Gale Fulghum's half-brother. Same father (Edward Awalt), different mothers. They lived in the same city for decades and almost certainly never knew each other existed.
Vital Information
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Charles Harold Awalt | Draft card, discharge papers, NUMIDENT |
| Born | 5 Oct 1926, Kansas City, Missouri | MO Birth Index, NUMIDENT, draft card |
| Died | 25 Apr 1998, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas | NUMIDENT, Polly Nan obituary |
| Father | Edward Awalt (Charles E. Awalt) (1893-1940) | NUMIDENT: "Charles E Awalt"; Mexico marriage record: "Charles Edward Arvalt" |
| Mother | Anna Mae Pollard (1 May 1892 - 3 Dec 1983) | NUMIDENT: "Anna M Pollard"; draft card: "Mrs Anna Mae Awalt, mother" |
| Sister | Polly Nan Awalt Arth (8 Aug 1929 - 27 Nov 2014) | Polly Nan obituary |
| Half-brother | Gale Fulghum (19 Feb 1923 - 2 Oct 2007) | DNA evidence (near-certain) |
| Spouse | Ana Maria Amelia Cardenas Jinoco (b. ~1922, Mexico City), m. 13 May 1949, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City | Mexico DF Civil Registration |
| Children | Unknown. No obituary found. No Find a Grave memorial. | |
| Burial | Unknown |
Their Story
A Boy at 311 North White
Charles Harold Awalt was born on October 5, 1926, in Kansas City, Missouri, the first child of Charles E. Awalt and Anna Mae Pollard. His father was a typewriter mechanic who had served as a sergeant in France during the First World War and had enlisted under a name that was not his own. His mother was a year older than his father and had been born in Missouri. They lived at 311 North White Avenue in Kansas City's Ward 10, a modest home his father owned, valued at $2,350 in the 1930 census.
His sister Polly Nan arrived on August 8, 1929. The household included their grandmother Nannie Pollard and a lodger.
On February 28, 1940, his father died. Harold was thirteen. The death notice in the Kansas City newspaper read: "AWALT-Charles E., age 45 years, 311 N. White ave." Services were held at The Chapel on Independence Boulevard, and his father was buried at Leavenworth National Cemetery in Wadsworth, Kansas, with a marble headstone bearing a Christian cross.
The 1940 census, taken five weeks later, shows the household at 311 North White: Anna M. Awalt (47), head, widowed; Harold C. (13); Polly N. (10); Nannie Pollard (75); and a lodger. Anna Mae listed herself as widowed. The family stayed in the house.
Future Scientist
Harold attended Northeast High School in Kansas City. His 1943 yearbook photo shows a serious young man in a suit jacket. The caption read: "Future scientist, Radio Club 3." He applied for a Social Security number in June 1943, the same month the yearbook came out.
That summer, at seventeen, he went to work as a laboratory technician at Sonken-Colombo Corporation, a scrap metal company at 2nd and Riverview in Kansas City, Kansas. He listed his prior education as pre-engineering. The future scientist was already in the lab.
The Navy
On October 3, 1944, at age eighteen, Harold enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve in Kansas City. He was single, white, a U.S. citizen, living at 311 North White with his mother. His service number was 343-26-80.
He never went overseas. The war was in its final year, and the Navy needed technicians. Harold spent 44 weeks in electronics schools:
- Wright Junior College, Chicago (Pre-Radio Material) - 4 weeks
- Naval Training School, Gulfport, Mississippi (Electrical Engineering & Radio Material) - 12 weeks
- Navy Pier Radio Material School, Chicago - 28 weeks
He progressed through the ratings: Apprentice Seaman, Seaman First Class, Radio Technician Third Class, Radio Technician Second Class, and finally Electronic Technician Mate 2/C. His stations were USNTC Great Lakes and US Naval Pier, Chicago.
He received the American Area Campaign Medal and the Victory Medal. On May 4, 1946, he was honorably discharged at Great Lakes, Illinois, at age nineteen. He had served one year, seven months, and two days. His total discharge pay was $25.40, plus $24.15 in travel allowance.
On the discharge form, under "Job Preference," he wrote: "Undecided." Under "Preference for Additional Training," he wrote: "School."
