Los Angeles
County
Biographies
WALTER WAYNE WOODS, M.D.
Becoming
increasingly well-known and respected during his thirty-five years of practice
in Alhambra, Walter Wayne Woods, M.D., a member of a distinguished family of
doctors, was in general practice specializing in general surgery in Alhambra
until his retirement due to a cardiac condition, late in 1961.
A
native Californian, Dr. Woods was born in Ventura County on July 16, 1898, one
of the seven children, three of whom became doctors, of Fred E. Woods, a
merchant, and Ethel (Chaffey) Woods. His
maternal grandfather came to Ventura in 1849 and then opened the first store in
Ventura County; his paternal grandfather, who had been a lieutenant in the Army
of the United States during the Civil War, also settled in Ventura County. One of Dr. Woods’ brothers, Dr. Fred Woods,
has a practice in Temple City. Dr. Neal
Woods, another brother, practices in Lake County, California.
Receiving
his elementary and high school education at San Fernando Academy, Dr. Wayne
Woods continued his studies at Pacific Union College where he took a
pre-medical course and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree
from the College of Medical Evangelists, which is now Loma Linda University, at
Loma Linda, California, in 1923. He
served his medical internship and completed his post graduate work between 1925
and 1926 at White Memorial Hospital and at the Los Angeles County General
Hospital, both in Los Angeles.
Dr.
Woods began his general practice in Alhambra in 1927, moving to the offices he
built at 622 West Valley Blvd., in 1939.
A former member and past president of the staff of the Alhambra
Community Hospital, Dr. Woods used its facilities most frequently, though he
was also on the staff of the Monrovia Community Hospital, Bella Vista Community
Hospital, and White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. He was the surgeon for the Union Pacific
Railroad in Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Monterey Park for twenty-four
years. Years ago he made calls to his
patients in desert areas by plane from the field across from his Alhambra
office. This field was bounded by
Garfield, Sixth, San Marino Avenue and Valley Blvd., and later became known as
the Mayfair district of Alhambra.
Dr.
Woods is a former member of the Elks, the Shrine, and the Masonic Order in Los
Angeles and Alhambra. He is affiliated
with the California, Los Angeles County, and American Medical Associations, and
was a member of the American Society of Abdominal Surgeons.
During
World War I Dr. Woods served in the United States Army in 1918, and was later a
medical officer in the United States Army Reserve for several years. He received a citation and a medal from the
United States government, and the President of the United States in recognition
of his generosity in providing free examinations of inductees during World War
II.
Dr.
Woods’ wife, Paloma (Grant) Woods, is also a native Californian, born in San
Francisco. She is a cousin of the late
motion picture star, Leon Carrillo, and is now approaching the completion of a
historical novel based on the Carrillo story, which she is writing in
collaboration with Kenneth Ruggles Browne, a noted motion picture and
television writer. Mrs. Woods has also
written many songs.
She
is the great-granddaughter of Josefa Carrillo, of the early California
Carrillo’s, and Captain Henry Delano Fitch, of Boston, Massachusetts. Her great-grandparents’ romance and elopement
have been written about numerous times; the first series of articles appeared
in the San Francisco Chronicle of
August 12, 1906. This historical romance
has also been depicted on radio and television.
Based on Mrs. Woods’ findings, the true love story of her
great-grandparents may be told briefly, thus:
Josefa Carrillo and Henry Fitch fell hopelessly in love with one another
and planned to marry, however, General Echeandia, who
was then Governor of California, had taken it for granted that the beautiful
Spanish girl would one day be his wife, and in a jealous fury prevented the
wedding of Josefa and Henry, so they were married quietly and hastily by Padre
Menendez, a ceremony which had to be kept secret or the consequences would have
been grave for the good Padre, and then “eloped” on the “Vulture”, a ship
loaned them by a friend of Henry’s, Captain Richard Barry of Boston, as Captain
Fitch’s own ship, Maria Easta, was being watched by Echeandia’s men. On
shipboard they were officially married by Captain Barry, and on reaching
Valparaiso, Chile, they were publicly remarried, in a church, by Curate Orrego.
Later,
when they returned to California from Boston, on Captain Fitch’s “La Laerte”, Echeandia had then
arrested, and held Captain Fitch a prisoner in San Gabriel Mission for three
months under the care of Father Sanchez.
Captain Fitch had to pay many heavy penances, including the donation of
a large bell to the old Olvera Street Church in Los
Angeles, where it is still used today.
After complying with the many demands of the state, Echeandia,
and the Catholic Church, Captain Fitch accepted the Catholic religion and
remarried Josefa Carrillo for the third time.
Finally Echeandia relented and Captain Fitch
and his lovely bride were allowed to resume their marriage.
The
elopement took place in July, 1829.
Later Captain Fitch prospered and became a wealthy man, owning a ranch
which ran from San Francisco Bay to the old Mission, taking in the Cliff House,
Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio. He also
had a deed to the whole of Coronado Beach, another grant forty miles south of
San Diego, and eleven square leagues at Sotoyome
including Healdsburg, Russian River, and Alexander Valley. Title to these lands was confirmed by the
United States Government after California became a state. Captain Fitch died in 1849 at the age of
forty-nine. Josefa (Carrillo) Fitch
lived to the age of eighty-seven. Mrs.
Woods is the granddaughter of their youngest daughter, Anita Fitch, who became
a well-known opera star of the mid-nineteenth century.
Dr.
and Mrs. Woods have in their home the first piano that was shipped around the
Horn. They expect to donate it to the
San Diego Library which recently opened a Captain Fitch room.
Two
sons were born to Dr. and Mrs. Woods:
Wayne Grant Woods, in the construction business, is a graduate of South
Pasadena High School, lives in Laguna Beach, is married and is the father of
one child; John Doty Woods is in the plumbing and heating business in Reno,
Nevada. He is married and is the father
of two daughters.
Dr.
Woods makes a hobby of mineralogy and geology.
He has been to many states on geological trips.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 803-806, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES