Gean Roach

Gean Roach

Bishop Reed Callister issued the call to my father to be President of the  Fourth Quorum of Elders in the Glendale West Ward in the fifties.   Dad chose Vincent d'Arc to be his first Counselor and, I believe, a very young Gil Torgeson to be secretary or 2nd Counselor (don't remember which). Dad retained that position in the newly formed Glendale Third Ward until he was called to serve as Bishop D'Arc's counselor in the Bishopric, later succeeding Bishop D'Arc as the Bishop. 

Back in the Glendale West Ward days, it was Dad's idea to hold Glendale West Ward Family Nights where full-length family features were shown.  I remember they would drag out the little benches from the Jr. Sunday School room for the children to sit on up front in the Cultural Hall (we called it the Recreation Hall back then).  They sold popcorn for 10 cents a bag and bottles of pop for the same.  (Delaware Punch was my favorite.)  I think that the proceeds went toward either welfare or budget assessment.  I think I remember that Mel Marshall, Bill Hale (and probably your father) were the techs on the motion picture projector.

Portia Roach

I found the attached photo among my father's things. This is the M-Men and Gleaner Chorus in the Glendale/Burbank 

area sometime in the 1930's. My father, Gean Roach, seated on the front row, was the president. Frank Barton, on Gean's 

right, was the conductor.  Frank's son, Keith Barton (who would become Burbank Stake President) is on the top row, extreme right.

Cecil Homer is almost directly behind Brother Frank Barton a couple of rows up.  His sister (can't remember her first name, 

but married name was Phillips.  Her husband was Heber Phillips.  They had two daughters, Lori [Ensign] and Pauline.) is 

in the row above Cecil second from the left.  The young woman in front standing row, fourth from left is Dorothy Van Hardy.  

(Bea Van's daughter.)  Grace Bowns Brown is seated on the conductor's right.

1930's Robert Southwick Hansen in red,. He moved to Glendale in about 1930 as a 10 or 11 

year old.  He lived in that area for most of his life, graduating from USC Dental School and 

practicing in La Canada.  So this photo would have been late 1930's, as Robert was 

born in May 1919, so wouldn't have been in M-Men until summer 1938. Robert had

two daughters who were baptized in the 1950s in Glendale.

Top row left to right:  Bill Wilson and Sandy; ??; Gardner Beers and Rebecca; Roy(?)Burger and Terrie; Jim Gardner and Sandy; Cecil Homer and JoAnn; Vincent D'Arc and Martha; Gean Roach and Jeannie; John Fretz and Marsha
Front row left to right:  Brother Jolley(?) and Valerie(?); ?Dunlap and Jeffra; Homer Reeder and Diana Collette; John Owens and Susan; ? and Stacy Scott?; Tony Schimmer and Kathleen; Clarence Thomas(?) and Loraine Black; ??
1958