Los Angeles
County
Biographies
DR. SAMUEL J. BROADWELL
Dr.
Samuel J. Broadwell, well known in the San Gabriel Valley, has a very
interesting and unusual background.
Serving as the manager and advisor for the famous Monterey Park Girls
Drum and Bugle Corps and Drill Team, he is extremely proud of the more than
five hundred trophies they have won in the past twenty years.
Dr.
Broadwell was born in Bagdad, California, on November 25, 1894, the son of
Walter B. and Sophie (Anderson) Broadwell.
Mr. Walter Broadwell came to California in 1880 as a telegraph operator
for the Santa Fe Railroad. He later
operated a chain of dry goods stores.
Dr.
Broadwell attended the Covina grammar and high schools, graduating in
1914. Following his graduation, he
attended California Institute of Technology majoring in Chemistry, receiving
his Bachelor of Science degree in 1918.
After
his graduation, Dr. Broadwell joined the United States Army, serving in the
chemical warfare department. Leaving the
Army in 1919, he attended the University of Chicago, where he received his
Masters degree in Physics. He joined the
staff of the University of Southern California, Physics Department, where he
taught until 1928. Joining the Sun Oil Company
as a mathematician, he remained with this firm until 1930. Never tiring of advancing his education, Dr.
Broadwell returned to the California Institute of Technology in 1932 as a
Research Physicist. In 1935 he received
his Doctor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics from this institution of
learning.
In
1952 Dr. Broadwell started the consulting firm of Broadwell and Black. Dissolving this organization in 1957, he
joined the Air Pollution Control of Los Angeles County, about which he jokingly
states, “I’ve been making smog ever since.”
Dr.
Broadwell married Miss Rosetta Marie Case on June 24, 1922. They are the parents of Walter B., who is a
consulting engineer living in Santa Monica, California; and Mrs. Joan Broadwell Ware, who resides in Topanga
Canyon, California. Mrs. Broadwell is a
past president of the Ynez School Parent-Teachers Association, past president
of the American Legion Auxiliary and presently serves as the Registrar of the
San Gabriel Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Dr.
Broadwell served on the Monterey Park Civil Service Commission from 1936 to
1944. He also served on the Alhambra
Board of Education from 1938 to 1958. He
is a member of three Greek letter fraternities, Sigma Xi, a scientific
fraternity; Sigma Phi Delta, an engineering fraternity; and Delta Sigma Phi,
social fraternity.
Dr.
Broadwell has good reason to be proud of the accomplishments of the Drill Team
and the Drum and Bugle Corps. Among the
500 trophies they hold, nine are for the American Legion State Championships,
and six for the Veterans of Foreign Wars State Championships. The Drill Team has two purposes, one to
provide a healthy activity for girls between the ages of ten and eighteen. The second is to fulfill the American
Legion’s service to the Community, State and Nation.
Dr.
Broadwell has been the girls’ advisor since 1938. When not spending time with his drill team,
he enjoys his hobby of color photography.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 503-505, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES