Chapter 5: A Calculated Divorce

The year 1942 began with my Uncle Buddy joining the Navy; my Dad, Grover Jr., continued to work from job to job and town to town until joining the Navy in October; and Aunt Betty, who was now 19, was probably living with her girlfriends.

My Mom and Dad married November 16th of 1942. Buddy and Pennie's relationship fell apart. Pennie says the war and distance may have had something to do with it. But when they were reunited after each of their spouses died some fourty years later, Buddy would confess he didn't think he could have a relationship with her because of the situation with his mother, Myrtle. He knew it might be asking too much for a spouse to take on the burden of his mother. In fact my parents nearly split up after my Dad shipped out.  Grover Jr. kept the awful secret of his parents from my mother, Barbara. When she found out Grover Jr.'s mother was in an asylum for the insane, she was very upset that he would keep something that important from her. Betty married Norman Young in March of 1944 and moved to Oklahoma City to begin a new life.

Both brothers returned to Tulsa after the war in 1945. My father returned home to a wife and baby boy. Buddy married Ann and also began a new phase of life in Tulsa. Their mother, Myrtle, was moved to the Eastern State Hospital of Oklahoma located in Vinita, Oklahoma and they would visit her each week.   In October of that year, Arnie Tyler Minter, a single woman, purchased a home in Tulsa.  The home was located in the Factory Addition, 1412 1/2 E. 5th Court.

This brings me back to the sealed Guardianship file from the Tulsa Court House. Arnie still owns the home in Factory Addition in Tulsa, however, she and Grover Sr. are living in California during 1947. On September 27, 1947, Grover Sr. files from California for divorce from his wife Myrtle Barnes. A petition is filed requesting a Guardian ad Litem, since she is an inmate and unable to defend herself of this suit. Grover Sr. is her legal guardian, but since he is the one filing suit against her, the Court must appoint a Guardian ad Litem. The GAL stands up for a minor or a person who is otherwise deemed incompetent in a court of law. In the document below, on the 8th day of November, 1947, he requests the Court to appoint W. E. Moffett to stand in for Myrtle as her Guardian ad Litem. He also asks his attorney, Quincy J. Jones to appear in Tulsa Court in his behalf since he is in California.

The following is Grover Sr.'s petition for divorce, dated September 27, 1947. Take note in the document where he sites why HE should be granted divorce from Myrtle.

Notice how Grover Sr signed this petition while in Los Angles, California

Below is the Final Decree, Dated December 12, 1947 granting Grover Sr., divorce from Myrtle. It is easy to see how easily Grover Sr. was granted a divorce. The man that he suggested as appointment for GOL was present at the court house, but said nothing in her defense of Grover Sr.'s accusations.

Since the guardian is divorcing the one deemed incompetent, this divorce was not made public, but was however, filed in the the sealed filed concerning the guardianship of Myrtle Barnes.

I do not pretend to be knowledgable about the law, however, the Divorce Decree says "this decree shall not take full force and effect until six months from the date hereof." So, why did Grover Sr. and Arnie get married in California on January 3rd, 1948?  Or were they.................