Walter and Nathalie Rayder, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Walter and Nathalie Rayder
WALTER AND NATHALIE RAYDER FAMILY
John and Emily Rayder moved to Valparaiso in 1917 from Whiting, Indiana. John was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jessie Rayder. John and his wife purchased a home on the then outskirts of Valparaiso at 804 Campbell Street.
John Rayder worked on the Penn. R.R. at Clark Junction, between Gary and Indiana Harbor. He started as a lampman at the age of 12, and worked up to telegrapher. He accumulated 60 years service before he retired. John's father, Jessie, also worked for the Penn R.R. accumulating 60 years also before he retired.
John and Emily (Schurerer) Rayder had two sons; Harold and Walter. Both boys went to the public schools of Valparaiso.
Harold worked for Union Tank Car Company in Whiting until he purchased a farm east of Valparaiso and retired to farming. He sold the farm and moved to Knox, Indiana where he now lives with his wife Ethyl and daughter Deborah. Harold was deputy sheriff during the time Mr. Buchanan was sheriff.
Walter worked for the Continental Diamond Fibre Company, Lantz Mfg. Company and is now employed by National Construction Company. My family goes back to 1894 as far as Porter County history goes. James and Nora (Ryan) McCarthy, both natives of Ireland, immigrated to Canada in 1817 where he was a farmer. They had a large family of 14 children, Michael C. being the youngest. In Canada Michael met and married Nathalie Roy in 1863. He learned the stone mason trade and with that as a base built his subsequent career. He moved to Chicago with his wife in 1864 where he was among the prominent contractors of Chicago.
Michael and his wife had six children. They all were graduated from Chicago High Schools. Mary Frances, the older of the daughters, studied music under Dr. Ziegfeld in the Chicago Musical College. She then taught music in Chicago.
In 1894 Michael and his family moved to a farm outside Kouts, Indiana. Mary McCarthy married William R. Beckwith and had three children, Marie, Louise, and Charles.
Louise died at the age of 8 years of age of diptheria. Marie was educated at Valparaiso University and was a teacher at the Lauer School near Kouts. She met and married Ferdinand F. Haas and moved to Peoria, Illinois.
Charles stayed on the farm that his grandfather purchased when he moved from Chicago. Charles married Dessie Parks in 1919 and had four children, Nathalie, Charles Jr., Genevieve and William. Charles Sr. died in 1933.
Dessie moved to Valparaiso during the depression and worked hard to bring up four small children. All children graduated from Valparaiso High School. Charles and William were in the military service during World War II. Charles in the Army in Guam and William in the Navy near the Philippines.
William was killed, along with four other servicemen, in a motor crash near Hobart, August 1945, a week after they were discharged from service.
Genevieve married John L. Stitts and have three children.
Nathalie and Walter met in 1940, married and had two boys, Warren and John. We live at 802 Campbell Street. Warren graduated from Valparaiso Public Schools and also Valparaiso University in 1964. He went into the Navy Air at Pensacola, Florida in 1964. In the Navy he was stationed on the cruiser, New Port News. Two years he spent at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Teaching the cadets how to be seamen. While he was stationed at Pensacola he met and married Linda Chisolm. They have two daughters, Kelley and Heather (our beautiful granddaughters). After serving five years in the active navy he went to Columbus, Ohio, where he taught the deaf in the High School while getting his Masters degree in special Education. In June, 1975, Warren and his family moved back to Pensacola, Florida, where he is counselling in the city school system while going to school for the ministry.
John graduated from the Valparaiso Public Schools and also Valparaiso University in 1969. He joined the Army and served in Viet Nam for two years stationed at the Ben Hoa Air Base. After Viet Nam he was stationed at the University of Dayton teaching in the Army R.O.T.C. Since his brother was in Columbus, Ohio, close by, John spent leaves in Columbus where he met and married Mary Joanne Horn from Columbus.
After discharge from the Army John worked for Travellers Insurance Company as a Claims Adjuster. He now lives in Butte, Montana with his wife, still working for Travellers.
Source: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County. 1976. A Biographical History of Porter County, Indiana. Valparaiso, Indiana: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc. 180 p.
Page(s) in Source: 147
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook