Los Angeles
County
Biographies
HELEN SKUBIK HASABALES
A
very warm and friendly person, Helen Skubik Hasabales, is making T and J Restaurant in Rosemead more
and more into a community institution.
The Lions, Kiwanis, and Rotary Clubs of Rosemead meet there weekly; the
Quarterback Club, composed of fathers of the Rosemead High School football
players, has held its breakfast meetings at T and J Restaurant since its
opening in 1946 and has made Mrs. Hasabales an honorary member. She has sponsored a Little League team, the
Majors, since 1958, and often entertains the team, which won a championship in
1960, with treats at her restaurant.
With
about thirty employees, the smooth functioning of T and J Restaurant requires
that Mrs. Hasabales be there, literally, morning, noon, and night. She is always on hand during the busiest
times of the day, and prides herself on that fact that she can substitute for
any one of her staff, from baker to fry cook to dinner cook. This is quite an accomplishment since prior
to 1946 she had no restaurant experience whatever, although her husband and
brother-in-law had been in the restaurant business in San Pedro since
1940. T and J bakes all of its own pies,
rolls and cakes, using many recipes which Mrs. Hasabales has perfected herself,
such as her famous nut bread. When Mr.
and Mrs. Hasabales opened their restaurant in Rosemead at 8526 East Valley
Blvd. sixteen years ago, it had a seating capacity of thirty-eight. It has since expanded to accommodate one
hundred forty-four diners, a large part of the space being in banquet rooms
which were added in 1954. The recent
purchase of the lot next door is a step toward the imminent further expansion
of the T and J Restaurant. Mrs.
Hasabales has always liked to cook and has always liked people, but when she
first became active in the restaurant business, found it quite overwhelming; now
she happily plans complete parties, wedding receptions, and banquets, to the
smallest detail.
One
of the six children of Martin and Susie (Urbanovich) Skubik, both natives of Czechoslovakia, Mrs. Hasabales was
born on April 30, 1920, in Gary, Indiana, but grew up from infancy in Great
Falls, Montana, where she received her elementary and high school
education. Her father and mother are
still living in Lomita.
When
she was sixteen, the former Helen Skubik was married
to Theodore Hasabales, a native of Greece, on April 20, 1936, in Great
Falls. Her husband was in the grocery
and meat business in Montana, but his brother, who had a restaurant in San
Pedro, asked Mr. Hasabales to go into partnership with him, so the Hasabales
moved to Lomita, staying for six years.
In 1946 they sold their San Pedro business, moved to Temple City, and
opened T and J Restaurant. Though Mr.
Hasabales had supervised their former business, he is now semi-retired, with
Mrs. Hasabales being most active.
She
is also very active in Rosemead community affairs, being a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and on its board of directors for six years. Mrs. Hasabales was also one of the charter
members of the Rosemead Business and Professional Women’s Club and was general
chairman of the Rosemead Festival in 1960, helping in its organization; she
also helped create Rosemead’s slogan, “City Pride Is Justified”. She was formerly active in the
Parent-Teachers’ Association of Pasadena City College.
Mr.
and Mrs. Hasabales have a daughter, Mrs. Roger C. (Connie Ann) Taylor, who had
been seriously troubled with asthma until the family moved to Temple City. Mrs. Taylor attended Pasadena City College,
the University of California at Los Angeles, Santa Barbara State University,
and Los Angeles State College. A
teacher, she does substitute work in Rosemead and lives in Altadena with her
husband, who is assistant to the controller of
Electrical Products Corporation in Los Angeles, and their infant son, Wade
Martin Taylor.
Mrs.
Hasabales’ favorite forms of recreation are swimming and collecting recipes.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 775-777, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES