Los Angeles
County
Biographies
VIVIAN AGNES SWANSON
The
only woman operating a laundermat in Monterey Park, Vivian Agnes Swanson, the
owner since 1960, of the Launderwell at 151 East
Garvey Avenue, she oversees the entire operation. It is also an agency for laundry and dry
cleaning. She employs some part time
help and her son services the machines.
Being told that she couldn’t make a success of the business, Vivian Swanson
faced the challenge and bought the already existing Launderwell
which has been in business at that location for twelve years. She has not only succeeded, but business has
increased. Before Mrs. Swanson came to
Monterey Park she co-owned and operated a motel in Blythe from 1955 until 1960.
Vivian
Agnes Swanson was born in Beardstown, Illinois, on July 15, 1912; Agnes was the
name of the ship that brought her grandfather aged 16 and his brother, aged 2,
from Germany. The daughter of Charlie
Clinton Hannum, a railroad man who was a Glendale
resident for sixteen years, and Nora Minnie (Jordan) Hannum,
Vivian Swanson has a sister living in Sun Valley; her cousin is Jack Teagarden,
the orchestra leader.
Mrs.
Swanson received her high school education in Neponset, Illinois; graduating as
a nurse in 1933, she received her nurse’s training at Kewanee Public Hospital
in Kewanee, Illinois.
Mrs.
Swanson is the mother of three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter is Mrs. Carl (Dolores
Jean Peterson) Becker, whose husband is a career Army man presently stationed
in Maryland, and who has four children:
Sandra Jean, Karla Rae, born in Turkey, Vivian Marie, and Patricia Kay,
born in Germany. Another daughter, who
lives in Monterey Park, is Mrs. Louis (Vivian Charlene Peterson) Robertson, the
mother of one child, Kevin Douglas. Mrs.
John (Jacqueline Rae Peterson) Orton, of Peoria, Illinois, is also the mother
of one son, Robert Allen. Mrs. Swanson’s
son, Richard Allen Swanson, attends Baldwin Park High School.
Vivian
Swanson enjoys gardening and sewing.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Page 751, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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