Los Angeles County
Biographies
MR.
AND MRS. GRANT McFARLAND
Thirty-eight
years ago when Muscatel School in Rosemead was new and was known by the name
Savannah School, Blanche Wells McFarland became the second grade teacher
there. She remained for twenty-five
years at that school, teaching domestic science at the end of the primary
children’s day to the older children, over the years teaching grades 1, 2, 3,
and 4 at various times and helping actively with the extracurricular dramatic
productions. When the primary grades
were no longer taught at Muscatel, Mrs. McFarland transferred to Marshall
School where she has taught second grade for thirteen years and will retire in
June of 1962. She taught Judge Galceran, Burl Blue, and other prominent people of Rosemead
and their children.
Born
Lala Blanche Wells on July 2, 1900, in Utica, Indian
Territory, Mrs. McFarland is the daughter of the late
Dr. and Mrs. A. J. Wells. The family
lived in St. Louis while Dr. Wells finished medical college and when Blanche
was seven years old, moved to Calera, Oklahoma, where her father owned a
drugstore and was the only doctor for miles around. Dr. Wells was a prominent physician in
southeastern Oklahoma for over fifty years.
Mrs. McFarland’s sister is Edith Wells Sandquist,
the wife of Rosemead’s Postmaster; her brother is Howard Clayton Wells, retired
from Civil Service, living in San Bernardino.
After
attending Calera schools, Mrs. McFarland studied at Southeastern Normal College
in Oklahoma and after her graduation taught for a year, 1921-1922, in her home
town, Calera. She brought her sister and
mother to Lancaster, California, to visit an aunt who was a teacher, and Mrs.
McFarland subsequently taught at Roosevelt School there from 1922 until
1924. After her marriage she and her
husband settled in Rosemead because, of the schools at which she had been
interviewed in Los Angeles County, she preferred Savannah. Since coming to California she has taken
extension courses at UCLA, USC, Whittier College, and Miss Swope’s Teachers’
College in Long Beach.
The
former Blanche Wells was married to George Granville (Grant) McFarland at
Sierra Madre by her uncle, Reverend Ira McCaleb, a
retired minister, in September of 1922, Mr. McFarland having come out from
Calera during the first week of school.
Grant McFarland, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clinton McFarland, a section
coordinator in the chemistry section at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, has been employed there for almost twenty years and was formerly
employed by Kerchoff Couzner
Lumber Company for many years. He became
a Mason in 1952, received his Scottish Rite thirty-second
degree and became a Shriner in 1953, was a contributor to the Rosemead Masonic
Temple and is vice president of the Masonic building committee.
Mrs.
McFarland was initiated into the Eastern Star in 1953 and has been an officer
for eight years. Her husband has
belonged to the Order of Eastern Star since 1955 and is a past associate patron
and worthy patron. The McFarland’s were among the group with started
the Church of Christ in Rosemead in 1947, purchased property on Serena Drive
and built a church which later became the Temple City church. They have been members of the Rosemead Church
of Christ for over five years; Mr. McFarland is a trustee, Mrs. McFarland is
active in the Phoebe Dorcas Circle. She has been a member of the Parent-Teachers’
Association for thirty-eight years and holds a life membership.
Blanche
McFarland, who years ago did water color and oil painting, took a course in
flower making, corsages and flower arrangement, and now delights in using her
talents on parties and dinners. Grant
McFarland is proud of his wife’s achievements.
His own hobbies are wood construction and gardening. They are both very interested in real estate
and own furnished rentals. The
McFarland’s have made a practice of taking a trip every summer of their married
life, starting their major trips in 1948, which included visits to Canada, all
of the United States, Hawaii, Alaska, and eleven countries of Europe. The McFarland’s often take another member of
the family or a friend on their tours, and have colored films of all their
trips since 1940.
Both
Mr. and Mrs. McFarland will retire from their respective professions in July of
1962, but will continue to be active in the community they love. They hope to spend some of their free time at
Desert Hot Springs.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Historical Volume &
Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel &
Temple City, by Robert P. Studer, Pages 422-424,
Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California.
1962.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES