3253 OLIVER WENDELL OATMAN
3253
OLIVER WENDELL,8 (Oscar A.7, Oliver A.6, Darius5, Benjamin4, George3, John2, Johannes1), son of
Oscar A. and Lillian (Wilson)
Oatman, was born 29 February 1912 at the Oatman Farm on Goshen Road south
of Tillsonburg, Oxford County, Ontario, died 9 August 1973 at Tillsonburg, and
is buried in Tillsonburg Cemetery, Tillsonburg.
Oliver
attended Goshen Public School S.S. No. 5 Middleton and Tillsonburg High
School. He then worked on the family
farm at Lot 5, Concession 3, Middleton Township. As a small family farm, there were milking cows,
some pigs and chickens. Horses were used
for farming in the early days and the Oatman’s ran their own blacksmith shop
and were all accomplished farriers.
Oliver
took flying lessons at Brantford and received his pilot’s license in November,
1937. He operated heavy equipment on
construction sites east of Toronto and in Nova Scotia until he joined the RCAF
in 1942. After training at Windsor,
Brantford and Comox, BC, Oliver went overseas in 1945 and flew with 437
Squadron in Dakota III, Dakota IV and Anson I aircraft. He remained after the war in May of 1945 with
the Transport Command and returned to Canada to be released as a Pilot Officer
in 1946.
Mervin
Hicks and Oliver received a license to operate the Tillsonburg Airport, but in
1947 Oliver sold his shares to Mervin and returned to the home farm to continue
a farming operation.
Oliver
and Doris Eileen Birdsall were
married on September 18, 1948 on the front lawn of her parents home on the
Bostwick Road.
The
Oatman farm initially had a herd of milking cows, but in the mid nineteen
fifties they were sold and the farm supported a small herd of beef cattle.
Oliver
had a penchant for heavy machinery and acquired a self propelled combine and
performed custom work in the area. As
his children grew and were able to operate the equipment, they would also do
custom hay cutting and baling, even loading the customer’s barn. Oliver always had a love of horses, and as
they were replaced by machinery, he transitioned to riding horses. He and his children always had several horses
around and the farm was a gathering place for like minded horse owners.
Children
of Oliver Wendell and Doris (Birdsall) Oatman, b. Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON:
5882 James Edward, b. 1949; m. Anna
Harris, Aug 1978, London, Middlesex Co., ON
5883 Charles Douglas, b. 1951; m. Marlene
Pfaff, Jan 1975, Guelph, Wellington Co., ON
5884 David Oliver, b. 4 Apr 1955; m. Mary
Lynn Palmer, May 1990, Tillsonburg, ON, d. Sep 24, 2019
5885 Jean Marie,
b. 1959; m. Douglas Kent. Children,
surname Kent:
A David
George, b. 1986
B Stephanie
Marie b. 1993
Sources: Family
Records;
Doris Oatman,
Tillsonburg, ON
Back to Oatman Home Page
Back to Oatman Family Index
(v2008)-d