Los
Angeles County
Biographies
MRS. MARIE ROSE WISE
Mrs.
Marie Rose Wise has a long record of accomplishments as a leader not only in
community activities, but also in the real estate business, which she conducted
in Alhambra for thirty-six years.
Born
in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, on November 8, 1883, she is one of ten children of
Jacob Kraus and Christine (Roth) Kraus, who were born in Germany and immigrated
to the United States. After attending
elementary and high schools in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, she received her business
education in Chicago.
Following
her marriage to Mr. Lewis H. Wise on November 9, 1907, she lived in New
Jersey. In 1917 Mr. and Mrs. Wise came
to Los Angeles, and after a year and a half they settled in Alhambra on a
chicken ranch. A few years later began
their long and successful career in the real estate business. Mr. and Mrs. Wise opened their first real
estate office at 127 North Garfield Avenue in Alhambra in 1923, and only the
death of Mr. Wise in October, 1956, dissolved the partnership. Mrs. Marie Rose Wise continued in business
for another three years and retired in 1959 from a successful real estate
career in the San Gabriel Valley.
Monterey Park has been her resident city since 1923.
Mrs.
Wise has used her energy in many worthwhile endeavors.
For
enlisting the greatest number of women to join the women’s division of the
California Real Estate Association she was awarded a silver cup in 1929 from
the Association. She is a member of the Coordinating
Council of Monterey Park and attends the Unity Church in Alhambra.
One
of her ardent interests has always been and still is the Soroptimist Club, an
international classified women’s service organization. She is a charter member and has been active
in the Alhambra Club since 1933. In 1936
she was president. Two years later she
founded the Soroptigram, the Club’s official
bulletin. She was its editor for several
years. She also started and promoted the
practice of exchanging bulletins with other clubs throughout the state. In consequence she was appointed regional
chairman of the Club Bulletins Committee in 1946 and Federation Chairman in
1952. She was also a member of the
American Soroptimist Magazine Committee, and is still editor of the Alhambra
bulletin, called Alhambra Soroptigram. Mrs. Wise is now a life member of the
Soroptimist Club and one of two remaining charter members of the Alhambra
club. Mrs. Wise recalls that she and
Mrs. Osa McAllister planned
the first Soroptimist Bazaar in Alhambra to help the Alhambra Day Nursery get a
permanent home. She has been a board
member of the nursery since 1960.
Another
club to which Mrs. Wise devotes time and loyalty is Senior Citizens of Monterey
Park, which club was started in 1959. In
1960 she was elected president. For one
year after its inception she was program chairman, and with her usual
enthusiasm and vigor she planned entertainment, picnics and trips. She chartered buses to take members to
various functions and on outings. She is
still a board member of the club and at present in charge of the Langley Senior
Citizen Center in Monterey Park. Mrs.
Wise reports that the club now has 225 members.
Her
greatest joy is helping others.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 735-737, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES