DUTTON, NEAL J. AND MARJORY (CRISPIN)

Neal Dutton was born Sept. 28, 1920 in Mullen, Ne., the son of Stuart and Anna Dutton. He attended grade school in Mullen and Fremont, Ne., and graduated from Mullen High School in 1938. He attended Midland College in Fremont, Nebr. for 2 1/2 years.

In 1941 Neal took a Civil Service test and went to Washington, D.C. where he was employed by the War Department.

Marjory Crispin was born Jan. 3, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Charles Albert “Todd'' Crispin and Lenora (Hart-man) Crispin. Marjory's parents were both from Rardin, Illinois, but in 1922 they moved to Detroit, Michigan for two years while her dad worked in “Ford's Factory'', now known as the Ford Motor Co. Her parents moved back to Illinois in 1924 and Marjory attended grade school in Rardin, Illinois. She attended high school in Villa Grove, Illinois and graduated in 1940. She worked as a secretary at the Villa Grove High School for about a year. She took a Civil Service Examination in 1941 and went to Washington, D.C. in March 1942 where she was employed by the Depart-ment of Commerce as a secretary until June 1946.

Neal and Marjory met on a “blind date'' on May 13, 1942, and that first date was a “Moonlight Cruise'' down the Potomac Riv-er.

Neal enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1942 and was stationed at Bolling Field, just outside Washington, D.C. He was also stationed in New York City and Colorado Springs before going overseas, where he spent two years on Guam. He was discharged from the Air Corps at Ft. Meade, Maryland in February 1946. After Neal's discharge from the Air Corps he returned to Mullen and became a partner with his father in the grocery store.

Neal and Marjory were married on July 10, 1946 in Danville, Illinois. They had one son, Neal Jay, born August 12, 1949.

Neal worked in the grocery store with his dad; was a Star-Route Mail carrier for the Post Office Department, and later a part-time postal clerk in the Mullen Post Office.

Neal was a Past Master of the Mullen Masonic Lodge, and was Secretary of the Masonic Lodge from 1956 until his death in April 1964. He was also a Past Patron of the Order of Eastern Star, having served as Worthy Patron during Marjory's year as Worthy Matron in 1961.

After Neal's death, Marjory continued on in the grocery store until she closed it in 1977; then she and her son Jay opened the Rustic Restaurant and Lounge in April 1978.