Los Angeles
County
Biographies
LEON D. TOLLEY
Leon
D. Tolley, who has successfully managed Prober’s Shoe Store in Alhambra since
1940 and has worked there since its opening in 1936, has been twice
blessed—with an artistic talent and with a delightful sense of humor which have
stood him in good stead in each successive phase of his life—school, armed
service, business, social, and personal.
The
son of the late Samuel and Esther Tolchinsky, both
born in Russia, who shortened the family name to Tolley when they came to this
country, Leon Tolley was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 18, 1919, and came
to California with his parents in 1925.
He received all of his schooling in Los Angeles, graduating from George
Washington High School in 1938. He was
active in high school because of his artistic ability which has been developed
primarily as a commercial art and advertising medium, though he also enjoys
doing murals and pictures. The heading
he designed for his high school paper is still used today and the large mural
he, with other students, painted on the face of one of the high school
buildings, is probably still intact.
Leon Tolley attended Los Angeles City College for a year and one half, then transferred to Art Center School.
When
Benjamin Prober, the husband of Mr. Tolley’s sister, opened his shoe store in
Alhambra twenty-six years ago, there was no electricity on the day scheduled
for the opening due to some misunderstanding with the Edison Company. Prober’s, much smaller than it is now, opened
anyway, using candle light! Leon Tolley
was with the business from the very beginning, working part time until,
completing his education, he became manager.
For twenty-five years in the same location, at 120 East Main Street,
Prober’s is now a very progressive shoe store, carrying the largest stock in
town. Prober’s fits men, women, and
children with the finest in up-to-the-minute shoe fashions; the distinctiveness
of its stock is largely due to Mr. Tolley’s taste as a buyer. Again, his creativity and originality are
employed in the store’s window displays and the advertisements he draws.
During
World War II Mr. Tolley took a leave of absence from Prober’s to serve in the
United States Army Air Corps from October, 1941 – December, 1945, and made wide
use of his art experience. As a staff
sergeant in the Pacific Theater he once spent one hundred hours around the
clock planning a mission and making maps, and was then assigned to fly the
mission as an aerial photographer, a feat for which he received a
citation. He also had the distinction of
drawing the emblems on the aircraft of General Curtis LeMay, now Chief of Staff of the United States Air
Force.
A
member of the Alhambra Optimist Club and its secretary, Mr. Tolley has an eight
year perfect attendance record. He also
lends his drawing ability to the Optimists whenever necessary. He worships at Temple Beth David in Temple
City.
On
September 24, 1944, Leon Tolley was married to the former Shirley Sugarman at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Mrs. Tolley is active in the City of Hope as
chairman of the membership committee and enjoys Girl Scout work. The Tolley’s have a
daughter, Joy Linda, and a son, Gary Norman, who both attend Fremont School.
A
very avid fan of the Los Angeles Rams, Mr. Tolley is a fifteen-year season
ticket holder; he is an enthusiastic follower of all sports. As a hobby, the various types of art work,
including industrial design, in which he is adept, give him great personal
satisfaction.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 818-819, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES