My mother was Gloria Vaughn.  She was born in England, about 1900.

Among my memories:  In Tahiti, I am 8 or 9 years old.  My red-headed mother is dancing hula and the tamarai.  She was called "Madame Rouge" then.  She took long swims, in the ocean, every day, nearly an hour, always the breast stroke.  Maybe I learned the love of the ocean from her.

She read to us:  "Shock-Headed Peter" was one of the stories she read to me and my sister, Eve.

  She told me about my family history; that one of my ancestors was the bastard son of a Spanish King, perhaps Phillip?

  Her father, my grandfather, was a judge in India.  Her parents were strict, proper, very English.  She was sent to a boarding school," Mrs. Prichards."

  I know she loved me, but I don't know if she really liked me...maybe I was too much like my father? I wasn't allowed to sit on the furniture.  She disapproved of my career choices.  She would have liked a more prominent son, not a camera salesman or a stock broker or restauranteur. I will say I was a scamp.  Almost blew up the house with my chemistry set.

   When we lived in Chicago, she gave many society parties.  I was perhaps 14.  The parties were published in the Glencoe News in the Society column.(Illinois). 

  She was kind to me, tolerant; I didn't get punished for things I shouldn't have done.

  My mother was married to my father until divorced, about 1932.  She married stepfathers Wainwright and Compton, consecutively, in Tahiti, but Father in India.

  Father was a Captain in the British Army in India.  She said she met him while riding and the horse ran away with her.  Father caught the horse and rescued her.  He quit the Army after they married.  They then moved to Canada, then Los Angeles.  I was born there. During the depression they moved to Tahiti.

  Mother taught me to dance at home when I was 16.  Her favorite was the waltz, but I learned foxtrot too.  We played 78 rpm records for dancing. During the high school years, I gave and attended lots of dance parties .

  She was big on having good manners.  She spent a lot of time and money keeping me well-dressed.  A very proper person, she adhered closely to social customs and mores of the time.  Appearance and behavior were important to her.  She felt you must have the right manners to fit in with the right people.  She was very class-conscious.  Though "fitting in" was important to her, it was not to me.  I thought people's interests or activities were important, not their social behavior.  She made sure I opened the car door for her, always.

  The man who lived across the street from us in Glencoe, Norbert H..had three daughters, and he didn't trust me with them.They all liked me!

  Frank Compton and Mr. H. would have cocktails everyday.  Drinking was considered as a fun sport, due to prohibition.  Prohibition did more to promote drinking than anything!  While it was illegal, it was the 'in' thing to do. 

  Frank was a good father to me.  He encouraged me to become a salesman.  He had made his living that way and gave me books to read on selling.  So, when I got out of college, I went right into sales.

Eric DeBrath, my father:  He was a Captain in the English Army, stationed in India.  He was born around 1900.

After he married my mother, he left active duty, but stayed in the Reserves.  He moved to Canada, then Hollywood, California.  The movie Industry offered many jobs.  I was born in Los Angeles.

He was a kind-hearted guy, good to me.  He bought me a bicycle at age 5, and a canoe when we lived in Tahiti.

He drove a bread truck for a while in Los Angeles, and delivered to homes.  That was a good job in the Depression....lots of hungry people.

We moved to Tahiti in 1932, where he took a job as Manager of "The Blue Lagoon Hotel"

We have a picture he took, of the hotel, from the pier; it was shot in segments.

Lots of Americans lived in Tahiti; one being the artist Leyte, who was my Father's friend.

My parents were divorced in or about 1933.

He remarried Irene(EE-ren), gave up manging the hotel to manage a copra plantation.  He had three more children, besides me, the oldest, and Eve.  They were named Anita, Ernest(Sonny), and Joanie.

during the Depression my father made beer in our bathtub.  When he was making beer, no one could take a bath. 

He was a horseman, and had his own horses.  When he lived in India, he played polo.