Mexico City
What happened next is less clear. Harold had the GI Bill. He had pre-engineering coursework, electronics training, and lab experience. At some point he decided on medicine.
By the late 1940s he was living in San Antonio, Texas. On May 13, 1949, at age twenty-two, he married Ana Maria Amelia Cardenas Jinoco in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City. The Mexican civil registration record rendered his name as "Charles Harold Arvalt Pollard," using the Mexican convention of paternal surname (Arvalt, the Spanish rendering of Awalt) followed by maternal surname (Pollard). The bride was twenty-seven, the daughter of Armando Cardenas and Rosa Jinoco de Cardenas.
He may have attended medical school in Mexico, which would explain both the marriage in Mexico City and his absence from the Texas Gazetteer of Deceased Physicians. The timeline fits: discharged May 1946, married May 1949, three years that could accommodate a medical degree.
A Ghost in San Antonio
Harold became a physician, though where he trained and practiced remains unknown. His NUMIDENT lists his residence as San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. His sister's obituary in 2014 noted she was "preceded in death by brother Harold."
He died on April 25, 1998, in San Antonio. He was seventy-one.
No obituary has been found online. No Find a Grave memorial exists. He does not appear in the Texas Gazetteer of Deceased Physicians. Whether he had children is unknown. If he did, they would be Gale Fulghum's half-nieces and half-nephews, and Gary Fulghum's half-first cousins.
His father enlisted under a false name and left no trace of his first son. Harold lived and died leaving few traces of his own.
Document Sources
| Document | Type | Key Data |
|---|---|---|
| MO Birth Index | Vital record | Charles Harold Awalt, 10/05/1926 |
| 1930 US Census | Federal census | Harold (3), son, at 311 N. White Ave, KC |
| 1940 US Census | Federal census | Harold C. (13), at 311 N. White Ave. Mother Anna M. widowed. |
| Northeast HS Yearbook (1943) | School yearbook | "Future scientist, Radio Club 3." |
| WWII Draft Card (DSS Form 1) | Selective Service | Serial W 328-A, Order 12562-A. 311 N. White, KC. Born 10/5/26. Age 19. Phone: Benton 3248. Contact: Mrs Anna Mae Awalt, mother. Employer: Disc vet. |
| Naval Discharge (NAVPERS-553) | Military | File 546-103-1. ETM2/C, V6 USNR. Enlisted 10-3-44 KC. Discharged 5-4-46 Great Lakes. 1yr 7mo 2d service. Stateside only. Schools: Wright Jr Coll (4wk), Gulfport (12wk), Navy Pier (28wk). Prior employer: Sonken-Colombo Corp, KCK, Laboratory Technician (8/1943-10/1944). Education: HS 4yr, Pre-Engineering. Job pref: Undecided. Training pref: School. Medals: American Area Campaign, Victory. |
| NUMIDENT | Social Security | Parents: Charles E Awalt + Anna M Pollard. Born 5 Oct 1926, KC. SS app June 1943. Residence: San Antonio, TX. Died 25 Apr 1998. FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:6KW4-FQXZ. |
| Mexico DF Civil Registration (1949) | Marriage record | "Charles Harold Arvalt Pollard" m. Ana Maria Amelia Cardenas Jinoco, 13 May 1949, Cuauhtemoc, DF. Father: "Charles Edward Arvalt." Mother: "Anna Mae Pollard de Arvalt." FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:QG42-Z539. |
Open Questions
- Where did he go to medical school? Mexico City is plausible given the 1949 marriage there, GI Bill eligibility, and absence from Texas physician records. UNAM or IPN medical faculties would have records.
- Did he have children? No obituary found. Ana Maria Amelia was 27 at marriage. Children would be Gale's half-nieces/nephews.
- Where is he buried? San Antonio area, presumably. No Find a Grave memorial.
- What was "Disc vet" on the draft card? Possibly "discharged veteran" (referring to someone else's status?), a disc/record business, or shorthand for a veterinary supply company.
- Why Wyandotte County on the discharge papers? 311 North White is in Jackson County, MO. Sonken-Colombo was in KCK (Wyandotte County, KS). The address may have been recorded with the wrong county, or Harold gave his workplace county.