Los Angeles
County
Biographies
FLORA MAY PALING
A
descendant of Holland Dutch ancestors who came to America during the
Revolutionary War, Flora May Paling has devoted much of her energy to the
service of others through the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and the Pilot
Club of San Gabriel Valley.
Flora
May Paling was born in what was then Creek County, Indian Territory, now the
state of Oklahoma, on April 21, 1903.
She is the only child of William Andrew and Lucy Ellen (Hansard) Ryder. Her
paternal ancestors were from Holland; her maternal ancestors were French and
English.
In
1913 the Ryder family took up residence in Los Angeles and Mrs. Paling received
her elementary education at Trinity Street School and is a graduate of
Jefferson High School, both in Los Angeles.
The
former Miss Flora May Ryder was married in a home ceremony to George Drayton
Paling on January 3, 1920; Mr. Paling passed away on January 4, 1954. Mr. and Mrs. Paling were the proprietors of a
restaurant in Los Angeles, and also had two variety stores, one in Los Angeles
and one in Burbank. Mrs. Paling now
operates a hotel-motel at 25 North Atlantic Boulevard in Alhambra.
Mrs.
Paling has done much volunteer work for veterans’ hospitals and the United
Service Organization and has been awarded the twenty-five year service pin of
the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, in which she was president of the
Olympic Branch Number 2317 in 1942-1943.
She is also a past president of the 5th District Past
Presidents’ Club of the auxiliary. She
has worked for many years on United Fund, Red Cross, and Muscular Dystrophy
campaigns as well as being a Republican Party precinct worker. In 1960 Mrs. Paling was president of the
Pilot Club of San Gabriel Valley, a branch of the international Pilot Club, a
civic and service organization for professional and business women.
Mrs.
Paling’s niece, Lillian Cinke, is a past matron of
the Rosemead Chapter of the Eastern Star and is active in the White Shrine of
the San Gabriel Valley and is a daughter of the Daughters of the Nile
organization.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 556-557, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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