The Lives of Walt Disney's Siblings: Herbert Disney, Raymond Disney, Roy Disney and Ruth Disney

Though the Disney family has carried along their family name through Walt Disney and his great success of the creation of the Walt Disney Company, their legacy is shared amongst Walt’s parents and 4 other siblings. Though Walt’s relationship with his parents was strained at times due to his father’s strict work ethic, he was able to appreciate his behaviors as he grew into a business man, and leaned on the support of his older brothers Roy for financial matters, and Raymond for insurance matters. Walt and his little sister Ruth had a unique relationship, a close bond cemented by annual birthday letters Walt would send to her each year. Let’s take a look at each Disney sibling and their connection to the company.

Roy Disney, Flora Call, Elias Disney, Ruth Disney, and Walt Disney. Image from: https://d23.com/a-to-z/disney-elias/disney-elias-2/

Elias Disney and Flora Call

Maria Swan Disney and Arundel Elias Disney, Walt's great grandparents, had 16 children in Ireland. Their move to the United States in the 1800s became a pivotal part of the Disney family story. Their eldest child was named Kepple Elias Disney, whom married Mary Richardson. The pair would have 9 children together, the first being Elias Charles Disney.

Elias was born on February 6, 1859 in Bluevale, Ontario, Canada. At 19 years old, Elias moved to California with his father, initially to partake in the Gold Rush, but they ultimately purchased a farm, and Elias found a job at a railroad machine shop. This work translated into his time working on the Union Pacific Railroad, and became a significant part of the Disney family history. Elias did other odd jobs throughout his professional career, including being a fiddler, a construction worker, and an orange farmer, on a farm just 50 miles of where Walt Disney World would later be. This farm in Kismet, Florida, is where Elias and Flora married on New Years Day 1888. Flora Call was born in 1868 in Steuben, Ohio. She grew up to be a grammar-school teacher.

Herbert Arthur Disney and Raymond Arnold Disney

With the marriage of Elias and Flora, they moved to Acron, Florida, and immediately began to build their family. Their first born, Herbert Arthur Disney, was born on December 8, 1888. After the birth of their very first child, they moved to Chicago, where they had their second son, Raymond Arnold Disney on December 30, 1890. Both Herbert and Raymond served in the U.S Army during WWI. Herbert later on became a prominent figure in the US postal service. Herbert and Raymond moved to Marceline, Missouri after leaving their family in Chicago, and eventually moved to Kansas City when the rest of the family made the move. Herbert met and married Louise R. Rast in Kansas City, and they had a daughter named Dorothy in 1915. The 3 of them moved to Oregon for a short time with Elias and Flora, but they all moved to and spent the rest of their lives in North Hollywood, California to be closer to the rest of the family.

Herbert, Louise, Elias, Flora, Walt and Ruth. Image from: https://www.glamour.com/story/walt-disney-secrets-you-never-knew

Raymond owned an insurance company for 45 years, and worked for First National Bank where his younger brother, Roy Disney, would one day work as well. Edna Francis Disney, Roy’s eventual wife, introduced Raymond to his wife-to-be Meredith A. Boyington. The couple married in December 1935, and had 2 children: Charles Elias Disney and Daniel Harwood Disney. Raymond’s time working in insurance allowed him to provide knowledge and support to the family’s company in later years. Both Herbert and Raymond were close with their younger siblings, and kept close ties to the Walt Disney Company through their family and business matters. Raymond was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, and had a hand in the creation of the 1964 World’s Fair exhibit The Greatest Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Roy Oliver Disney

Roy Oliver Disney was the third child of Elias and Flora, born on June 24, 1893, still in Chicago. Roy grew up handing out newspapers as his father had recruited him to do, worked on the farm, and later in the bank, where his financial knowledge began to build. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1917, but was discharged due to a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Roy suffered for many years after due to his illness, but joined in on younger brother Walt’s outlandish idea to build his own animation studio. Roy handled the finances of their first studio, the Disney Brothers Studio, grew the licensing of consumer products, and was the first CEO of the company. He stepped up in a big way when Walt Disney passed away in 1966, seeing through the completion of Walt Disney World in Florida.

Roy married Edna Francis in 1925 and they remained very close with Raymond and Meredith throughout their entire lives due to Edna and Meredith’s friendship. Roy and Edna had only one son, Roy E. Disney, who also became a prominent figure in the company, taking after his father. Roy E. Disney first started with the company as an assistant director, and over almost 6 decades, he became the Vice Chairman of The Walt Disney Company.

