(This Footnote to History article was printed on page 9 in the December 24, 1952 edition of The Los Angeles Times, and is reprinted word-for-word below.)
Mother of Four Gets Roof as Christmas Gift
Many people like many things for Christmas and one of the oddest “gifts” of the day was given to the young mother of four who lives in an old house in Southwest Los Angeles with her brood.
The donors were members of the Embassy Club, a group of students from Washington High School, and the recipients were Mrs. Delia Hagen and her fatherless youngsters, Shirley Ann, 14; Tom, 12; Gail, 7 and Johnny, 5.
Like “the woman who lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn’t know what to do,” Mrs. Hagen, 33, wanted most of all for the family to have a new roof before the seasonal rains made a virtual pool of her home’s interior.
No Money for Roof
But on her modest living allotment from State aid, funds could not be stretched to include having the weather-battered and wind-blown roofing repaired or replaced. That’s where the Embassy Club—and some members of the South Los Angeles Optimist Club—-came into the picture. The Optimists sponsor the boys’ club.
Optimist Club Vice-President Carl E. Boesen made some arrangements and, with the co-operation of Ted Walters, manager of a roofing company, and the willing hands of six members of the Embassy Club, the new roof on the Hagen house went on in quick order.
