People/CharactersLes Von Harmon

Les Von Harmon liked to tell his family that  the "Von" in their name indicated that they were from a wealthy, noble family, but one of his ancestors threw over his inheritance to marry an American woman from Chicago.   His wife is Martha, and they have six children: Henrietta, Elsie, Eugene,  Herbert, Eddie, and the preschooler, Jimmy.   He had a job at the Arnold Schwinn company, but in 1931, the company decided to change its product line, and fired all the workers in Les's section. He stood in the snow outside one of the owners's houses for hours, hoping to beg a job, any job, but finally gave up and went for drinks at the Poor Pete's bar.  He then hanged himself at the company.