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OK, so he was probably born in (or close to 1935).
I've only found one Tom Pratt who had a mother named Ruth born that year. That was in the 1940 census. At that time, this family lived in Emporia Kansas.
He had two brothers.
I have found a Ruth Hopkins Pratt (1910-1990) who passed away in San Bernardino, County.
Would she match with what you see on the 1940 census as far as her age in 1940?
Howard, no, the Ruth Pratt in Kansas with the son named Tom was born in 1906, so not a match.
However, in a private message to me, Ruth Herman mentioned that her Tom was born in November. Since she also believes he would be 82 now, that means November 1935.
I ran a search through social security indexes and found the following:
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (Before 1951)
Name: Thomas A. Pratt
Last Residence: 92393 Victorville, San Bernardino, California, USA
BORN: 17 Nov 1935
Died: 9 Apr 1998
State (Year) SSN issued: Pennsylvania (1951-1953)
What's interesting is the next town over from Victorville is Apple Valley, and there I found this:
Name: Ruth E. Pratt
SSN: 332-20-2695
Last Residence: 92307 Apple Valley, San Bernardino, California, USA
BORN: 2 Jul 1910
Died: 27 Apr 1999
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (Before 1951)
No way of knowing if this the right Tom Pratt and his mother Ruth, of course. Or even if they were related at all.
Confusing the issue is that, I found both a Tom Pratt and a Ruth Pratt who lived in Pomona. Here is there data:
Ruth
Name: Ruth M Pratt
Birth Date: 13 Jan 1900
Address: 2153 Kellogg Park Dr, Pomona, CA, 91768-1115 (1992)
[2231 Canyon Dr, Costa Mesa, CA, 92627-4849]
[15534 Athol St, Fontana, CA, 92335-4485]
[115 N Mountain Ave Apt 126, Claremont, CA, 91711-4500 (1996)]
Thomas C Pratt
Residence Year: 1959
Street address: 273 Weber Pma NA 9-7900
Residence Place: Pomona, California, USA
Occupation: Time Keeper
Publication Title: Pomona, City Directory, 1959
There is no way of knowing, of course, if these are the right Tom and Ruth Pratts who once lived in Pomona. And, their middle initials are different than the Tom and Ruth who died near Victorville.
Assuming Ruth Herman is remembering the birth month correctly, I might be more inclined to lean towards the Tom with the November 1935 birthday. Victorville isn't all that far from Pomona.
But, we have woefully little to go on here, so it is impossible to say definitively. Tom could have move to Alaska in 1972.
However, perhaps this will give Ruth Herman some additional ideas of where to continue her search in California.
In her original post, Ruth Herman said that she thought the company Thomas Pratt worked for later moved to Costa Mesa, California.
Costa Mesa is very close to Fullerton CA, where I found a Thomas C. Pratt (Remember the initial of the Tom who lived in Pomona) living in 1988 -1990.
However, the birthdate given is January 1931, so that doesn't match up with what Ruth thinks his age would be now.
Name: Thomas C Pratt
Birth Date: 15 Jan 1931
Address: 1019 S Tamarack Dr, Fullerton, CA, 92832-2960 (1988)
[2113 Carol Dr, Fullerton, CA, 92833-3009 (1990)]
[2030 Palma Ln E, Anaheim, CA, 92802]
Without any further information available about Tom, his mother, or his brother, it's impossible to go any farther with this search or narrow down if any of these Toms are Ruth Herman's friend.
But, perhaps it will give Ruth Herman some additional ideas about where to search going forward.
One last thought: I just looked up where ITT Canon's offices are now located. They are located in Irvine, California, which is also very close to Costa Mesa and Fullerton.
It could be that they moved at some point, or it could be that Ruth's memory is a little off in thinking they moved to Costa Mesa and they've been there all this time.
In any case, I'm wondering whether Ruth might find the company's contact information of interest on the off chance that Tom worked for them until he retired. If so, perhaps the company's HR department might be able to point her towards his last known address (probably not, but worth a try) Here is the link:
Ruth Herman mentioned that her Tom was born in November. Since she also believes he would be 82 now, that means November 1935.
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (Before 1951)
Name: Thomas A. Pratt
Last Residence: 92393 Victorville, San Bernardino, California, USA
BORN: 17 Nov 1935
Died: 9 Apr 1998
State (Year) SSN issued: Pennsylvania (1951-1953)
It's interesting that the grave is in Kingman, Arizona while his social security records list his death in Victorville, CA.
They're not too far from each other as the eagle flies, but there are cemeteries in Victorville and other parts of San Bernardino County that would have been closer. So that suggests to me that perhaps he actually lived in Kingman, AZ at one time, but was staying with family near Victorville when he died.
I'm sure you already thought of this, but it's possible that he wanted to be buried in Kingman because other family members were also buried there. There are three other Pratts there on FindAGrave, but no Ruths, or anyone with an age who might have been his wife or child.
As I said, without Ruth Herman being able to give us more information, it's impossible to even say that this is *her* Tom Pratt. It's just the only two instances I can find where there was a Tom Pratt living near a Ruth Pratt in California (the second being the Thomas C. Pratt and Ruth M. in Pomona).
No I don't have any more information I've looked at all the different sites and yes there are so many he would probably be 81 82 or 83 years old
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth Hermann
He was single and his mother was named Ruth and she lived in Pomona. That much I know
Contact people you knew at the same time frame and in the same location and maybe they can tell you things such as his father's name, the city and the year, etc. Post your source for his birth month and year and maybe others can assist you more. Good luck.
Last edited by howard555; 10-02-2017 at 01:00 PM..
I was estimating his birth year as 1935 because he was 8 years older than me at the time.
I was 28, he was 36 in 1971. I don't think Human Resources will give me any information because of the HIPA laws these days but I am going to try. I really do appreciate all the information and help you have provided me. So much time has passed that it is very difficult to find him. All I remember is that he was a computer programmer for ITT Cannon Electric in Los Angeles and the
company moved to Santa Ana I believe. I might have been wrong when I said Costa Mesa.
I was estimating his birth year as 1935 because he was 8 years older than me at the time.
I was 28, he was 36 in 1971. I don't think Human Resources will give me any information because of the HIPA laws these days but I am going to try. I really do appreciate all the information and help you have provided me. So much time has passed that it is very difficult to find him. All I remember is that he was a computer programmer for ITT Cannon Electric in Los Angeles and the
company moved to Santa Ana I believe. I might have been wrong when I said Costa Mesa.
What is your source for the birth month being November if 1935 is only an educated guess?
Here is the latest I found: Thomas Clinton Pratt born in 1935 to Simon and Ruth Pratt who lived in Emporia Lyons Kansas at 1427 Merchant Street 5A Institution NYA8 Simon born in 1887 Ruth born in 1906 Sibling Charles born 1922 Sibling William born 1925. I don't have any other information but possibly Thomas Clinton Pratt has passed away but don't know for sure. I went back to the 1940 Census to find this at the suggestion of a member and this was the closest I could find to maybe being the right person. Does this help? I don't know how to trace their movements after this Census. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for all the help so far. About ready to give up short of paying about $700 or more for an investigator.
I had found this information before but had trouble finding out their movements after the Census to I was just going around in circles trying to find anything I could but was getting more and more confused.
Thanks
Ruth
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