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[phelps.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 16, Ed. 1, Tree #1604, Date of Import: Jun 21, 1999]

Ivan & Dea as young men helped James Mills (step-father) run the merry-go-round in different states in the summertime. At one time they traveled with the Texas Bud Side Show Unit. Ivan also rode a motorcycle up the inside walls of a wooden cylindrical enclosure and down again. This show was to provide the audience with a thrill of a motorcycle going up and down a straight cylindrical wall without falling down. Carmelita remembers as a young girl the side show coming to Sturgis and her father, Ivan, introducing her to the people in the side show.

I (Bunny Mills) remember Uncle Ivan as a special uncle when I was a kid. I was only 9 years old when he was killed in a car accident. He was always happy and fun to be around. I don't have many specific memories of him just a feeling that he was my favorite uncle when he died and being very upset.

Ivan was an avid fisherman, hunter, gardener. He also was a fur trapper in the wintertime. He especially loved strawberries and sweet corn, which he raised with other vegetables.

He retired from Fort Meade, SD as the head painter. When he and Ethel were married they lived in Westmoreland and had a chicken hatchery. After a bad fire at the hatchery, they and Royal Mills (half-brother) moved to Los Angeles, CA where Ivan's oldest brother (Forrest Baldwin) and family lived. He and Royal became Interior Decorators and lived there until the Great Depression of 1929. They bought a 2-wheeled trailer to take all their possessions to Sturgis, SD (in the Black Hills). They bartered their painting of ranch houses for food and Ethel worked in the laundry in the City Park. They lived in a one room cabin at the park. Ivan and Royal worked at painters at Ft. Meade.

Obituary for Ivan Baldwin from Sturgis Tribune

Funeral services for Ivan Baldwin, Sturgis resident who was killed in an auto accident south of Rapid City last Friday , were held Wednesday in the First Presbyterian Church here. Rev. E. Charles Markman officiated.
Baldwin was born April 6, 1896, at Westmoreland, KS, was married to the former Ethel Jensen at Florence, KS in 1917. He served in the Army during World War 1 and came to Sturgis from California in 1930. He was employed at the Fort Meade VA Hospital until his retirement in 1957. He is survived by his widow, one daughter Carmelita Bell of Poulsbo, Wash., two brothers, Dea of Lead and Royal of Beulah, WY, one sister Lou Wizarde of Lincoln, NB and three Grandchildren.
A Memorial to the Presbyterian Church was established with Rev. Markman in charge.
Interment was in the Black Hills National Cemetery.