Alvin Hamrick, the oldest son of Harley Hamrick and Ella Gardner, was born August 1, 1894, in Bureau County, Illinois, near Wyanet. During his youth, he moved to western Iowa with his parents. He grew up on farms and learned the vocation from his father. As a teenager, he was very active in organized baseball in Carroll County, Iowa. As an older teen, while living in Sac County, Iowa, he became an apprentice carpenter, learning the trade from William Shannon, his future father-in-law.

 

He married Harriet Rose Shannon in a cermony performed by Justice of the Peace James Birt in Grant City, Iowa on June 14, 1916. Harriet Shannon (known to everyone as Hattie) was born in Grant City, Iowa on September 17, 1896. She was the daughter of William Shannon and Emily Lovina Stites. A short while after they were married, Alvin and Harriet moved to a farm near Worthington, Minnesota. They moved again, to a farm in Dickens, Iowa in 1918. In August 1926, they moved to the area around Niles, Michigan, where they remained for the rest of their years.

 

They raised seven children: Iva Charlotte, Earl Keith, Doris Irene, Harriet Arline, Roy Alvin, Robert Murl, and Elma Mae. In Niles, Alvin worked on a dairy farm and then in the maintenance department of Kawneer Corporation for nineteen years. All the while, he also worked part-time as a carpenter. After leaving Kawneer, he worked fulltime as a carpenter until he retired. Harriet also worked at Kawneer for a number of years. After retiring, the couple managed a hotel in Niles for about two years before moving to a house near downtown Niles. Harriet died from cancer on August 31, 1965. Alvin became ill with pneumonia not quite a year later. He quietly passed away while in the hospital on August 10, 1966. They are both buried in Mission Hills Cemetery, located just north of Niles.