Roger's Scrapbook
(Some of the photos displayed here may be interactive.)
Alice Marie (Greek) Hill (1912-2002)
Chapter 1. From Birth to Motherhood.
Claude and Mayme Greek's wedding picture. They were married on 21 Nov 1905 at St Joseph Catholic Church, Princeton, Gibson County, Indiana.
Her Parents.
Alice's sister Irene (later known as Sister Colette) wrote a letter for her younger siblings giving some of history of the family's move from Indiana and their early years in Riverside. It is reproduced below:
Some notes regarding Sr Colette's history:
1) Alice later wrote that "Claude worked at the So Rail there in Princeton it was while working in the shops where he got iron filings in his eyes - which caused eye trouble most of his life. At one time he had as many as a hundred ulcers in his eye." (Life before OSHA.)
So Claude may have been incapacitated during the move to Riverside by vision problems as well as stomach ulcers.
2) "Grandma's (house)" where they first stayed was on a forty acre farm in Armada (what is now Moreno Valley, CA) near the intersection of present day Alessandro and Perris Blvds.
3) The orange groves and the Eureka and Florence ranches of Highgrove are now long gone. In Apr 1998 I took Mom on an outing to try to find the location of her childhood home in Highgrove. I took her picture at what seemed to her to be the most likely spot. (It is reproduced toward the end of this Scrapbook page.) Using Google Earth street view images, I place this picture as having been taken taken at the intersection of the present day Palmyrita and Michigan Avenues in Highgrove. This correlates nicely with Sister Colette's memory of her father riding "his bicycle down Palmarita (sic) Ave" to get to town.
4) Urbita Hot Springs in San Bernardino was a very popular place for outings in those days. It was accessible by street car and the "Red Car" lines. It dried up in the 1940's and today lies beneath the site of the Inland Center Mall alongside I-215 in San Bernardino.
5) On 28 May 1917 there was a magnitude 5.5 earthquake under the Imperial Valley in Southern California. It was probably this event that broke the enchanting violin and little Irene's heart.
Alice was born on 2 Apr 1912 in Riverside, California. She was the fourth of the nine children of Claude and Mayme Greek and the first to be born in California.
Alice at 6 months. Oct 1912.
Alice's childhood and, indeed, much of her life, was marked by her having contracted Polio, or, as it was called then, infantile paralysis. The disease struck her left leg when she was just a toddler and resulted in her having 4 surgeries between the ages of 5 and 18 that eventually enabled her to walk with little more than a slight limp.
But the structural damage caused by the disease resulted in spinal pains of one kind or another that she had to endure for the rest of her life. She was an advocate and frequent consumer of chiropractic services. Toward the end of her life she suffered the double insult of post-polio syndrome that caused additional pain and problems for her.
Alice dealt with her problems with a frugality and stoicism that was probably typical of her parents and grandparents. Her approach to orthotics that might help with her limp was to pad her left shoe with kleenex. And I don't remember her ever taking a pain medication any stronger than aspirin. (Though, in her retirement, she did enjoy her evening cocktail.)
While the family was living on the ranch, Alice attended grades 1 through 3 in the Highgrove elementary school. She skipped the 4th grade.
Greek family - summer 1912.
L to R: Colette,Claude, Clarence, Mayme (holding Alice), Irene.
Greek children, Early 1914.
L to R: Clarence, Colette, Alice, Irene.
Alice at about 3 years old.
Greek family in Highgrove, Riverside, CA, circa 1915.
Adults-L to R: Charles, Claude, Mayme, Mont, Effie, Rose, Margaret (Sheridan) Johnson, Dave.
Children-L to R:Alice, Ralph, Clarence, Irene, Colette with Charlie.
Charles, Mont and Dave are Claude's brothers. Effie is Mont's wife, Rose is Dave's wife and Maggie (Sheridan) is Mayme's sister.
Ralph is Dave and Rose's son and Charlie is Mont and Effie's son.
The Greek children at an outing in 1917 (most likely, Fairmount Park in Riverside). L to R: Colette holding Ray, Alice, and Irene.
Alice had contracted Polio that effected her left leg when she was an infant. Here, she's about 5, in a cast and using crutches.
The Greek children on the ranch in Highgrove (Riverside), CA, circa early 1918. L to R: Clarence, Colette, Ray, Irene, Alice.
Alice's leg is now supported by a brace: one of several that she wore until she was about 12 years old.
At the time this picture was taken, Mayme was pregnant with Richard (Dickie) who was born on 31 Oct 1918.
Alice and her puppy.
The 1920 Federal Census shows the family's address as "Sunny Mountain Road" in Highgrove. But the Greek children referred to the "mountain" behind the orange groves of the ranch as "Sugar Loaf". Alice told stories about how she would clamber up Sugar Loaf with her leg brace and with Clarence's help to enjoy the view from the top. This is what they saw.
The view from "Sugar Loaf mountain" of the orange groves and ranch house in Highgrove where the Greek family lived from 1912 to about 1922.
The hill in the mid-distance in the photograph on the left is Mt Slover, the site of the Portland Cement plant in Colton, where Clarence would spend his entire working life. The mountains in the distance to the left are the San Gabriel Mountains.
One of the important influences in Alice's life was her Aunt Mabel, Claude's sister, Mabel Clare Greek (1889-1972). It was evidently Aunt Mabel who arranged for the first few operations that helped Alice to walk and cope with her Polio.
