Although Dick was attached to the National Guard in San Francisco through October 1945, Martha returned to White Bear Lake sometime in 1944.  The couples’ oldest child, Joseph (Joe) Richard was born in Ramsey County on November 17, 1944.²⁰  Martha was 28 years old and Dick was 25 years old. 

The couple needed a home which Dick’s father and mother provided when the building on the northeast corner of Bald Eagle Avenue and Fourth Street was moved early in November of 1945 from White Bear Oil Company property to the south side of 4721 Campbell Avenue, on property owned by Dick’s brother, George.  In the late spring of 1946, after several months of work on the building, 327 (now 4711) Campbell Avenue became Dick, Martha and Joe’s home.²¹

The Campbell Avenue property was temporary housing. White Bear Oil Company ledger records show taxes being paid from March 15, 1945 through July 10, 1947, on Dick and Martha’s behalf, on property located at 615 (now 4859) Bald Eagle Avenue.  From other entries in the ledger it appears that during that time several improvements were made to the property including the land being cleared and a garage being built in 1946.²²

On January 4, 1947, Dick and Martha welcomed their second child, Mary Ellen.²³  At the time of her birth, her older brother Joe was 2 years old.

According to the White Bear Oil Company ledger, Dick and Martha’s forever family home at 615 (now 4859) Bald Eagle Avenue was built between 1949 and 1951.  The construction bills were paid through the company and included basement work in July of 1949, plumbing work done by Bob Vadnais (Dick’s first cousin) in November of 1950 and flooring in April of 1951.²⁴  The family moved into their new home sometime in 1952.

On May 28, 1954 the couple welcomed their third child, Ann Marie.²⁵  At the time of her birth, Dick was 34 years old, Martha 37 years old, Joe 9 years old and Mary 7 years old.  The family was complete when Margaret Mary (Peggy) arrived on February 25, 1959.²⁶

By 1950, Dick, George, Charles, Jack and their father are equal partners in White Bear Oil Company, with each owning 19% of the company; Gordy, at 21 years old, owned 5% of the company.²⁷  All the brothers served different functions in the business.  Dick mainly worked at the station (station #1), located at 4^th Street and Bald Eagle Avenue, as well as the towing end of the business.

After selling off all of the components associated with White Bear Oil Company, the last of the Vadnais brothers retired in 1992.  Dick, at 73 years old, had spent the majority of his life, close to 60 years, working at the company.

In 1992, Dick and Martha celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary.  They would both live to commemorate their 59^th wedding anniversary.

Martha passed away on Friday, August 30, 2002, 28 days after her 86^th birthday.²⁸  A Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on September 4, 2002.    

Dick lived almost another 4 years.  He passed away on Thursday, June 15, 2006, at 86 years, 10 months and 7 days old.³⁰ 

A Mass of Christian Burial was held for Dick on June 21, 2006, at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church. A private family interment took place at a later date at which time Dick was laid to rest next to Martha at St. Mary’s Cemetery, White Bear Lake, Minnesota.³²

Thanks for visiting, come back soon,
Cynthia

© 2026 Copyright by Cynthia Vadnais, All Rights Reserved

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Footnotes for Richard Andrew Vadnais and Martha Phylis Doran (Part 3 of 3) post