Then and Now — 1925 & 2021 — 806 18th Ave NE
In 1922: “A construction permit was issued to Mr. LeRoy Sargent for the building of a 10,000 dollar airplane type bungalow in the North Shore section. A feature of the new bungalow will be the rubble brick on the porch columns and chimney. It will be of one story and will contain eight rooms”.
According to Wikipedia “The Airplane Bungalow is a residential style of the United States dating from the early 20th century, with roots in the Arts and Crafts Movement, and elements also common to the American Craftsman style”
LeRoy Sargent lived in this house from 1923 – 1927 when he sold it to E.E. Duncan, district manager of the Florida West Coast Ice Co. Duncan in turn sold it to Sam and Hazel McFall in 1931. The McFalls lived in this house as their winter home from 1931 – 1958.
Samuel Owens McFall was born on September 8, 1884, in Akron Ohio, the youngest of two children. His father worked in a clay products manufactory in Akron.
Sam received his schooling in Akron and after graduation from High School entered Buchtel College. After attending college Sam followed in his father’s footsteps and took a position with the Robinson Clay Products Co. in Akron. He worked his way up the proverbial ladder and by age 33 (1917) was superintendent of the shop.
During the pre-WWI years, Sam met Hazel Kirk Byrnes, a local girl from Barberton, a mere seven miles from Akron, and the two started dating. Hazel had received her schooling at Wooster College, 35 miles southwest of Akron, where she had majored in music. Sam and Hazel were married on June 26, 1918, and the following year they added a son, Robert, to their family.
In the 1920’s Sam left Robinson Clay Products and purchased the Universal Sewer Pipe Corporation out of Cleveland, where he assumed the position of president.
Sam was doing well in his company and decided by 1930 that he, Hazel and Robert, would start spending their winters in the south. His destination of choice was the Sunshine City. Sam came down in 1930 and began scouting out a winter home for his family and came across this featured bungalow. A deal was struck, and the house purchased. Hazel and Robert packed their bags and joined Sam here in St. Pete for their first winter here, they would ultimately spend the next 27 winters in this house.
Their son Robert attended local schools during his winters here and graduated High School in 1938. After graduation Robert attended Rollins College in Winter Park, where he was a 1943 graduate. As soon as he graduated, he enlisted in the US Navy and served 19 months as a lieutenant in the Pacific theater during WWII. Robert was honorably discharged after VJ day and on October 6, 1946, married Ms. Mildred Cameron Dickey. Robert went to work at his father’s company and would later take over the position of president.
Robert and Mildred had two children and would spend vacations with Sam and Hazel in this featured house (I could find no further information on their children)
Sam and Hazel were getting older, and in 1958, when they were both in their mid- 70’s they decided that traveling back and forth each year was getting harder and decided to put the house up for sale. It must have been a hard decision as they had wintered in this house for 27 years.
On October 26, 1959, Robert and Mildred arrived in Honolulu and made their way to Waikiki where they had reserved a hotel room. The following morning the Honolulu papers reported that Robert found his wife deceased in their bed. He told the authorities that she had a heart issue a month earlier. Mildred was 39 years old. There was no further information available about her passing. However, as unusual as it may seem, thirteen months later Robert, age 40, died, and again no further information was in the papers. I found no obituary for either one (nor did I find an obituary for Samuel or Hazel – in my research it is extremely rare not to find an obituary for a father, mother, son and/or daughter-in-law). Two years later, December 19, 1962, Hazel died, she was 77.
After Robert’s death, Sam had resumed the daily running of the business, but with Hazel’s passing, it was just too much for him, 6 months after Hazel’s death he sold the business and fully retired.
Sam lived to be 85, passing away on August 24, 1969, at Shaker Heights, Ohio. All four, Sam, Hazel, Robert and Mildred are buried in the McFall family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
