Verdugo Views: Recounting family ties to St. Mark’s church
Virginia Parlour Young’s life is intertwined with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in many ways. Her father, Clarance Parlour, was the rector for many years and led the church through the dark days of World War II, while at the same time spearheading the drive for a new sanctuary in north Glendale.
The congregation had purchased a parcel at the corner of Dryden and Louise streets, and the building fund was up to nearly $15,000 in 1939 when its members launched their official fundraising campaign. But with the beginning of the war, all that was put on hold.
Attendance continued to increase, however. By 1943, there were nearly 1,500 members with more than 300 attending every Sunday morning. The leadership pressed for more funds so they could build as soon as the war was over, according to Bruce G. Merritt in his recent book, “St. Mark’s Journey, The Story of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 1888 - 1989.”
In June 1945, the congregation celebrated Parlour’s 10th year in the pulpit with a party that filled the Tuesday Afternoon Club to capacity. A few weeks later, the war ended. Then, the opportunity arose to purchase land at a better location at Dryden and Brand Boulevard. By the beginning of 1946, the various real estate transactions were finalized.
The building fund held $115,000 in cash and bonds and $52,000 in pledges by 1947, an impressive showing for a church whose annual budget was little more than $20,000. But now, because of the war and post-war inflation, the estimate ballooned — to $250,000 or more.
What saved the project, Merritt wrote, was “a year of unprecedented activity in which a small number of parishioners devoted an enormous amount of time to insuring a successful completion.”
Groundbreaking took place in February 1948. Young was away at Bishop’s School in La Jolla during this time. She graduated the following June and enrolled at Occidental College.
“My brother would drive me back and forth to Oxy in his Model A Ford that he had acquired while stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station,” she said.
He was a senior pre-med student, and she was a freshman.
It was during these years that she “fell much in love with my George, who had been very active at St. Mark’s as president of the Canterbury Club and headed the church’s Scout troop.”
She was home on Dec. 24, 1948, when the Altar Candle was carried from the old sanctuary on Harvard Street and Louise to the new sanctuary on Brand in time for the Christmas Eve service.
“The church was filled with all the saints that helped build this sanctuary to the glory to God. My sister Peggy and I sat with our mother in the last pew, left-hand side. My brother Richard was in the choir. It was a beautiful service for our family to see Dad’s dream come true,” she said.
Virginia and George Young married on Sept. 12, 1950 (also the 25th wedding anniversary of her parents).
“It was one of the first weddings at the new St. Mark’s,” she said.
One of the members, Edmund DePatie, an executive at Warner Bros., sent a truckload of artificial grass, shrubs and trees from the set department so that the still barren courtyard could be dressed up for the reception.
--
Readers Write:
Jill Benone emailed regarding the column on Al Taliaferro published on Sept. 24.
“Thought you might be interested in a tidbit about Al Taliaferro. He was active in early Father’s Follies shows, performed in a skit where he drew several cartoons and gave them to random kids in the audience. Have no idea who has them now,” she wrote.
“He created many of the early posters which hang on the Youth House walls; his style is unmistakable and easily recognized. I understand he was the artist of the original poster, drawn by hand. As of this date, Follies has been unable to find that original,” she added.
--
KATHERINE YAMADA can be reached at katherineyamada@gmail.com or by mail at Verdugo Views, c/o News-Press, 202 W. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Please include your name, address and phone number.