His hobby was photography.  I could tell he was clever with a camera by the way he took pictures. 

He washed his pants in gasoline to remove grease stains.  He had a car--I think that is where he got the stains from working on it.

He tried to teach me to bos at age 5.

He looked after me when I was bitten by a dog.  He retrieved my bike when another kid stole it.

I think he was very innovative to have escaped the Depression by moving to Tahiti.  He was a good Dad!

I was 9 when my parents divorced.  My sister and I were sent to live with Mrs. Warwick in Oakland, Californis after the divorce as my mother couldn't support us.  Mrs. W. was a well-to-do lady, a family friend of both parents who had no children.

I'm sure he said goodbye to us, but I don't remember it.

Since he was in the Reserves, he reenlisted for WWII and fought in Africa.

In 1994, Rose and I traveled to London where I went to the National Army Museum.  They had articles and uniforms of my father and documentation of his title:  Sir Ernest DeBrath.

From his memoirs, in his words, John said of his twenties:  "I love sports!  Ocean sports are my favorite.

I remember, once, being a fish....what a weird memory!  Seems like I have the memory of a fish in this life...why, I could swim eight hours at a time.

I loved skiing too, and thought I might become a ski patroller.  You had to pass tests for that.  I needed more skill, though.  I could have trained, but I didn't.

 I trained at the University of Illinois, becoming a stock broker.  Earned a degree in economics, and got married. 

 We lived in Chicago, on Lakeside Drive.  Sally was very beautiful and intelligent.  We liked to dance at the hotels on Lakeside Boulevard.  We danced to Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, heard Lena Horne and The Andrews Sisters.

We had an apartment; big city living was great, with lots of music.  It was a treat to be alive.  Cover charges were high and most of my money went to those, for hearing those musicians.

 I was walking by a school book store and saw Sally's picture in the window as a beauty contest winner. Then I met her.

 She was studying home economics.  When we got married, she dropped out of college.  It was customary at that time for fathers to send their daughters to school for the purpose of marrying well.  I was lucky to be chosen.  She was 18, and came from an upper middle-income family.  Her father was a civil engineer and their home was an expensive one.  He liked me, so did her Mom.  Sally had a brother who was an architect.  He was also a professional musician.  He wasn't married and used to go with us to the dances and concerts.

"THE MAN WITH TWO NAMES":  Born Eric Connor de Brath in Los Angeles, California, to his parents, Gloria and Eric, he lived California,Tahiti, New York City, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and Chicago, as well as Oregon where he spent his last years.

  He was favored with a family that had roots far and wide, giving him his Tahitian family, his American family, and a European family.  He had a sister, Eve, and a sister, Joan, and a brother, three sons: Jeff, Eric, and Brian. He leaves many neices and nephews, and his partner of over 30 years, Rose Perius

  The man, John DeBrath Compton, came to be when he decided to legally change his name to that of his step-father, the Mr. Compton of Compton's Encyclopedia's in his youth. 

  He graduated from  New Trier High School in Glencoe, Illinois,as John Compton,  entered the U.S. Navy shortly therafter to serve in the Philippines during World War II as a member of the Seabees, and as a naval photographer.

  John graduated from the University of Illinois in 1950, with a B. S.  degree in Economics and Business Administration.

 During his life, he enjoyed working as a stock broker in New York City.  He was a Member of the Chicago Board of Trade.  He was also with E. F. Hutton in La Jolla, California.

In the 1970's,fulfilling a lifelong interest in photography, he managed camera stores for Photo-Mat. He was also able to enjoy camera sales for Camera World on Fifth Avenue in San Diego.

In the 1980's, John opened a restaurant called "E.J.Circle" at University Town Center in San Diego.  He wanted to provide his sons with both employment and guidance, while enjoying the time together.

 He retired in March, 1986, built a home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and enjoyed travelling, his family, and friends. He moved to Eugene, Oregon in 2006.

He was a kind, generous man, who never complained.