In addition, their Desilu Productions created long running television shows including “The Untouchables,” “Mission Impossible,” “Mannix,” and “Star Trek.”

Ball was born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. She passed on April 26, 1989, in Los Angeles, California. The younger Arnaz was born on March 2, 1917, in Santiago de Cuba. He passed on December 2, 1986, in Del Mar California.

Lucy Lived in Michigan

When Ball was a year old her family moved from Jamestown to Wyandotte, Michigan. Her father was an electrician taking a position with Bell Telephone where he made $5 a day.

Courtesy Photo Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are seen on the set of "I Love Lucy."

The family resided in an apartment at 126 Biddle Street. The multi-unit apartment house was torn down in the early 1960s and the lot remains vacant.

In a 2011 article from Patch.com, reporter Jason Alley interviewed an area resident who knew about Ball and her family.

Here is part of Alley’s reporting:

Lincoln Park resident Betty Schley had a chance years ago to interview Wyandotte residents Bernard Daniel and his wife, Zelpha, who recalled playing with Lucy as a child. Bernard’s parents owned the house that the Balls rented.

“Lucy was an active and playful child, but whose seriousness could also make you laugh,” Schley wrote in a one-page memoir she entitled “Memories of Lucy.” “Her memory will live on in the hearts and minds of Wyandotte residents who like to consider her one of their very own.”

Courtesy Photo A display is seen at the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum in Jamestown, New York.

Schley said Lucy and her mother were seen as outcasts after her father died. (He passed in 1915 at age 27 of typhoid fever apparently acquired from tainted ice cream.)

“The death of Lucy’s father left a strong impression on the family,” Schley wrote. “A big notice was tacked on their door which read, ‘Keep out by order of Health Department.’ People were afraid to even walk past the house for fear of contracting the disease.

“The Ball family was ostracized from the surrounding community. Lucy, at the tender age of 3-1/2, could not understand why she could not play with the children next door. The rejection from everyone must have been devastating and may have left a deep impression on Lucy. This may be why she loved to make people laugh and wanted everyone to love her.”

Ball and her mother returned to Jamestown where they resided with her grandmother. A street near the former residence is called Lucy Lane.

In 1947 Lucy returned to Wyandotte to reconnect with the Daniels where she attended a local theater event.

Lucy and Desi marry: Honeymoon in Presque Isle County

In early 1940, Ball met Cuban-born bandleader Arnaz while filming “Too Many Girls.” After months of dating, they eloped at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, on November 30, 1940.

On the evening of their wedding, Arnaz was scheduled to perform two shows at the Roxy Theater in Manhattan. He missed the first show but made it back in time for the second.

Lou Russell Maxon was a friend of Ball and Arnaz. He was born in 1900 in Marietta, Ohio. Soon after his birth, his family relocated to Onaway, Michigan where his father was a mill mechanic.

According to a 1940 Time magazine feature article, at age 28 Maxon established the prestigious Detroit-based advertising agency, Maxon, Inc.

Within advertising “circles” he was well known and respected for establishing branding and corporate images. Some of his accounts were General Electric, Heinz “57” varieties, Gillette Safety Razors, and Pittsburgh Plate Glass. In 1940 his billings were $9 million, which, today, converts to over $206 million.

The Time magazine article went on to detail Maxon’s Black Lake (Onaway) property known as the Cabin.

“The Cabin is a modest estate of eleven buildings equipped with every comfort. Items: two tennis courts, stables, a large playhouse complete with full-size soda fountain (because Maxon could never afford to buy enough sodas when he was a boy). He can and does bed and board 72 guests at a time, sometimes entertains up to 400 guests a week. Often, as not, they include overalled members of the six-team Onaway softball league which Maxon finances. He is the league’s leading slugger.”

A 1971 New York Times obituary on Maxon stated, “During the depression, when Onaway could not afford to keep 110 families on welfare, Maxon paid their grocery bills.”

After their Connecticut marriage and at Maxon’s invitation, Ball and Arnaz spent their honeymoon at the complex.

It is not known how long they stayed at Black Lake nor how they arrived. It could be assumed they traveled by train or boat with a transfer to a Lincoln – Zephyr automobile (Maxon held this auto account.)

The UAW #1268 (Black Lake Conference Center) website revealed, “In August of 1966 the UAW International Executive Board Officers approved the purchase of Black Lake owned by Maxon. The only buildings that existed on the property were the log cabins Maxon had built. The main Maxon Lodge (Old Lodge) was built in 1932, using more than 15,000 tons of Crab Orchard Stone from Wisconsin and whole log construction that has hand-hewn beams, and the stair treads are half log cuts as in the mantle over the fireplace.”

The UAW website continued, “Many auto executives and celebrities stayed at the Maxon Lodge including Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who spent their honeymoon there (it is believed to have been room 222). The Inn (Mazy’s) was originally a horse stable.”

The site concluded, “In January of 1967 the purchase was completed which included the Maxon Lodge along with 750 acres; with an option taken out to purchase an additional 250 acres in 1989 from the Sugar Estate, which adjoins the Hilltop area. Today, the UAW owns approximately 1,020 acres.”

Want more Lucy and Desi?

Facebook offers the informative and fun I Love Lucy Fans Forever site. Numerous Lucy and Desi series reruns can be found on streaming channels such as Paramount Plus and Pluto.

In Jamestown, New York is the massive and detail-oriented Lucy Desi Museum (www.lucydesi.com). Enjoy Lucy and Desi trivia by visiting www.funtrivia.com and www.everythingtrivia.com and search by their name. In addition, visit www.lucydesi.com/trivia.

Or, enjoy Lucy and Desi’s classic and hilarious 1954 movie, “The Long, Long Trailer.”

Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes feature stories and op-eds for various newspapers, magazines, and social media sites. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the Secretary of the Navy. He grew up in Alpena and resides in suburban Detroit.

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