Los Angeles County
Biographies
RICHLIE
A. GRETH
Forty-three
years ago when Richlie A. Greth entered the theater business in Alhambra on the
death of her husband, her Granada Theater was the largest in town. Her brother-in-law, O. W. Lewis, was manager
and later half owner of the theater. She
remained in the business until 1932, as the half-owner of the two theaters
founded by her late husband, Frank Arthur Greth, the Granada and the Alhambra
Theater, and an additional one which they purchased, the El Rey.
The
only one of the family of six children of Melvin A. Baker of Kentucky, and
Sarah S. (Mooney) Baker of Peoria, Illinois, to be born in California, Mrs.
Greth was born on December 11, 1889, in Bakersfield, where her father, a
railroad man, had been sent for his health.
Her father died when she was three years old; her step-father, Abram R
Walters, was a great influence in Mrs. Greth’s
life. He was one of the founders of the
town of Walteria near Redondo Beach in the late
1880’s and was a builder in Bakersfield and Alhambra. The thirteen homes which he built in Alhambra
are still standing, including the home in which Mrs. Greth lives, at 317 North Stoneman Avenue. Mr.
Walters was active in the First Presbyterian Church in Alhambra until his death
in 1924. Mrs. Greth attended elementary
schools in Bakersfield and Los Angeles, but did not attend high school because
of illness.
Married in a home ceremony in Los Angeles on October 15, 1911, to
Frank Arthur Greth of Los Angeles, born in San Francisco. Mrs. Greth was widowed only eight years later
when her husband passed away on November 15, 1919, at which time she became the
owner of the theaters, selling them in 1932.
Always
an active Republican, Mrs. Greth entertained Richard Nixon in her home at the
beginning of his political career. She
is a past member of the Alhambra Republican Club and has been working on the
election board, on which she is presently an inspector, for the past
twenty-five years. An honorary member of
the Alhambra’s Women’s Club, Mrs. Greth has belonged to the club since 1929,
and served as treasurer for ten years.
She was president of the Garfield Parent-Teachers’ Association from 1931
to 1933, and is a charter member and vice president of the Alhambra
Parent-Teachers Association Alumnae.
A
son and a daughter were born to Mrs. Greth and her late husband; both children
graduated from Alhambra High School where the Greth’s
son, Douglas Frank, was a member of the track team. He was employed by the Standard Oil Company
for twenty-five years, retiring last year.
He lives in Alhambra and has three sons, Russell K., Gary D., and Dennis
C. Lorraine Ellen (Greth) Sutherland,
the owner of a successful dress shop in Alhambra, and a former model, is the
mother of two children: Malinda, a
graduate of Alhambra High School who is presently attending Pasadena City
College, as did her mother, and Stephen, a student at Garfield Elementary
School.
A
charming person with a cheerful disposition, Mrs. Greth is proud of the fact
that she, her daughter, and her daughter’s children comprise three generations
of native Californians. She considers
her grandchildren to be her most special interest. Mrs. Greth has been a resident of Alhambra
since 1914.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Historical Volume &
Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel &
Temple City, by Robert P. Studer, Pages 403-404,
Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California.
1962.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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BIOGRAPHIES