Strong House

It was with regret and nostalgia that I read of the eminent razing of the Edward Strong house (Metro, June 18). My great-uncle Ed Strong, his wife, Mary Allen, and her parents came from upstate New York to California in the 1880s. They built two homes and an apartment house on 15th Street and lived there until their deaths. Mary Allen Strong, known as “Aunt Met” was 90 when she died in the early 1950s. The two homes were either moved or razed shortly after, but the apartment house, designated as the Edward Strong house remained.

As they had no children, Uncle Ed and Aunt Met sponsored many nephews and grandnephews, giving them jobs and helping with their college educations. My father, Fred Strong, who later became a L.A. County Road Department district maintenance engineer was one of them.

It is sad to realize the fine old building with its hardwood interiors stands in the way of progress.

VIRGINIA STRONG BENSON

Hacienda Heights