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Note: rimmon, was born 9 April 1890 at her parents' home on Third Street in Oakland, California. She weighed 2 and 1/2 pounds at birth. They did not think she would live, and subsequently did not name her until she was a few months old. They called her Eva because it was the smallest name they could think of.
Her father died when she was about three years old, and Eva lived for several years with her maternal grandparents, John and Martha Elizabeth (Maggard) Forrester, on their ranch in Napa Valley. Her great-grandfather, George W. Forrester had been a '49er during the great California gold Rush. Her grandfather, John Forrester, purchased a land out of an old Spanish Land Grant near Oakville, Napa Co. about 1868 where he raised hay and planted one of the early commercial vineyards in Napa Valley. He later planted the first vineyard in Pope Valley. Young Eva returned to live with her mother and stepfather, Malcom Reid, in Benicia, Solano Co., after their marriage in 1898. She removed with the family to Newark shortly thereafter, where they lived on Olive Street.
Eva started school at age 8 because of her small stature. She attended school through the eighth grade at Newark schools but was not allowed to attend high school because her stepfather did not believe in formal education for girls. Eva was courted by John Proctor "Proc" Steinhoff who rode an Indian Motorcycle. She shocked the neighborhood by donning his trousers and riding on the back of the Indian at the perilous speed of 25 MPH! She married Proc Steinhoff at the age of 17--they eloped and married in Oakland. (The Judge who performed the marriage ceremony was still sitting in Alameda Co. in 1950 and presided over the probate of Eva's estate.) Steinhoff was sometimes spelled "Stinehoff".
The couple lived in Newark around the intersection of Thornton Ave. and Olive Street (where Rich Street used to continue through to form a "Y" with Thornton). Proc was employed as a stove moulder at the James Graham Manufacturing Co. of Newark making Wedgwood stoves. Eva kept home.
The then purchased a 10-acre "ranch" in the Mowry's Landing district east of Newark where the family lived for about 10 years. Eva often drove a horse and buggy to Newark to watch a motion picture and also played the piano at the theater to accompany silent movies.
Eva was the first woman in Alameda Co. to receive a license to operate a motor vehicle.
The family removed to Newark in 1927 after Proc became very ill. Within a month or so, the ranch house at Mowry's Landing burned to the ground. Shortly thereafter, in January of 1928, Proc died after being ill for several years and hospitalized for the last few months. Just two and a half years earlier, both of their mothers had died, and Eva also lost an infant daughter, June.
Eva was left with three children: Hugh Proctor "Ducky" Steinhoff (b. 1907 in Newark), Alton Adair "Al" Steinhoff (b. 1916 at the ranch house at Mowry's Landing), Betty Jane Steinhoff (b. 1923 at the ranch house at Mowry's Landing); a fourth child, June Steinhoff (b. 1925 at a hospital in Oakland) died at two days old and was buried that evening in the same grave with her paternal grandmother, Alice [Proctor] Steinhoff Watkins in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Irvington (now Fremont), Alameda Co.
Eva received $1,200 from Proc's life insurance which she invested in twelve shares of stock in the Trans-America Corp. (famous for the iconic pyramid building of the San Francisco skyline). Unfortunately, within a year, the stock price went from $100 a share to $1 a share at the start of the great depression. The stock is still owned by Betty Sheedy, and took many decades to recover its value.
After she was widowed, Eva lived in her mother's former home on Olive Street that she inherited along with another house on an adjacent lot that she rented out. She enrolled in night school in Centerville (now Fremont) where she studied bookkeeping, typing, woodworking, and metalcraft. She also painted with oil, did crochet work and wrote poetry. She sent a poem she wrote about the U. S. Frigate Constitution, "Old Ironsides", to the captain of the vessel when it made its appearance in San Francisco Bay in 1933, and Commander Louis J. Gulliver responded with a personal letter of thanks.
The family mainly was supported by young Hugh Steinhoff who worked at the James Graham Manufacturing Co. as a stove mounter until Wedgwood stove production stopped in 1933. Eva and Betty Jane would work in the apricot orchards during harvest, cutting and pitting apricots for 10-cents a box. The family spent the summer of 1933 camping and mining gold on the Yuba River near Downieville. The boys operated a sluice box while Eva and Betty panned for nuggets, and they used the gold they recovered to buy groceries. Eva's step-father, Malcolm Reid, had a brother, Jack Reid, who lived in Downieville. Neither Malcom nor Uncle Jack had any children of their own, and they treated Hazel, Eva and their children as their own daughters and grandchildren. Uncle Jack Reid owned a hotel and several large gold mines around Downieville, including the Slate Castle and Bingo mines. Eva rented out both houses in Newark for the several months they camped on the Yuba River in 1933, and returned home that fall.
At the outbreak of World War II, Eva obtained work at the James Graham Manufacturing Company that was retooled for the war effort. She mainly worked on seaplane pontoons. She volunteered as a hostile plane spotter evenings in Newark and was trained to recognize Japanese aircraft. Eva was also employed during the war at the Friden Calculator Co. in San Leandro and moved there in 1944 or early 1945. She bought a home at 2149 Thomas Ave. where she resided until her death, 5 November 1950.
Eva passed away in the presence of her daughter, Betty Jane (Steinhoff), and son-in-law, Carl Sheedy. Her last words were spoken to her four-year-old grandson, David Sheedy: she asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Eva's body was interred on 8 November 1950 at the Forrester family plot in the Pioneer Cemetery at Saint Helena in Napa Valley. Her estate was administered by her daughter, Betty Jane (Steinhoff) Sheedy.
Note: Eva (McCrimmon) Steinhoff, daughter of George and Alice (Forrester) McC
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