father at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) at Los Angeles, CA.