Los Angeles
County
Biographies
WILLIAM WEBSTER GORAL, M. D.
Intense
devotion to his profession, his family and the welfare of his community are
foremost in the thoughts of William Webster Goral, M. D. In practice with the only other psychiatrist
in the area, Dr. Frank Buell, Dr. Goral’s office is located at 1212 East Main
Street in Alhambra. He has devoted much
of his free time to the advancement of his profession as well as aiding those
about him.
Born
on December 11, 1923, in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Dr. Goral is the son of
the late Stanley Marius Goral, an automobile dealer, and Mrs. Helen Webster
Goral, who is a resident of Altadena. A
descendant of Robert Townsend, prominent in Revolutionary War days, Dr. Goral’s
great-grandfather was an Episcopal minister in Palmyra, New York, and his
grandfather was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis,
Maryland.
After
attending elementary schools in Mountain Lakes, he studied at Eliot Junior High
School in Altadena, California, Pasadena Junior College, the University of
Syracuse and the University of Wisconsin.
He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of
Rochester in New York, and served his internship at the Los Angeles County General
Hospital. Subsequently Dr. Goral was at
the United States Veterans Hospital in Canandaigua, New York, for one year and
at the Los Angeles County General Hospital for two years, in psychiatric
residency.
His
military service from January, 1943, to March, 1946, included two years in the
field of medicine.
Affiliated
with the American Medical Association, the State of California Medical
Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Goral began his
estimable practice in Alhambra in 1952.
Prior to that time, he was an instructor of nurses at the Los Angeles County
General Hospital for one year.
He
was a psychiatric consultant to the Counselor of Mental Health for Los Angeles
from 1952 to 1956, and served as a court medical examiner for the Psychiatric
Division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1955 to 1956. During the years of 1959 and 1960, Dr. Goral
was a staff member of the Methodist Hospital of Southern California. He is currently on the staff of Ingleside
Lodge in South San Gabriel and is consultant for numerous other sanitaria.
Additional
community activities include his membership in the United Fund of Alhambra, the
Alhambra Community Chest and the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Goral is also a consultant for the Family
Guidance Circle of Alhambra.
It
was during the 1948 polio epidemic that Dr. Goral made the acquaintance of Miss
Anne C. Komadina, a Red Cross nurse who was flown to
Los Angeles from St. Louis, Missouri, to assist in the crisis. They were married on June 29, 1949, in the
Chapman Park Hotel Chapel in Los Angeles.
Mr.
Goral has had a fascinating career of her own. In 1944 she was graduated from St. John’s
School of Nursing at St. Louis University.
She took post-graduate work in physio-therapy
at Washington University in St. Louis and at the University of Washington in
Seattle. She worked at the Kaiser
Foundation Hospital in Santa Monica, California, and was also associated with
Sister Kenney in Minneapolis. She was
asked to become one of Sister Kenney’s assistants, but she felt she could
accomplish more by travelling throughout the country lecturing on polio care
and demonstrating how physio-therapy could help polio
patients.
Also
while in St. Louis, Mrs. Goral was the only female crash nurse in the country,
working for McDonnell Aircraft, who were testing their
first jet airplane, the Moby Dick. She
is an active member of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Los Angeles County Medical
Association, Foothill Branch.
The
Gorals have three children: Charles Hamilton,
who was born on June 4, 1950; Jo Anne, who birth date is October 8, 1951; and
William Webster, Jr., who was born on May 2, 1955. Model children, in more ways than one, Chuck
is appearing on the current Smokey the Bear and the Beech-Nut Gum commercials
on television. He has also had acting
parts on “Thriller” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” television shows. Young Billy plays the role of ‘Scotty’ on the
television program, “Wagon Train”. Jo
Anne is also beginning her modeling career in the fashion world.
The
two oldest children are award-winning swimmers and Charles has also won awards
for his rifle marksmanship.
A
variety of hobbies take the attention of Dr. Goral. He thoroughly studies coins and stamps, as
well as collecting them. He is a perfectionist
while working on ship models. As an
artist, sketching is a favorite pastime, with his children as his favorite
subjects. Dr. Goral is a spirited
fisherman, particularly deep sea fishing.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 488-490, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES