Will Trenkle

Katy Fessler

William Henry (Will) Trenkle
Born: November 26, 1886; Derby, Kansas
Died: June 20, 1969; Hawthorne, California

Anna Catherine (Katy) Fessler
Born: May 19, 1890; Chanhasset, Minnesota
Died: May 20, 1930; Ludlow, California

Will Trenkle was born in the town of Derby, in south-central Kansas, a suburb of Wichita, and grew to adulthood there.  His father (Henry Trenkle) had migrated west from Pennsylvania, and his mother (Margaret Woods) from Ohio.  The Trenkle family originally came to the United States in the mid-19th century, Will’s grandfather having immigrated from Germany.

Will began his life-long association with railroading in Wichita where between 1904 and 1909 he worked several entry level jobs for the Santa Fe Railroad, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad.  In 1909, while still and employee of the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas, Will moved to Oklahoma City, OK, as a locomotive fireman and engineer.  In 1911 he left the MK&T and went to work for the Texas & Pacific Railroad as a locomotive engineer.

Katy Fessler was the youngest of eight children born to Josef and Mary Fessler.  Katy was a 1st generation American citizen, her parents having immigrated to this country as children in the mid-19th century.  Her father was born in Switzerland; her mother in Germany.  Her father was one of 16 children born between 1820 and 1841 who grew up in Minnesota after their parents decided to come to the new world.

Not a lot is known about Katy’s early life other than her father and several of her uncles apparently decided that Minnesota winters weren’t for them.  Katy’s parents decided to settle in Oklahoma.

Katy and Will met in Oklahoma City while Will was working for the Texas & Pacific.  They were married on June 18, 1913.  After the marriage Will was transferred first to Dallas, TX, then to El Paso, TX, where on March 28, 1914, their first child, Edward, was born.  On July 6, 1915, while still living in El Paso, a daughter, Mary Margaret, was born.

In March of 1917 the family moved to California where Will went to work as a conductor on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad based in Ludlow.  There, on May 10, 1917, another son, Thomas, was born.  1921 saw the final addition to the family when a daughter, Katherine Alice, came into the world.  So while Katy managed the ever growing household, Will continued to work as a conductor on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, traveling on the route between Ludlow and Death Valley Junction.

On May 20, 1930, tragedy struck the Trenkle family when Katy was killed in an automobile accident on the road to Barstow, leaving Will to raise the four children, ages 16, 14, 13, and 9.

Sometime between 1930 and 1932 Will met Helen Cremins Diffley, a widow with four children.  The exact circumstances of their meeting is unknown, but we do know that Helen was a friend of Will’s sister, Alice, who lived in San Pedro, CA.  In any event, it appears that they decided joining the Trenkle and Diffley families together was the right thing to do, so they married in Los Angeles on September 5, 1932.

The early years of that marriage were quite a challenge.  The country was in a depression, and though both Helen and Will were employed, their places of employment were far separated.  Helen worked for the school system in Inglewood, CA, while Will’s job was still in Ludlow – the middle of the Mojave Desert.  Since neither could afford to give up their jobs, they spent most of the year living apart, with Helen coming out to the desert to live with Will when the schools were on vacation, and Will coming into the city when he had time off.  During this period the school-age children of both families lived with Helen.

To further complicate matters, at about the time of Will and Helen’s marriage, the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad decided to shut down operations in Ludlow, moving their headquarters to Death Valley Junction – another 125 miles farther away from Los Angeles.  To say Will lived a Spartan existence during this period would be a gross understatement.  His accommodation in Death Valley Junction (pictured below) was a decommissioned railroad passenger car that had had it’s wheels removed and was sitting up on wood blocks.  And this in an area where the summer temperatures frequently hit the 120 degree mark.

In 1941 the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ceased operations and Will switched his allegiance to another desert railroad, the Trona Railway, based in Trona, CA.  This was a bit closer to town, but not much.  Will continued to work on the Trona Railway until his retirement in 1946 when he was finally able to set up a permanent household with Helen at their home at 4331 W. 103rd St. in Inglewood.  But though Will was no longer working for the railroad, railroading was still in his blood.  All the grandchildren who visited at the Inglewood residence fondly remember the model railroad Will had set up in the garage, plus Will was an active member of a local model railroad organization in the Los Angeles area that operated a much more elaborate layout.  Will and Helen spent the next decade in blissful retirement in Inglewood, until Helen passed away on May 23, 1955.

About a year later Will met Nellie Mae Curtis, and they were married in Kingman AZ, on October 18, 1956.  At about this time Will also sold the house in Inglewood, and he and Nellie bought a home in a mobile home park in Yucaipa, CA.  It was in Yucaipa that Will spent his remaining years.  Nellie Mae passed away in April 1967; Will died on June 20, 1969.

Will is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA.