Was in City Attorney’s Office 47 Years : Mabel Slocum, First Female City Worker, Dies

Mabel Slocum, who in 1909 became the first female employee of the City of San Diego and proceeded to work for a record 47 years in the city attorney’s office, died of natural causes at her Point Loma home Wednesday. She was 96.

Known as “Sis” by her friends and family, Slocum was a part of San Diego’s history and her passing is the end of an era, said members of her family and friends.

“This is just a milestone for me,” said Virginia Woodruff, who had been a friend to Slocum for more than 40 years. “I’m sure it’s a milestone for a great many people.”

Born in Colorado Springs, Colo., on April 10, 1890, Slocum came to San Diego at the age of 5 with her family. The family owned citrus groves, said her nephew, Charles Best, who moved here from New York nearly three years ago to care for Slocum, who never married.

Slocum was an only child until age 20, when her mother adopted a girl who eventually became Best’s mother, Best said.

“We were in and out of her house all the time when I was a child,” Best said. “She was a wonderful woman.”

Slocum began working for the city attorney at the age of 19 and was still wearing pigtails when she walked through the City Hall doors on what was to be a historic day for San Diego in 1909.

According to a San Diego Union article at the time of her retirement in 1956, Slocum worked for 10 city attorneys during her 47 years of employment, and served temporary duty in the mayor’s office and the Health, Police and Park departments because of a shortage of city workers.

Slocum, a legal secretary, rose to the position of assistant to the city attorney and was said to know more about law than some attorneys, friends said.

“She had a really good mind for legal matters,” said Evangeline Mentle, who worked in the city attorney’s office with Slocum for more than 30 years.

“She was a very even-tempered person who had a fine mind for remembering things,” Mentle said.

During her years at City Hall, Slocum became something of a confidante for several fellow employees because, as one longtime friend said, “She knew what was going on.”

“She was the best ever,” said Ellen Murray, who worked near Slocum for many years in San Diego’s water division.

“She took on everybody’s troubles and helped them. . . . I feel as if I’ve lost a real friend,” Murray said.

“She was the best citizen there ever was in this town,” Murray said.

After her retirement, Slocum busied herself by reading and tending to her many cats.

“I thought I was a book nut. . . . Whenever you would ask her a question she would refer you to a book,” Woodruff said. “She was a very intelligent woman.”

Although she was still very “sharp,” Slocum required the attention of a nurse in her later years, said Best, who is her only surviving relative.

Funeral arrangements are pending, Best said.