Like his future wife, Kirk Drussai had a slippery identity. There is less documentation on him, but it is as certain as certain can be that he was born 14 August 1919 in Ravenna (Buffalo County), Nebraska. Of course, census records uncover no Drussais from Nebraska at all—like Garen, Drussai is an exceedingly rare name. From his death certificate, however, it was possible to obtain Kirk’s social security number, and from that get his social security application. He filed his about a week before Garen (Clara) filed hers. According to that, his name was not Kirk Drussai, but Gerald Larry Polenz. And, indeed, the census does have a records of Polenz’s in Ravenna at that time—and their names are the same that Kirk (Gerald) listed on his social security application. If we assume that Kirk changed his name—and did not later steal someone else’s identity—then we know this about him:
His father was Albert Polenz. A native Nebraskan, Polenz was born in 1889 to German immigrants. Apparently, he had a child sometime in the 1910s—the 1910 census lists him as single and without a child, but his WWI draft card—he never served—has him as single and with a child. Probably this means that he was married and his wife died. The 1930 census does date his first marriage to 1916. If that census is correct, then in 1918 he married Olive Mae Howard. She was born in Custer Bow, Nebraska in 1893, her father from Iowa, her mother from New York.
Albert was a farmer in the late 1910s, but by 1920 had taken a job as a brakeman for the railroad. The family did well. The Polenz’s mortgaged a home in 1920. In 1930, the house was valued at $9,000. The family owned a radio. F. Lannie, the daughter from Albert’s first marriage, had moved out, and three boarders were living with the Polenz’s. The census for that year specified that Albert was employed by the CB&Q railroad, still as a brakeman.
In 1936, Gerald (Kirk) was still living in the family home at 804 Grand Avenue, Ravenna. He was eighteen and, fortunately for a Midwesterner in the midst of the Depression, employed. He was working at for the Safeway Grocery chain in nearby Grand Island, Nebraska.
Again like Garen, Kirk then seems to disappear from the historical record. This is more surprising for him, since he would have been prime age for World War II. But, I can’t identify any records related to him. Maybe those records are lost or inaccessible. Maybe he was playing around with his name and so was registered under some other name. Or maybe, given the later interest of Garen and the Fortean Society with pacifisim, his dodged the draft or registered as a conscientious objector. What we do know is that Gerald Polenz disappears. And a decade or so later, Kirk Drussai appears in Hollywood, California.
His father was Albert Polenz. A native Nebraskan, Polenz was born in 1889 to German immigrants. Apparently, he had a child sometime in the 1910s—the 1910 census lists him as single and without a child, but his WWI draft card—he never served—has him as single and with a child. Probably this means that he was married and his wife died. The 1930 census does date his first marriage to 1916. If that census is correct, then in 1918 he married Olive Mae Howard. She was born in Custer Bow, Nebraska in 1893, her father from Iowa, her mother from New York.
Albert was a farmer in the late 1910s, but by 1920 had taken a job as a brakeman for the railroad. The family did well. The Polenz’s mortgaged a home in 1920. In 1930, the house was valued at $9,000. The family owned a radio. F. Lannie, the daughter from Albert’s first marriage, had moved out, and three boarders were living with the Polenz’s. The census for that year specified that Albert was employed by the CB&Q railroad, still as a brakeman.
In 1936, Gerald (Kirk) was still living in the family home at 804 Grand Avenue, Ravenna. He was eighteen and, fortunately for a Midwesterner in the midst of the Depression, employed. He was working at for the Safeway Grocery chain in nearby Grand Island, Nebraska.
Again like Garen, Kirk then seems to disappear from the historical record. This is more surprising for him, since he would have been prime age for World War II. But, I can’t identify any records related to him. Maybe those records are lost or inaccessible. Maybe he was playing around with his name and so was registered under some other name. Or maybe, given the later interest of Garen and the Fortean Society with pacifisim, his dodged the draft or registered as a conscientious objector. What we do know is that Gerald Polenz disappears. And a decade or so later, Kirk Drussai appears in Hollywood, California.
