Who was Ivan de Villiers in North America?

Ivan DE VILLIERS was born on 31 March 1892 in the Griquastad area of South Africa, the son of Pieter Gysbertus DE VILLIERS and Agnes Margaret Josephine MELLE. His nickname was Slim. His father was born on 05 December 1839 in Paarl. His mother was born on 11 July 1852 in South Africa, the daughter of Dr George Alexander MELLE and Alison Mary. She died in Los Angeles in 1925.

Ivan last lived at 1811 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, USA. He died on 22 March 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA, and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery. An obituary was published in the Daily Illinois State Journal, which listed him as an aerial advertising promoter.

His siblings were:
1) Maude Allison Jessie DE VILLIERS was born on November 4, 1878, in Philipstown. She married George Barker BUDLER in Griquastad in 1894.
2) Xavier DE VILLIERS was born on 23 December 1881 in Philipstown. He died in the Anglo-Boer War.
3) Irene Margaretha Annie Mary DE VILLIERS was born on 11 March 1890 in Griquastad. She married Knox BAXTER and later married MEDFORD.
4) Cecil Bulwer Mophey DE VILLIERS was born on September 8, 1893, in Cape Town. He died in Los Angeles. He married Marie BARTHELL. The USA World War I Draft Registration Cards list him as married and residing at 725 Madison, Oakland, California. He became a US naturalised citizen on 09 October 1936. He immigrated to the US from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, aboard the ship Railway on 15 September 1910. At the time of naturalisation, he was married to Marie, and they had a child, William DEVILLIERS, and Cecil was a branch manager. In the WWI draft registration, he was living in Los Angeles, and working as a salesman for American Magazine Bureau. The World War II Draft Registration Cards list him as Cecil Bulwer DEVILLIERS. In 1940 he was living at 3701 W. 9th Street, Los Angeles, and was a publisher. He died on 16 August 1953 in Los Angeles and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Ivan was a pilot, according to various records, but was also referred to as an aerial advertising promoter and stunt flyer for motion pictures. He performed aerobatic stunts in movies and was said to have been a member of the Thirteen Black Cats and White Phantoms. He was a passenger in the monoplane that Miss Aline MILLER (22) was flying when it crashed in Los Angeles. The aircraft took off from Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale.

Aline was from Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was the daughter of Norman MILLER and Jeanne KREBS. She began flying at age 18 and became a prominent and proficient pilot. She worked as a demonstration pilot and saleswoman for the Emsco Aircraft Company at Downey Field in Los Angeles. Besides corporate flying, she was also a flight instructor. She received the Air Transport rating on February 6, 1931, and was one of the youngest air transport-rated female pilots in America. Aline was a member of the Betsy Ross Corps (BRC), a women’s flying association. Circa 1930, she got engaged to Cecil ALLEN, a trans-Pacific pilot and sales manager for a manufacturing company. Her family believed that Ivan’s stunt flying was as a wing walker, not as a pilot, and that he was responsible for the crash.

Ivan may have lived in Canada before immigrating to the USA. On 23 September 1908, Ivan DE VILLIERS arrived at Ellis Island, New York City, from Southampton, England, aboard the Teutonic. He was 16 years old, a student, and had last lived in Johannesburg before going to England. His brother, Cecil DE VILLIERS, listed his final destination as Gordon Bros., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The ship left Southampton on 16 September. His mother, who resided at 51 Height Street, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, paid for his passage. From New York, he sailed further on the Oceanic.

As Sergeant Ivan DE VILLIERS, he made a parachute jump at a Dominion Day celebration in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He fell into the sea and was in hospital. The news report referred to him as an aviator, a world war veteran, and a Boer War veteran. Ivan couldn’t have been an Anglo Boer War (11 Oct 1899 – 31 May 1902) veteran, as he was aged 7 to 10 years at the time. Another news report refers to Sergeant Ivan J. DE VILLIERS as a Canadian recruiting officer, a Boer War veteran and the son of General DE VILLIERS of Boer War fame. He was not the son of a Boer War general. This report mentions that he was attacked by a pro-Germany Pennsylvania German. He was cut on the head and stabbed in the arm while recruiting men for the Canadian army.

