Solid citizens of Huntington

For this week’s column, I’ve been asked to write about people some of

our later residents of Huntington Beach would remember -- people our

residents will remember, I hope, with good and fond memories.

Our first person had been well known for many years as a tireless

worker and a swell guy.

Santa Claus could have brought Robert McReynolds Marshall as a

Christmas present to his parents, for he was born on Christmas Day in

1898. During his early years in Lafayette, Tenn., Robert attended

Lafayette’s grammar and high schools.

As he reached his later teen years, Robert came to work in the oil

fields in and around Coalinga, Calif. He would grow up fast working

with the rough oil workers, and he also learned to play the fastest

brand of softball he ever saw.

He had always liked sports, and baseball was his favorite. It was

this game that gave Robert his nickname of “Bullets,” because he

could run around the bases like a bullet.

In 1920, Marshall heard about oil being discovered in the small

town of Huntington Beach and decided to come here to make his

fortune. His first job in our new oil field was that of a driller,

and he would later become a field salesman.

During the 1930s, Marshall operated a Pontiac auto agency and

service station at what was then Fifth and Main Streets. When World

War II came, he went to work in construction in Desert Center and in

El Toro.

In the early 1950s, Bullets took over management of the golf

course, clubhouse and restaurant at the Huntington Beach Country

Club, located between 17th Street, Palm and Goldenwest.

When he managed this golf course, Marshall made sure it would be

top-notch.

He would later turn over the successful management of this

18-hole, par 66 course to his son Robert Marshall Jr.

Many years earlier, Bullets met Agnes Gisler, the daughter of

Robert Gisler. After a courtship, the two were wed.

During his later years, he became a director in our chamber of

commerce, a life member of our Elks Lodge, a member of the board of

directors of the Huntington Valley Bank, and president of the

Huntington Beach Men’s Golf Club.

The Marshalls lived at 1710 Park St., right in the shadow of our

civic center. Marshall purchased a ranch in Pauma Valley, Calif., and

would spend half his time there and half back here in Huntington

Beach.

It was on Aug. 27, 1970, that”Bullets left us to play golf in a

more heavenly place.

Many residents today may unknowingly have seen a picture of his

wife, Agnes, for there are a number of reproductions of a 1925 photo

of a beauty contest taken near our pier circulating around here and

on eBay. One of those lovely girls of Orange County is Agnes.

Our next important resident and swell guy was also well known to

our community and to many of our beach-going visitors.

He was Victor Nitzkowski. He was born in 1897, and he served in

the U.S. Navy. As a radioman, Nitzkowski was stationed on destroyers

and at destroyer bases during both World Wars.

In 1945 he came here and operated Vic’s beach concession south of

our pier. During this time, he and wife Millicent and family lived at

403 7th St.

But Victor’s greatest claim to fame was his son Kenneth Monte

Nitzkowski, a famous U.S. national water polo coach and a swell guy

himself.

Vic passed away on April 29, 1978.

Our third local resident and swell guy operated a successful

custom machining and fabrication business.

Virgil “Bill” Mahaffey was born in Lincoln, Neb., in 1913, and he

spent his early years there with his three sisters -- Marie, Clara

and Dorothy -- and three brothers, Harold, Jack and Ray.

When Bill was 28 years old, he moved to our town. In late 1957 or

early 1958, he opened his first machine shop in our town. The

Mahaffey Machine Co. was started with his wife Dorothy at 606 17th

St.

During this time, the family lived on Hampton Street in Anaheim.

By the early 1960s, he moved his machine shop to the back of his new

residence in Huntington Beach at 2316 Delaware St.

Bill had been active in the Community Bible Church, served on the

Christian Businessmen’s Committee, and was very active in our local

Boy Scouts.

Bill and his wife Dorothy had four children: Daniel, Robert,

Patrick and Patricia.

After Bill’s passing on April 28, 1978, his sons Dan and Pat

continued operating the machine shop well into the 1980s.

These are just a few of the swell guys who gave there all for the

city they loved.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.