734 S. Walnut Ave., Brea, CA and A Near-Disaster

Ontario, CA, City Library

    I arrived at the former home of George Calvin Lemmon and his third wife Velma about 2:30p.m. yesterday afternoon hoping to find Velma's daughter Irene Hannah still living there. Instead I found a young fellow named Sergio who's likely in his late 20s or early 30s.

    He told me that his parents bought the house from Irene in 1999 and that it was vacant at the time; he also indicated that Irene had another house in the area. My guess is that Irene rented the house in which George and Velma Lemmon had lived since shortly after the latter's death in 1976 and finally tired of renting it in 1999.

    Since the house did not look like what I had expected I asked Sergio if it had been remodeled. He said that his brother had done the remodel to add more rooms. He also indicated that the original house had been built in 1955. He said that he worked in construction as an electrician and had noticed that older houses were built of better material with better craftsmanship than more recent houses.

    Also explained why I had hoped to locate Irene, someone who might explain what George did between the end of his stint as the Copperopolis copper mine superintendent near or after the end of WWII until his death in Orange County in 1973.

    I thanked Sergio and asked him where the Brea Library was. He replied that it was on Birch St in the Civic Center. It was only a short distance and I followed the signs to parking alongside the combined library, art museum, theater, city hall, and Chamber of Commerce HQ to near disaster!. The signs to parking lead underneath the building -- and I don't recall seeing any "No RVs or Campers" signs until I was almost trapped. Let a women in a small vehicle exit B4 I executed a quick 3-step turn-around. Fortunately no one came speeding out from beneath the two buildings which use the 2-lane access and egress road!

    Henceforth, there'll be no following signs to parking within cities unless I can see that the parking spots are above-ground sites. (As I drove around the complex I found more underground parking -- and their clearances were such that most NBA power forwards would have had to duck: 6-6 or 6-8.)
....
    Had a beer with dinner last night for the 1st time in several months; while I could use another now after this afternoon's near-mishap, will stick with Trader Joe's "Two-Buck Chuck."

W 2 Feb Route: Prado Park - Ontario Lib - Canyon RV Park