My dad’s early roots were in northern Montana. His grandfather, Mark Wynn, homesteaded in Loring, Malta and Dodson in the 1890’s. His grandmother, Rose Ella Wynn, lived the struggle as a homesteader’s wife and bore five children. Their son, Lionel “Dutch” Clair Wynn, was actually born in North Dakota then later came to Basin, where it was rumored that he ‘salted gold mines,’ among other nefarious acts. He lived in hotels, womanized with a Contessa and others, and drove Cadillacs.
Dad’s mother, Lillie Kodalen, a straight-laced Lutheran, attended the Teacher’s College (a.k.a. the Normal College, now referred to as Northwestern Montana College) in Dillion. Her brother, Theodore Kodalen, served in World War II, was attacked with Mustard gas, and was treated in Helena at the VA hospital. Upon her graduation she returned to teach 1st grade in Loring. That’s where she met “Dutch.” They married in the 1920’s, went to San Francisco for a while, then returned to the north. In 1936, they had their only child, Lionel “Chuck” Clair Wynn, junior in Minneapolis.
Chuck grew up in San Diego, California, sailing the bay, diving for abalone shells, and surfing between the piers. He loved street-racing his 1939 chopped and channeled Mercury coupe with a 1946 Cadillac grill. He helped found the Pacific Beach Amps car club and modified a 1940 Ford Woody station wagon with Mickey Thompson.
