DUTTON, NEAL J. AND MARJORY (CRISPIN)

by Marjory Dutton

Entry F115 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Neal J. Dutton about 1945.

Marjory Dutton about 1945.

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.