Robert William Springall: Funeral Program

Uncle Robert William Springall

I previously wrote a story my mom told about Uncle Robert Springall.  I now notice that his son has posted many things on Facebook which help me understand my uncle I don't remember ever meeting, he passed away when I was four.  There were many pictures and a death certificate posted on Family Search.  These materials were contributed by Steven Booras to Family Search.

The story my mother told took place in the late 1930s, shortly after the opening of the Bay Bridge.  At this time Bob had a problem with alcohol.  However he married Nelda Johnston in 1940, not too much later.  He had at least two children with her I note from the pictures.  There is a family picture with his wife and two children.  He also took employment in Napa.  My mother indicates he often came home to work in the sugar beet run at the factory in Lincoln.  This marriage must have ended in divorce, as Nelda remarries in 1950.  I imagine alcohol problems continued to haunt Robert.

Chicken Ranch in Napa, CA

family picture, Robert's wife is in center back row with Robert to the right.  The children on either side of Grandmother Johnston would be Robert's birth children

Napa Ranch

Robert William Springall

Robert with oldest son

Although Robert passed away in the Solano County Hospital in California, his body was shipped by train to Idaho and he was buried in Ammon.

The death certificate confirms what my mother said that Robert died young due to complications from alcohol.   The certificate indicates the cause of death as chronic glomerulonephritis.  This is a kidney disease in which the glomeruli are damaged.  The glomeruli are what filter your blood and remove excess fluids.  When they are damaged it can cause kidney failure..

Robert's wife's headstone

Robert William Springall