Ivan was married four times:
Elsie LEMPORT (born circa 1892), married in 1917 in Chicago, Illinois.
Myrtle SULLIVAN (1893 – 1968), married in 1920 in Butte, Montana.
Marion Gerrish BOOTH, married in 1921 in Vancouver, Washington.
Hazel Mae ROE (1892 – 1953), married in 1925 in Los Angeles.

The Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index (1871-1920) lists Ivan J DEVILLIERS (age 25) marrying Elsie LEMPORT (22) on 29 May 1917 in Chicago.
In the 1930 United States Federal Census, Elsie DE VILLIERS is living in Reno, Nevada. Her age was listed as 29, she was born in Illinois, and she was divorced.

Ivan’s US World War I draft registration dated 1918 lists him living at 104 W. Oak Street, Chicago. At the time, he was a discharged soldier (British) and was working for the Western Relief Fund. The fund was for the benefit of the men in Chicago and the adjoining district who enlisted for the war in Canada or Great Britain. He was married to Elsie. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a severe head wound.

His mother, Agnes Margaret Josephine DE VILLIERS, arrived at Ellis Island on 03 November 1918 aboard the City of Lahore, which had departed from Calcutta, India. She was 63 years old. Her final destination was to her son, Cecil, at the Hotel Oaks in Oakland, California. Her last address in Cape Town was 2 Upper Orange Street, where her daughter lived.

The Montana County Marriages (1865-1950) for Butte, County of Silver Bow, lists Ivan J. DE VILLIERS (age 26) marrying Myrtle SULLIVAN (27) on 20 August 1920. In the 1940 United States Census, Myrtle is living in Los Angeles and listed as single. She was a secretary at a law office. She died in Placer County, California, on 30 January 1968.

In March 1921, Ivan DE VILLIERS arrived in Seattle, Washington, USA, from Vancouver, Canada. He was listed as 26 years old. He had a Dodge motor vehicle registered in Oregon, USA, in September 1921 under the name Ivan J DEVILLIERS. There is a marriage recorded for Ivan DE VILLIER in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington, USA, to Marion BOOTH (maiden name GERRISH) on 18 October 1921. He was listed as 28 years old, the son of P.G. DE VILLIER. His occupation was a flyer.

Ivan Jess DEVILLIERS, born on 31 March 1892, married Hazel Mae ROE on 09 March 1926 in Los Angeles. Ivan is listed as divorced and that this was his second marriage. His occupation was aviator. They had two children:
1) Mary Agnes DEVILLIERS was born on 16 June 1927 in California. She died on 05 December 1986 in Los Angeles. She married Warren BURBANK.
2) Clotine Matilda DEVILLIERS was born on 22 December 1928. She died on 23 April 2007 in California. She married Norman Tarrant McELWEE in 1946.

Hazel Mae ROE was born on 11 August 1892 in Illinois, USA, the daughter of James Cusion ROE and Mary Matilda REINHART. She died in Los Angeles on 07 September 1953. Her first marriage was to Charles Leonard WILLIAMS in 1915 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. The 1920 United States Federal Census lists her still married to him and living in Camargo, Douglas, Illinois, with two children: Frances Elizabeth WILLIAMS (4) and Gertrude M WILLIAMS (2).

In the 1930 United States Federal Census, Ivan was listed as renting 1811 Cimmaron Street, Los Angeles, and that he was 31 years old when he first married. His spoken language was given as French. He immigrated to the USA in 1909 and was a naturalised citizen. His occupation was listed as advertiser in the aeroplane industry. The rest of the family were listed as Hazel R DEVILLIERS (age 38), Mary A DEVILLIERS (3) and Clotine M DEVILLIERS (1).

In 1934, Hazel was living at 9714 Otis Avenue, Los Angeles. In the 1940 United States Federal Census, Hazel is listed as a widow living at 218 East Hillcrest Street, Inglewood, Los Angeles (rented home) with Mary and Clotine.

Note: This article was originally written on 10 July 2024.