Walter Elias Disney

Walt Disney was the last son Elias and Flora would have, and grew up closely with Roy and his other older brothers. Elias made a bet with a minister at their church, who was also a good friend of theirs, that if his next baby were to be a boy, he would name him after the minister. Thus, we have Walter Elias Disney, named after minister Walter Parr. Walt would also deliver the newspapers, often times early in the morning on cold winter days, and worked on the farm in Marceline too. Marceline, Missouri would become a staple location in Walt’s life, as he honoured it with the creation of Main Street USA. Walt went to McKinley high school in Chicago. His favourite teacher, Daisy Beck, encouraged him to express his creative side, and Walt worked on cartoons for the school newspaper. This is what started his great love for drawing.

“To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened since - or are likely to be in the future. Things, I mean, like experiencing my first country life, seeing my first circus parade, attending my first school, seeing my first motion picture!”
— Walt Disney for the Marceline News, 1938

Walt had dropped out of school at 16 years old to join the war efforts of WWI. He served with the Red Cross, and drove an ambulance in France. Once he returned home from his quest at war, he had considered going back to a regular job, where he could make stable income, and where his father would prefer him to be. Instead, Roy had overheard about a job opportunity working with Gray Advertising Company as an apprentice. Walt packed up his things in Chicago and moved to Kansas City, where he made around $50 a month, and then increased to $35 a week, which was a decent salary to have at the time. Gray Advertising is also where Walt met Ub Iwerks, as they worked alongside each other and complimented each other nicely. Walt would sketch everything out, and Ub would fill it in with the colour. They would open Laugh-O-Gram Studio together.

Ruth Flora Disney

The last of the Disney family was born on December 6, 1903, a beautiful daughter named Ruth Flora Disney. Ruth and Walt grew up a very close pair, with even their parents grouping them together for things like school. Ruth differed from her brothers in the sense that she enjoyed living a more quiet, private life, and she moved to Portland, Oregon around the same time her eldest brother Herbert did. Ruth was a very successful musician, playing the organ for much of her life. She often relied on financial assistance from older brothers Roy and Walt, when her husband, Ted Beecher, was unemployed. Near the end of her life, she would dedicate her time to philanthropy, often financing education for fellow aspiring musicians.

Walt and Ruth’s relationship and desire to stay informed on each other’s lives is evident in the annual birthday letters that Walt would write to her. Accompanied with the letter would be a cheque for Ruth to allow her to buy herself anything she’d like for her birthday.

“I always tell myself I’m going to buy you something for your birthday, but when I get right down to the matter of color, size and what, I’m bewildered and stuck. So here it is, the check—now you go out and buy something that you’ll like”
— Walt Disney, 1951 letter to Ruth

Walt Disney and Ruth Disney. Image from: https://twitter.com/wdfmuseum/status/1026212780888678400?lang=de

Copies of the annual letters to Ruth are displayed at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri. They include Walt’s personal updates on films, casting, movie premieres, Disneyland, and of course, his growing family with his 2 daughters and his 5 grandchildren.

“Our Disneyland project is getting nearer an actuality all the time and I’m anxiously awaiting the time when it does get underway. In the meantime, we are gathering up all sorts of things for our exhibits. We have some wonderful old music boxes—about 30 miniature ponies that we keep out on the back end of the studio lot, with most of the mares in foal! Then there are three stage coaches that we made here at the studio—they’re real beauties, painted in bright red, with gold trimmings. We’re all very excited about this project and feel it will be a wonderful thing for everybody.”
— Walt Disney, 1953 letter to Ruth
“I don’t know if you had heard about the BIG news…the birth on Tuesday, November 14th, of Walter Elias Disney Miller. Diane finally decided to name one of her sons for me, and I’m thrilled to have a male heir bearing my name. With the first boy, Diane pulled a name out of the blue. She didn’t seem to like tagging son of hers with my name. She had a particular aversion to the ‘Elias’ part of it. But when this one came she changed her mind and gave him the full treatment. She certainly made me very happy.”
— Walt Disney, 1961 letter to Ruth

Walt would typically get his letter to Ruth within the first few days of December, as to meet her birthday on the 6th, but in 1966, Walt was stuck in the hospital with complications with his health. He was unable to get her the letter that year, but Walt’s secretary was able to send a word with the regular cheque from him as well. The letter was sent just 2 days before Walt passed on December 15, 1966.

“I know he usually writes you a newsy letter at this time and I’ll try to bring you up to date on the family at least. Sharon’s little Victoria is a real go-go girl. She’s about 10 months and walking all over the place. Diane’s “babies” are hardly that any more. They’re all getting quite grown up. She only has the two little boys at home all day now. All the rest go to school. When Walt is back in the office I’m sure you’ll get a more up- to-date and personal note from him. In the meantime, he sends his love.”
— Walt's Secretary, 1966
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LifestyleKyle Balldisney, waltdisney, disneyfamily, family, disneyhistory, waltdisneyhistoryComment