Los Angeles
County
Biographies
HELEN BAILEY SCHIAVO
Endowed
with talent which finds expression in the musical field, Mrs. Helen Bailey
Schiavo had her artistic ability developed from early childhood by professional
training with fine teachers. She has
become a distinguished teacher herself, and was formerly Director of Music at
Saint John Presbyterian Institutional Church in Chicago, Illinois; was active
in musical circles in Fort Wayne, Indiana; was on the staff of Garibaldi
Institute in Chicago; and was associated with her aunt, Alma Wilson McMahill, owner of the Wilson School of Music in
Chicago. Since 1952 Mrs. Schiavo has
been giving private lessons in piano, organ, and violin at her music studio
which is located at 1220 South Stoneman Avenue in Alhambra.
In
addition to her musical career, Mrs. Schiavo has taken an active part in the
local Parent-Teachers’ Association and has devoted many hours of time and
effort towards its growth. She was
president of the Martha Baldwin Parent-Teachers’ Association in 1958 – 59 and
was awarded an honorary life membership in 1960. She has assisted in the “Marching Mothers”
campaigns and the United Fund drives.
Active in the Alhambra Council of Parents and Teachers for six years,
she is a member of the Mothersingers of the Alhambra
Council and has sung for several Congress of Parents and Teachers’ State
Conventions in Illinois and California.
Currently she is serving a term as first vice president of the Alhambra
High School Parent-Teachers’ Association and is a member of the safety, health
and education sub-committee of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce.
Helen
Wallace Bailey was born on July 8, 1903, near Orion, Illinois. Her father, Hugh Wallace Bailey, a veterinarian,
is now deceased. Her mother, Jennie Saria (Wilson) Bailey, is eighty-one years old and is a
resident of Illinois. Mrs. Schiavo is
one of seven children, her three bothers and three sisters are all living. One of her mother’s illustrious ancestors was
Colonel George Wilson, brother of James Wilson, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Her
ancestry allows Mrs. Schiavo to be eligible to be a member of the Daughters of
the American Revolution.
Mrs.
Schiavo attended grammar and high school in Orion, Illinois, receiving her
Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Northwestern University in 1929. For ten years she was violinist in the
Evanston Symphony Orchestra. She
continued her studies, taking various courses at the Presbyterian College of
Christian Education in Chicago. In 1929
she accepted the position as director of music, secretary to the minister, the
Reverend Pasquale Ricciardi De Carlo, D.D., and
director of youth at Saint John Presbyterian Institutional Church in Chicago.
Here
she met her husband, Benedict Schiavo, who was an instructor in public
speaking. They were married at Saint
John Presbyterian Church on May 15, 1937.
Mr. Schiavo is in the clothing business, employed as a special cutter
for a Los Angeles firm. They are the
parents of two children. Elizabeth Ann,
born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1939, graduated from Ynez Elementary School in
Monterey Park, Mark Keppel High School and East Lost Angeles Junior College. She is continuing her education at Los
Angeles State College, majoring in music education. In 1961 she received the Scholarship Service
Award from Whittier Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota Women’s Music
Fraternity. The Whittier Chapter is big
sister to Beta Upsilon Chapter at Los Angeles State College of which Elizabeth
is a member. John Benedict Schiavo, born
in Chicago, Illinois, in 1945 graduated from Martha Baldwin Elementary School
in Alhambra and is in his junior year at Alhambra High School. His musical talent, coupled with consistent
and sincere study, has won his several superior awards and a scholarship from
the Alhambra Council of Parents and Teachers in 1960. He plays the string bass and has performed in
many musical festivals. The Schiavo family are active members of the Alhambra Unity Church,
where Mrs. Schiavo serves as organist.
Following
their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Schiavo lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Mrs.
Schiavo taught music, was organist for Calvary Church, and conductor of
Crescent Avenue Church Symphony Orchestra.
She was a violinist in the Fort Wayne Civic Symphony Orchestra and a
member of the local Musicians’ Club. In
1942 they returned to Chicago and Mrs. Schiavo became head resident of
Garibaldi Institute, a Neighborhood House sponsored by the Presbyterian Church Extension
Board. She did administrative work as
well as giving musical instruction.
In
1945 Mrs. Schiavo became associated with her aunt, for the second time, at the
Wilson School of Music in Chicago. Mrs. McMahill sold the school, some years later, to the Chicago
Musical College and moved to California, where she resides with the Schiavo
family.
Aside
from teaching, Mrs. Schiavo is on the board of the San Gabriel Valley Junior
Symphony Patrons’ Association, a director of the Monterey Park Community Concert
Series Association and is currently serving as chairman of the Hollywood Bowl
Volunteers for the Western San Gabriel Valley area. She is pianist for the Monterey Park and the
San Gabriel Kiwanis Clubs, as well as an accompanist for special programs in
the Alhambra Elementary School District.
Mrs. Schiavo holds membership in the Northwestern University Alumni
Association, is active in the local Friends of the Library, and continued her
interest, begun in Chicago, in the Junior Division of the National Federation
of Music Clubs.
Having
definite conviction of the many benefits to be derived from music – vocational
and therapeutic – Mrs. Schiavo firmly believes that everyone should have the
opportunity to study this great branch of the fine arts. While music has filled the greater portion of
her life, Mrs. Schiavo is exceptionally fond of the culinary arts.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 777-780, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES