Alhambra   1940-1941

I told him that I would like to rent the house. He said that he did not wish to rent it, that he had bought it as an investment and that he wanted to get rid of it. He asked who I worked for and when I told him, he said that if we wanted to move in, we could buy the house with no down payment and $40 a month. Dorothy was against it as it was not exactly the kind of house she wanted so we passed' it up. Within six or seven years that house which was then priced at $4200 would have sold for over $15,000. We finally found a place in south Alhambra, a small two bedroom house with a nice living room and fireplace. The rent was $40 a month and here again the owner wanted to know whether I wished to buy it. The price was $4,000. This same house later sold for over $15,000. As I recall, the address was 1531 So. Chapel Avenue.


YEAR (FILE ) SUBJECT
---- ------- ---------------------------------
1940 (9063) John and John Robert Griffin
1940 (1345) Dorothy Griffin
1940 (4711) Dorothy Griffin with movie camera
1940 (0009) John Griffin's Selective Service Card

LETTERS
--------------------------------------------------
(L400801) Dorothy Griffin to Maude Griffin / Los Angeles, CA
(L401002) John Griffin to Mother / Los Angeles, CA
(L401025) John Griffin to Mother / Los Angeles, CA

Dorothy was finding it very difficult to adjust to the move and was rather unhappy in California for the first year. We spent a good deal of time with the Bennions and finally made other friends in the Church in the Alhambra Ward. Don was made superintendent of the Sunday School in the Pasadena Stake and asked me to be one of his assistants. I accepted and through this work, many contacts were made that helped us to become better acquainted. One of our best friends was Emmerson Crowley and his wife, who at that time was in the bishopric in the Alhambra Ward. He is now, in 1958, in the stake presidency in the East Los Angeles Stake. I used to play tennis with Emmerson at least once a week, and we had some real battles.

After we had been in Alhambra a little over a year, Don Bennion was transferred to San Francisco. We were surely sorry to see them go. They asked me to take over the Sunday School, but I just did not feel qualified. I did not know the people in the Stake well enough to do a good job. I later was made a counselor in the stake mutual presidency when Emmerson Crowley was made Stake Superintendent of the CIA. Through him we became acquainted with Jack West, and a number of others that were very friendly and we used to meet from time to time at each others homes.

page 57

Previous Page   Next Page   Table of Contents