Herbert Ernst Julius Senechal

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Herbert Senechal

Herbert Ernst Julius Senechal was the 13th child of Johann and Elizabeth (Meyer) Senechal.He was the first born on twins, but his twin sister died soon after birth.
In 1902 the family moved to N. Dakota, where they lived on 320 acres of land in McHenry County, ten miles north of Drake. They were German Lutherans and were all musical. When still a youth Herbert contracted rheumatic fever and had to quit school. A picture of him dated 1910 shows him as a member of the Drake Baseball Team. He went to St Louis and earned a certificate as a violin teacher. His violin, which is still in the family, came from Chicago and probably was made in France. Later he attended a business college.

Herbert & Virginia with Jim

He married Virginia Irene Mott, a school teacher, in 1920 and they moved to Homestead Montana where he became manager of the Homestead Farmers Elevator Co. Their two children were born there. He received commendations for his work there, but Virginia was not happy in the small town. They spent a year, 19232-24 in Pasadena CA, where he worked for the Ford Motor Co., but then moved to Spokane, WA where he became a bank clerk. A letter from the Homestead State Bank says they recommend him "to any one comtemplating engaging a man in the banking business. He is thoughly competent and a dependable executive, and of pleasing personality and sterling quality". He later joked that he was the vice-president of the bank, since it was only a two-man bank.
In Spokane Herbert and Virginia prospered; they owned their home, and their piano and violin were much in demand for dances. In the 20's Herbert played the stock market very successfully, but lost his job and investments in the 1929 crash. One investment that retained after the crash was a barbershop, and after a period of unemployment he decided to become a barber, a career he followed until his retirement.
In 1935 he and Virginia divorced, and she went to Seattle with the children. In 1939 he remarried to Eliza Overfelt. They lived in Spokane until her death in 1968. His stepson Cecil wrote, "Herb was more like a father. He will be remembered for his true and unselfish giving of hemself. He was frugal and left this world owning no one."

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