Los Angeles
County
Biographies
MADELINE ELIZABETH WOODBURY
Mrs.
Madeline Elizabeth Woodbury, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, but a longtime
resident of Alhambra, since the year 1916, worked for the City of Alhambra for thirty-four
and one-half years, with an enviable and outstanding record. Beginning her employment with the City of
Alhambra Street Department in December of 1920, she slowly but steadily climbed
the municipal ladder, until she became City Auditor-Clerk in 1949. She held the position until her retirement on
July 1, 1954.
Aside
from her duties in the City Hall, Mrs. Woodbury devoted time, effort and energy
to many civic activities. For several
years she was Secretary of the Advisory Committee of the Red Cross, Secretary
of the Alhambra Community Council, as well as serving on the Coordinating
Council. She was the charter president
of the first Business and Professional Women’s Club in the San Gabriel Valley,
which is presently known as the Business and Professional Women’s Club of
Alhambra, organized in 1922.
Mrs.
Madeline Elizabeth (Goodman) Woodbury was born on September 2, 1888, in
Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the eldest of
four children of Charles Phillip and Elizabeth (Vinnedge)
Goodman. Mr. Goodman was a native of
Cincinnati, but moved in 1889 to Lockland, Ohio, a suburb, where he was superintendent
of a factory which manufactured cornstarch.
Active in his community, he was Treasurer of the Lockland Ohio School
Board. He was the descendent of early settlers
of German and Dutch ancestry, who came to the United States in the early
1700’s. Mrs. Goodman was born in Bantam,
Ohio, and was of Irish, English and Scotch ancestry.
Mrs.
Woodbury attended elementary school in Lockland, graduating from Norwood High
School in Norwood, Ohio. She attended
Mueller School of Business in Cincinnati for one year. Following seven years of employment in the
business world, she moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where she attended Hartford
School of Religious Education. While she
was in school, her family moved to San Jose, California, and following the
completion of her studies, Mrs. Woodbury decided to join her family in
California.
Madeline
Elizabeth Goodman married George Walter Woodbury, Ph.D., on August 7, 1916, in
a ceremony which took place in the home of her mother in San Jose,
California. Dr. and Mrs. Woodbury
arrived in Alhambra shortly after their marriage in 1916, where Dr. Woodbury
became the Pastor of the First Christian Church, serving in this capacity for one
year. He became a student at the
Osteopathic College in Los Angeles.
Following his graduation, Dr. Woodbury opened his practice as an
Osteopathic Physician and Surgeon, with offices located on Main Street,
opposite the old Alhambra City Hall.
Sustaining an injury which incapacitated him temporarily after only six
months of practice, Dr. Woodbury resumed his practice, but was forced to
retire. Dr. Woodbury was the first
Superintendent of the Osteopathic Unit of the Los Angeles County General
Hospital, a department which he organized and later supervised for six years.
Prior to his death in 1952, Dr. Woodbury was the Inspector for the State of
California of the Board of Osteopathic Examiners.
Mrs.
Woodbury’s first job in Alhambra was with the Edison Company in 1917. After three and one-half years of employment
with this company, she went to work for the City of Alhambra. Her first position in 1920 was with the
Street Department, which was later combined with the Engineering Department,
where she was promoted to Office Supervisor.
In October of 1949, Mrs. Woodbury was appointed by the Alhambra City
Commission to the position of City Auditor-Clerk, being elected by the voters
of Alhambra the following June to a four year term of office. She remained in this capacity until her
retirement in 1954. A member of the City
Employees Association, Mrs. Woodbury served as President of this organization
in 1938, and upon her retirement she was presented an honorary life membership
in the Association.
Mrs.
Woodbury has been a member of the Oneonta Congregational Church in South
Pasadena since 1919, serving as a Sunday School Teacher for many years. She was President in 1959 and again in 1961
of the Women’s Fellowship of the church and is a Past President of the Business
and Professional Women’s Group of the church.
In 1921 Mrs. Woodbury served as Worthy Matron of the Alhambra Chapter
No. 193, Order of the Eastern Star. From
1922 to 1932 she served as Secretary for this Chapter. A former member of the Alhambra Soroptimist
Club, she served as Treasurer and Vice President. She was a charter member of the Alhambra
Auxiliary No. 45, of the United Spanish War Veterans, which was organized in
1923, serving as President in 1924, and as both Secretary and Treasurer for a
number of years since.
An
enthusiastic stamp collector, Mrs. Woodbury enjoys travelling and during her
automobile excursions, she has visited all twenty-one of the California
Missions, and has personally visited many of the lighthouses in the State of
California.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 546-547, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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