Porterville’s Legacy Family has long history of service
Talk about six degrees of separation. Name any family in Porterville and chances are Norma Bodley Doyel is a descendent of that family in some way.
“Be careful who you talk about,” Doyel said. “I might be related to them.”
Doyel comes from the Bodley family which has roots that go back to Porterville’s beginning — even before Porterville’s beginning — when this community was being formed almost 180 years ago. When it comes to families such as the Gibbons, Hunsaker and Brown, which have roots in Porterville that go back to the 1840s through the end of the 19th century, the Bodley family also has roots to all of those families.
Doyel has been researching her ancestry ever since she was in the fourth grade when it was required when she attended class as a school project. “I didn’t realize how much at the time,” said Doyel about how many ties she had to Porterville families when she was in the fourth grade.
Her family ties can be traced back to the Butterfield Stage.
Arthur Watts Bodley Sr. was born in Portland Ore. In 1898 he was a private with the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry and fought in the Spanish American War.
He was discharged in the Philippines in June 1899. He came to this area working as a laborer in the Magnasite Mine.
He also worked in post making, building fences for the Gill Ranch, worked in blasting and building roads and also worked in building fences in other areas. He went to work for Southern California Edison in 1914 and built the flume from to Tule River tpowerhouse.
He met and married Doyel’s grandmother Lilly Myrtle Northrop at Daunt in 1912. Northrop was the daughter of Clayton Eli Northrop who ran the Gill Ranch on Bear Creek Road.
Bodley’s son and Doyel’s father, Arthur Watts Bodley Jr. was born at Coburn Dump before his family moved to the Tule River Powerhouse. He joined the Army Air Corp and served in World War II.
Bodley served as a tail gunner during World War II when the tail of his plan was damaged in battle. One of those on the plane died and another was captured.
Somehow, Bodley ended up unconscious in a hospital. He continued to serve after World War II. After becoming ill he went to the Veterans Hospital in San Francisco and is buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery in a grave looking out over the Bay.
Doyel’s brother, Tom Bodley, also served in the U.S. Air Force from 1954 to 1962. He worked on bomb site systems in B47s and guided missile systems serving in such places as Guam and Alaska.
Doyel’s husband, Walter Doyel, who passed away in 2000, also served in the U.S. Army and was a Korean War veteran. If he had not been sent to south of where he was in Korea, he would have ended up as a prisoner of war.
Doyel’s children and grandchildren have volunteered to place flags at the local graves of those who served in the military every year. Her family has also been active in Springville Homecoming, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day celebrations.