Summary: Donor is part of the Backus family, who owned and operated Backus Laundry and Cleaning Services on Berry Street. She is the daughter of Ed Backus and Lottie Oakley Backus, who started the laundry business around 1919-1920 at Oakley Farm located near the site of the present day TCU Stadium, Oakley Farm was run by the donor's grandparents, James Calvin Oakley (1852-1923) and Mattie Rebecca Hawkins Oakley (1855-1939). Durbin graduated from Paschal High School in 1938 and became a manager of operations of the Backus Laundry business. In 1941, she married Arnold Durbin, route manager of the laundry trucks. Her father-in-law, Eugene Durbin, was an employee at Meacham Field in the 1920s. Durbin donated the following items related to her family history to the Archives after visiting with her former business teacher, Lesbia Word Roberts, at a Paschal High School reunion.
View the Katherine Backus Durbin image gallery.
Backus and Oakley Families
Photographs (all copies of originals)
Family History
Pictured: Katherine Backus Durbin in front of Back Us Laundry, undated
Pictured: Plane at Fort Worth Air Port, Meacham Field, undated
Meacham Field
Photographs
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