His full name was Alston Leslie Levesque. Alston was a combination of his mother's and fathers' names. His mother was Alice and his father was Gaston. Most of his life he believed that his name was unique. As an old man, he married a second time to a woman whose brother was named Alston.

When Al was two years old, his mother died in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. His father placed him and his younger brother, Gaston, with his deceased wife's family, the Bofills. His father went to live with his own mother who was living at that time with another daughter's family as she was already a widow.

1920 Census of New Orleans, Ward 4:OWIN, Joseph, age 40, born in Louisiana, faher born in Louisiana and mother born in Louisiana (according to census), Proprietor of Metal Refining business.

Elise, wife, age 39, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana and mother born in Louisiana (according to census), no occupation. (This is Elise Levesque Owin.)

Mary Ellen, Daughter, age 19, Single, Stenographer for Warehouse.

Jennie S., Daughter, age 17, Single, Stenographer for Warehouse.

Rita V., Daughter, age 16, Single, Usherette in theater.

LEVESQUE, C., Mother in law, age 69, born in Louisiana, faher born in Louisiana and mother born in Louisiana (according to census), no occupation. (This is grandma Levesque.)

ROUSSET, A., Daughter, age 39, born in Louisiana. (This is Armande Levesque Rousset, sister to both Gaston and Elise Levesque.)

Olga, ----, age 7. (This is Al's cousin, Olga, of whom he was very fond.)

LEVESQUE, Gaston, Son, age 49, MS, Louisiana, Louisiana. No occupation listed. (This age is wrong. He was closer to 29 at this time.)

Al says he graduated from high school when he was 15 but he couldn't get a job so he continued to attend high school as a post graduate. He skipped one grade in primary school. Then, the school set up was changed when he was in eighth grade and he skipped that grade also. His father saw an ad for government jobs and sent in an application for him. When it came time to take the government test, his father gave him a quill pen and some ink and said, "Go in there and knock 'em dead, boy". Two years later, Al started getting job offers. He accepted one and moved to Washington, D.C. when he was eighteen.

Al was first enlisted in the Marine Cops Reserves but he found out that the Army Reserves paid a penny more for each meeting that he attended. He switched to the Army and that's why he ended up in the Army in WWII.

U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1940
about Alston L Levesque

Muster Date: Sep 1936

Rank: Private

Station: Company ''B'' 5th Battalion, F M C R Washington, D C

California Divorce Index, 1966-1984
about Alston L Levesque Spouse Name: Rachel A Trent. LOCATION: San Mateo DATE: 1 Nov 1984

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
about Alston L Levesque Birth Year: 1916

Race: White, citizen (White)

State: District of Columbia

Enlistment Date: 3 Feb 1941

Branch: Corps of Engineers Grade Code: Corporal

Source: National Guard

Education: 1 year of college

Civil Occupation: Addressing-Embossing Machine Operator or Clerk, General

Marital Status: Single, without dependents

Height: 71 inches Weight: 163

Al became what was called a "90 Day Wonder". He was put through a short version of Officer Candidate School so that he graduated as a Lieutenant in the army. He was able to do this because he had one year of college behind him. He kept wrecking his jeeps while he was in the war in the Pacific. Once he drove off into a ditch while he was reading a book. Soon, he was the only Lieutenant in the Army with his own driver.

Al worked at a bank when he first returned from his service in WWII. Then, he got a job as a credit manager at Marchant, a manufacturer of accounting machinery. Then he was unemployed for six months until he got a job as a credit manager at a rubber producing company. It was a long drive so he found another job in Oakland at Challange Creamery. He brought home new flavors of ice cream from Challange quite often. He liked ice cream but complained that some people ate their favorite flavor out of the Neopolitan ice cream. I don't know who that would be. He got the best job of his life as a credit manager at Rykoff Foods. He lost that job to a younger person when he was in his fifties and was never well employed after that. For several years, he traveled as a consultant for the Small Business Administration. His last job was driving a bus for disabled Veterans in Palo Alto, California.