Their Story
Burdette Harold Harrington was born on December 17, 1922, in Manchester, Iowa, the son of Harry O. and Daisy Worley Harrington. In 1930, the family lived in Strawberry Point, Cass Township, Clayton County, Iowa. His dad was a painter.1 Harry died in 1979 and Daisy in 1992.2
Harrington married Virgie Baxter on June 22, 1946, in Manchester, Iowa, after which they moved to Riverside, California. She was a soda fountain clerk in an ice cream shop and he worked for the city water company.3 In 1955, he was a machine operator at Hunter Douglas Corporation.4 They moved back to Iowa in 1962. They later divorced but remained close friends.5 On July 24, 1970, Harrington married Alice Mickelson Grimm in Rock Island, Illinois. Alice died on May 5, 1990, in Grand Mound, Iowa.6
Harrington enlisted in the U.S. Navy on January 28, 1942, in Great Lakes, Illinois. He served on the U.S.S. Scania and U.S.S. Chateau Thierry.7 He also served on the U.S.S. Anne Arundel in September 1942, coming from New York.8 Boatswain’s Mate Second Class Burdette H. Harrington was honorably discharged on November 14, 1945.9
Boatswain’s mates are responsible for training, directing, and supervising personnel in ship’s maintenance duties in all activities relating to deck, painting, upkeep of ship’s external structure, rigging, and deck equipment. They are also in charge of working parties; performing seamanship tasks; operating and maintaining equipment used in loading and unloading cargo, ammunition, fuel, and general stores.10
After leaving the service, Harrington lived in Riverside, California, working for the city water department.11 Later, he worked in the maintenance department at Ennis Business Forms in DeWitt, Iowa.12
Burdette Harold Harrington died on December 25, 1997, in Ground Mound, Iowa. He was survived by daughter, Sharon McDermott; step-daughter, Jackie Kuehl; step-sons, Stephen Grimm, Charles Grimm, Allan Grimm, and Tim Grimm; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; thirteen step-grandchildren; and brothers, Steve and Robert. 13
References
1 1930 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
2 Burdette Harold Harrington – Facts (ancestry.com)
3 1950 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
4 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 – Ancestry.com
5 U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current – Ancestry.com
6 Alice Mae Mickelson – Facts (ancestry.com)
7 Page 405 WWII Navy Muster Rolls – Fold3
8 U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 – Ancestry.com
9 Harrington, Burdette H in U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2019 – Fold3
10 Boatswain’s mate (United States Navy) – Wikipedia
11 1950 United States Federal Census – Ancestry.com
12 28 Dec 1997, 40 – Quad-City Times at Newspapers.com