Class of ’19 Graduate to Lead Parade

When Wilber Proud was in middle school, students spent their recess knitting 6-inch khaki squares for blankets for soldiers fighting in World War I.

“In those days, everyone wore big overalls so we just put a ball of yarn in our pockets and started knitting every day for about two months. It was fun,” recalled Proud, 91, who graduated from Washington School on June 9, 1919.

Proud, a Brea resident who was born and raised in La Habra, is the La Habra City School District’s oldest known graduate. In honor of that distinction, Proud will serve as grand marshal in today’s 100th anniversary parade of the school district.

The parade will begin at Walnut Elementary School, 625 N. Walnut St., at 9:30 a.m. and end at Washington Middle School, 716 E. La Habra Blvd., where other festivities are planned.

Proud was the oldest living graduate the district could find through a six-month search, event organizer Martha Baxendell said. About a dozen other graduates from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s will also ride in the parade, she said. Model T autos will carry the guests.

Among the people accompanying Proud will be Esther Cramer, a La Habra historian who graduated from Washington School in 1940.

Festivities at Washington, which at 100 is the district’s oldest campus, will include game and food booths and a display of photographs depicting the district’s schools and its students and teachers through the years.

The celebration is open to the public, and admission is free.