Kern County Obituaries

Alva Lee Arnold

Submitted by Don Stowell; 13 Feb 2008

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Source Unknown; Date Unknown

Oct. 27, 1919 � Dec. 24, 2004
Alva Lee Arnold was born to Ida Mae Cobb in Beaumont, Texas in 1919. She passed 
away on Dec. 24.

Alva Lee earned her Associate of Arts degree from East Baptist College in Marshall, 
Texas and while working for Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange, Texas, met 
and married Ernie Arnold in 1943. In 1946 they moved to South Pasadena where they 
raised their seven children.

Alva Lee was a stay-at-home mom for 29 years, raising her children until her 
youngest was 15. While at home, she raised the bar for those people who volunteered 
in their neighborhood: as a den mother/cub scout leader, as a girl scout leader, 
with the Republican Women�s Club, with various Holy Family Church�s organizations 
and as a volunteer with local civic organizations.

In 1966, she was one of the founders of the Committee for the Westerly Route, a 
South Pasadena volunteer group that fought to relocate the 710 freeway around the 
western part of the city of South Pasadena, volunteering thousands of hours to 
save the city of South Pasadena from the destruction of that bad project. For 20 
years, from 1966 through 1986, she traveled to every part of the state of California 
to attend the State Transportation Commission meetings to voice the city�s needs.

In 1974, she was elected to the South Pasadena City Council, becoming mayor in 1978. 
Her license plate, �FWY FTR� depicted her dedication to the cause. Alva Lee�s 
knowledge and intelligence made her South Pasadena�s �Rock of Gibraltar.� When she 
left her elected duties, she never stopped supporting the city, even in her 60s and 
70s or when her late husband fell and became a quadriplegic. The Beach Boys could 
have changed their song to �The Little Old Lady from South Pasadena.� Alva Lee was 
an inspiration to all and simply never quit.

In 1970, Alva Lee and Ernie Arnold bought a homestead piece of property in Bear 
Valley Springs. In 1972, Alva Lee got her real estate license and started selling 
resort property for Dart Industries, the developer of BVS. She promptly became 
their top sales person, winning Salesperson of the Year two years in a row � all 
of this while the mayor of South Pasadena.

Having moved to BVS in 1990, she was hardly one to simply fade into retirement. 
A group of local citizens in Bear Valley Springs wanted a private school. They were 
not happy with the school district, so they came to Alva Lee and she assisted those 
five families in creating Vianney Academy.

Alva Lee has touched many people�s lives. She gave of herself without looking for 
any reward. She was a Texan and a southern belle. She was stubborn as a nail, sharp 
as a tack and as giving as the most generous mother anyone could hope for.

NOTE: Photo At: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htmphotos/kern/