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ASSOCIATES. HOWEVER, IT WAS NOT ALL WORK AND INVOLVED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF FUN
TIME. ISOBEL FELT COMPENSATED BY THE MANY RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT WERE AT
HAND--SAILING ON UNCLE’S 50 FT. SAIL BOAT, AQUAPLANING, SURFING, SWIMMING, GOLFING,
AND MINGLING WITH HER MANY COUSINS WHO WOULD GATHER AT GEORGE’S HOME, AND THE
SOCIAL LIFE THIS OFFERED.
DRIVING HER UNCLE AROUND WAS ONE OF ISOBEL’S MAIN CHORES, WHICH SHE THOROUGHLY
ENJOYED. THIS INCLUDED FREQUENT TRIPS AROUND THE LA BASIN, INCLUDING TO LOS ANGELES
FOR BUSINESS, TO WHITTIER OR ONTARIO FOR BUSINESS OR TO VISIT FAMILY MEMBERS AND
FRIENDS. PERIODICALLY GEORGE WOULD PLAN A TRIP OUTSIDE THE LA BASIN TO ANY OF A
VARIETY OF LOCATIONS AROUND THE RURAL WEST--DOWN OR UP THE COAST, TO SOME PART OF THE
DESERT SUCH AS PALM SPRINGS, TO ONE OF THE NATIONAL PARKS LIKE YOSEMITE OR SEQUOIA,
ETC. INITIALLY THESE MULTI-DAY TRIPS INVOLVED SEVERAL CARS, TENT CAMPING AND INCLUDED
2-3 FOLKS IN ADDITION TO GEORGE. ON THESE LONGER TRIPS ISOBEL WOULD BE THE DRIVER OF
ONE OF THE VEHICLES.
IN 1921 GEORGE CHAFFEY CONCEIVED A NEW CONCEPT, A CAMP CAR, CALLED SALLY BROWN,
AND HAD IT BUILT ON A HUDSON CHASSIS AT A COACH WORKS IN LOS ANGELES.
ISOBEL WAS A FREQUENT DRIVER OF SALLY BROWN, INCLUDING OUT ACROSS THE DIRT
HIGHWAYS OF THE WEST, AND TENDING TO ITS FREQUENT PROBLEMS SUCH AS FLAT TIRES, ETC.
FROM THEN ON, GEORGE’S LONGER TRIPS INCLUDED SALLY BROWN AS ONE OF THE VEHICLES.
IN THE EARLY 1920’S ISOBEL PERIODICALLY DROVE HER UNCLE TO THE OWENS VALLEY TO
CONDUCT BUSINESS REGARDING HIS LAST IRRIGATION COLONY, MANZANAR, THE APPLE ORCHARD
COMMUNITY. IN 1922 ON ONE OF THE MANZANAR TRIPS, ISOBEL MET A RANCHER FROM LONG
BEACH BY THE NAME OF CLAUDE KREIDER, AN ELIGIBLE YOUNG MAN. THEY HAD A VISITING AND
WRITING RELATIONSHIP FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND FELL IN LOVE. IN 1924 CLAUDE SOLD HIS
MANZANAR RANCH, AND ON JAN 1, 1925 MARRIED ISOBEL IN WHITTIER, CA. AT THE TIME ISOBEL
WAS 26 AND CLAUDE 36.
WITH THEIR IMPENDING MARRIAGE CLAUDE RESUMED HIS CAREER AS A FIREMAN IN THE LONG
BEACH DEPT. IN 1924 CLAUDE BOUGHT A HOUSE IN LONG BEACH FOR HIS BRIDE AND HIMSELF. BY
THE TIME OF THE WEDDING, CLAUDE HAD REMODELED THE HOUSE AND AFTER THEIR HONEYMOON
THEY SETTLED DOWN IN THEIR HOME AND ISOBEL BECAME A FULL TIME HOUSEWIFE. SHE WAS
QUITE CONTENT TO LIVE A QUIET LIFE AS A FIREMAN'S WIFE.
ALL IN ALL ISOBEL HAD A GOOD ADULT LIFE. IT HAD ONLY 2 MAJOR BUMPS. THE GREAT
DEPRESSION WHICH STARTED IN 1929, AND THE LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE WHICH OCCURRED AT
5:55 PM, MARCH 10, 1933. AS A RESULT OF THE DEPRESSION, MONEY WAS VERY SHORT IN THE
FAMILY FOR YEARS. REGARDING THE QUAKE, FORTUNATELY,THEY LIVED IN A FRAME HOUSE
WHICH SUSTAINED LITTLE DAMAGE. THE WHOLE FAMILY WAS HOME. HOWEVER, THE
EARTHQUAKE DEMOLISHED MOST OF THE MASONRY AND BRICK HOUSES AND MOST OF THE
SCHOOLS IN LONG BEACH AND SURROUNDINGS BECAUSE THEY WERE UN-REINFORCED MASONRY
AS PERMITTED BY THE BUILDING CODES OF THE DAY. FOR THE FAMILY, THE EFFECTS OF THE QUAKE
WERE INTENSE BUT RELATIVELY SHORT LIVED. THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR ISOBEL WAS THAT SHE LOST
ALL HER DAY TO DAY DISHES WHICH CAME FLYING OUT OF THE CUPBOARDS.
ISOBEL AND CLAUDE HAD A GOOD MARRIED LIFE OF 39 YEARS UNTIL CLAUDE DIED IN 1964.
ISOBEL CONTINUED TO LIVE A QUIET HAPPY ACTIVE LIFE IN THEIR 2ND LONG BEACH HOME WHICH
THEY HAD BUILT IN 1954. IT WAS A SMALL HOUSE THAT FIT THEIR NEEDS AND WAS ON THE INITIAL
RISE OF SIGNAL HILL SO HAD A VIEW OF DOWNTOWN LONG BEACH. BY THE EARLY 1970S ISOBEL
WAS DIAGNOSED WITH GLAUCOMA, AND UNFORTUNATELY, IT COULDN'T BE CURED AND SHE WENT
TOTALLY BLIND BY 1975. SHE LIVED UNTIL 1982 WHEN SHE WAS 84, BUT THE LAST 7 OR SO YEARS
WERE DIFFICULT DUE TO BLINDNESS COUPLED WITH OTHER EFFECTS OF OLD AGE. 48
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