1946 - 1963 – Growing Up - ExtremeGeographer.com

Growing Up (Age 1 month - 18 years)

Doti was born in Fort Pierce, Florida during World War II and lived there for two months, then moved with her Mom to Bismarck, North Dakota while her father, Don, was overseas in China. After the war, Don returned to the U.S. and the Leu family moved to Bellingham, Washington, where Don resumed his studies at Western Washington College. The three of them lived in a boarding house on High Street in Bellingham with members of the Western's football team living on the floor above them. Doti's first memory, at 12 months old, was playing with members of the football team in the front yard.

After Don graduated from Western in 1947 with a B.A. in Education, the family moved to southern Washington, where Don was hired as a teacher and principal at the Stevenson elementary school. A few years later, the growing Leu family, which now included her brothers Don and Dave, moved east to New York, where Don studied for his doctorate at Columbia University.

Don graduated from Columbia in 1953 and was offered a position at Michigan State University in East Lansing, so the Leus packed their bags once again and this time moved to Michigan. They would remain in Michigan until 1968.

My parent's wedding photo in Florida in 1944 during World War II. This was their "second" wedding. They'd gotten married a year earlier, in 1943 by a Justice of the Peace in Montana, though my Mom had always felt the ceremony was of questionable legitimacy. After my Mom got pregnant with Doti a year later, she wanted a "real" wedding and thus they got married a second time. She was 3 months pregnant with Doti when this picture was taken.

My parent's house in Fort Pierce, Florida, and Doti's first home. They lived here from late 1944 until May 1945 when my Dad was training with the Navy SEALs in Fort Pierce. Mom and Dad rented half of this house but I'm not sure if it was the top or bottom half. I took this picture in 2005 during a trip to Florida.

The first picture of Doti, at age 1 year in Bellingham, Washington. After WWII, Dad came back to the States and he, Anne and Doti moved to Bellingham where he resumed his studies at Western Washington College. Mom enrolled too, but then quit when she got pregnant with Don Jr. a year later. Doti told me this picture was taken in conjuction with some sort of contest. Doti had the most incredible memory of anyone I ever knew and she told me that she remembered when this photo was taken, even though she was just 12 months old.

Here's where Doti lived in Bellingham, Washington when she was a child in 1946-47, with her parents and brother Don. This is 1020 High Street. This was a boarding house and the Leus lived in the basement. Doti remembers, at age 12 months, playing in the front yard with members of the Western Washington College football team, who lived on the floor above them.

This is in Bismarck, North Dakota around 1949, where Anne (center) had grown up years before. That's my Mom (Anne) with Doti, with her mother Helga and her sister Corky on either side. Grandma is holding Don Jr.

Doti at Shanks Village, New York in 1951. The year before, the Leus had moved to New York, where Don Sr. enrolled at Columbia University to get his doctorate in Education. They lived at Shanks Village, which had been a major embarkation camp during WWII for U.S. troops bound for Europe. After the war, it was converted to married student housing. Today nothing is left of Shanks Village, just a small museum.

Doti around 7 years old. This is circa 1952 when they still lived in New York.

Doti the following year, I believe. This is circa 1953 when Doti was about eight, so it would be around the time the Leu family moved to Michigan.

This is a screen shot from an 8-millimeter movie in 1955. Always the tomboy, Doti is wearing her red baseball cap, jeans and t-shirt in an era when young girls always wore dresses. Two years earlier, the Leu family had moved to East Lansing, Michigan where Don became a professor at Michigan State University.

During the summer of 1955, the Leus drove west (like they did almost every summer) to Washington to visit Don's relatives. This is at the Custer Battlefield in Montana. Doti is standing next to her Dad with Don and Dave on either side. This is from an 8-millimeter film screenshot.

A few weeks later, Doti was backpacking up to Lake Dorothy in the Washington Cascade Mountains. This hiking trip was the foundation of her 39-page story "Secret of the Mountain Lake," which she would write the following year.

Summer of 1955 near Skykomish, Washington. That's Doti (left) playing on logs in a pond with her brothers Dave (waving) and Don (right). Her cousins Gerald and Billy are in the middle.

Doti's school picture in 1955 at the age of 10.

The Leu family clowning around in Washington in June, 1957. Left to right: Don Jr., Anne, Don Sr., Dave and Doti. Doti's cousin Brenda is in the white dress.

After living in another house in East Lansing for six years, the Leus moved into this house in 1959 when Doti was 14. Doti would move out in 1964 after she eloped, but the rest of the family would remain here until 1968 when the family moved to California.

At age 14, Doti attended the international Girl Scouts Roundup in Colorado Springs, Colorado. About 10,000 Girl Scouts attended this two-week event and Doti later said it was one of the best experiences of her life. This is from a screenshot of an 8-millimeter movie.

Waving goodbye. In the summer of 1960, the five Leu kids and their parents took a two-month trip out West from Michigan. This is leaving their house in East Lansing. Left to right: Doti (15), Dwight (3), Don (13), and Dave (11). Del (8 months) is in the front seat next to his Mom, who's driving.

The Leu kids floating on a raft down the Virgin River in Zion National Park, Utah later that summer. This is from an 8-millimeter film screenshot. That's Dave, Doti, Dwight (obscured) and Don.

At the Leu's house in East Lansing, Michigan in 1962. Left to right: Dwight (5), Don Sr., Doti (17), Dave (12), Don (14), Anne, and Del (2). This must've been on a Sunday morning before church because everyone's dressed up -- except Dad, who never attended, which explains his pajamas!

Doti's senior photo from East Lansing High School in 1963. It looks a little funny because this is a photo I took of it, hanging on the wall of my parent's house, many years ago.

Photos: 1946 - 1963