Aunt Mabel married a neighbor, John Vosko or Voscko (40), when she was only 16 years old (in 1905). She and John had 3 children: Mildred E (later known as Sissy) in 1905; Paul B in 1906; and, Dale M in 1912. The marriage ended shortly after that for reasons unknown to me. In 1919, Aunt Mabel went to work for Leroy Asa Stoddard (1882-1975) who had been recently widowed and left with three young children: Mildred, 13; Kenneth, 3; and Robert (Bobbie), who was just a baby. Mabel and Roy were married in May 1921 and Uncle Roy and Aunt Mabel and their children remained close to Alice (and our family) for many years. In fact, it was Aunt Mabel and Uncle Roy who led my immediate family to live on a farm in Oregon in 1946 - but, that's another story.
Alice at Uncle Roy and Aunt Mabel's house on Furst Street in Chino, CA, circa 1921,
L to R: Mabel, unknown (possibly Dale), Mayme, Roy, Colette, Claude, Alice, and Paul.
A family outing with Grandma Greek circa 1921.
L to R; Claude, Roy, Grandma (Mary Elizabeth), Mabel holding Bobbie, Mayme, Alice and assorted boys in bathing suits.
Alice with Bobbie Stoddard at Roy and Mable's in Chino (1922).
10 year old Alice (1922).
Alice wrote that she had skipped the 4th grade, attended 5th grade at Franklin Elementary School and attended grades 6 to 11 at St Francis de Sales Catholic School in Riverside.
Alice's 6th grade class. She is the 3rd from the left.
The Greek family circa summer 1923 at 766 Franklin Ave in Riverside. L to R: Clarence, Ray, Colette, Alice, Claude, Mayme (holding Bill), Irene, and Rolly.
Alice at 12 in her confirmation dress. (1924)
The Greek family circa late 1924.
L to R: Alice, Claude, Bill, Mayme,
Rolly, Irene, Ray
Alice's 8th grade graduation pictures.
Greek children circa 1925.
L to R:Ray, Bill, Rolly Alice, Friend (Mary Walker), Clarence.
Alice circa 1925.
Alice circa 1925.
Allie with ukulele and friend Billie with Mascot, the puppy.
remember Mom's brothers always calling her "Allie".
At a park in Pomona. L to R: Irene, friend Sarah, Alice, friend Guldie (?), Paul, Clarence.
L to R: Alice, Jack, Mayme, and Clarence circa 1929.
The Greeks 1929.
L to R: Claude, Rolly, Mayme, Jack, Alice, Bill, Clarence
Alice and Clarence at Newport Beach circa 1930.
Alice with Verda Liles (who had been a neighbor in Highgrove). Verda, known as Babe, married Clarence in 1930 when she was 17 years old.
This picture may have been taken at Riverside's famous Mission Inn.
Alice circa 1930 at the family's home at 3762 Franklin Ave in Riverside.
Alice and Ray circa 1931.
Alice and Mayme circa 1931.
The Greek family 1932.
L to R: Ray, Alice, Rolly, Mayme, Jack, Bill, Claude.
There are no high school graduation pictures of Alice because she did not complete her 12th grade at St Francis de Sales school. She explained that she had to choose between graduating or an operation (at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles) that would enable her to walk and, even, dance.
Alice Marie Greek at 19 years old (Feb 1932).
Several months before this picture was taken, Alice went to a dance. And there she met a handsome young man from San Bernardino who would soon become her husband and, later, the father of her children. His name was Gene Hill.
Alice Greek and Gene Hill circa 1932.
Alice and Gene at the beach summer 1932.
Alice and Gene were married at St Francis de Sales church in Riverside on August 15, 1933.
Alice Marie Hill, August 15, 1933.
The wedding breakfast was held at Aunt Rosie's house in Riverside (Uncle Dave had died earlier that year.)
Gene's Best Man was his friend Stan McDonald and Alice's Maid of Honor was Eva Celce. (Eva and Stan got married 3 years later.)
Aunt Rosie's house on 8th St, Riverside (near the present day intersection of University and Chicago Avenues).
At the wedding breakfast.
Alice and Eva.
Alice with Gene's sister, Lucille Hill.
Gene and Lucille.
Gene and Stan.
Alice and Gene went for their honeymoon to Big Bear Lake, a resort community in the San Bernardino mountains, about 50 miles from Rivereside. They stayed in a cabin loaned to them by Alice's friend Billie, Little Bear Cottage. After buying their groceries they had only about $5 left: it doesn't look like that worried them at all.
Big Bear Lake August 16, 1933.
Little Bear Cottage.
Alice and Gene moved into their first apartment at the Kendall-Arms in San Bernardino at 214 Kendall Ave.
At the time Gene was working as a gasoline truck driver for the Signal Oil Co. He was paid $90 a month and had to polish his own truck on his own time. (Life before unions.)
At their first apartment.
With sister-in-law, Lucille Hill, 1933.
Gene on the job 1n 1933. He is on the right.
Bud and Alice summer 1935.
Alice was 3 months pregnant when these pictures were taken.
Alice with Sister Colette and Mayme 1935.
Sometime between 1933 and 1936, Alice and Gene moved to a house on Colton Blvd between Colton and San Bernardino.
The house on Colton Blvd where their first child (me) was born.
And then there were three.
Alice's first Mother's Day, May 10, 1936, at Huntington Beach, California.