Obituaries : Ethel C. Toll; Volunteer in Programs to Reduce Crime

Ethel Coleman Toll, community volunteer who worked with families and government agencies to aid the disadvantaged and reduce crime, has died. She was 89.

Mrs. Toll, the widow of attorney Maynard Toll, died Sunday in Los Angeles, family members said.

Certain that helping troubled families would limit crime and aid the entire community, she became the first woman president of the Family Welfare Service Assn. of Los Angeles and held the post from 1943 to 1946.

She was also chairwoman of the California Council of Crime and Delinquency and was a member of its national board, promoting rehabilitation of adult and juvenile offenders. Leaders of the organization studied special programs proposed by law enforcement agencies such as work-furlough plans for prisoners and different types of juvenile detention.

Mrs. Toll also served as general chairwoman for residential solicitation for the Community Chest, supervising about 20,000 workers. That work helped earn her the Community Gold Key Award for 1948, which was given by the Welfare Federation to the woman providing “the greatest contribution to Los Angeles in the field of health and welfare.”

As a young matron, Mrs. Toll was active in the Junior League of Los Angeles and served as its president in 1943.

Occidental College, where she studied to be a high school teacher, recognized her in 1987 for the longest continuous service on its board of trustees. She was on the board from 1945 until 1987 and was a trustee emeritus at the time of her death.

“Everything leads to something else,” she once told The Times when asked about the many volunteer hats she wore. “It’s all one big piece of cloth.”

Her career as a volunteer included chairing the board of Resthaven Mental Health Center, serving as trustee of Bishop’s School and working in the St. James Episcopal Church Women’s Guild and the Bishop’s Guild.

Prior to her marriage in 1929, the Long Beach-born woman taught at the Hollywood School for Girls and Madame Gordon’s Girls School.

Mrs. Toll is survived by five children, Arline Toll Kensinger of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Deborah Toll Reynolds of Greenwich, Conn.; Janet Toll Davidson Plat of Corona del Mar, Calif.; Maynard Joy Toll Jr. of New York City, and Roger Coleman Toll of Weston, Conn.; 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday at St. James Episcopal Church, 3903 Wilshire Blvd.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be sent to St. James Episcopal Church or to the Braille Institute, 741 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles 90029.