City to Name Intersection in Honor of Wolze Brothers

For 50 years, the late Wolze twins, Ray and Roy, were assets to Lincoln Heights in two ways. On the business end, they supplied the nuts and bolts for the community from their Wolze Brothers Hardware Store on Pasadena Avenue. On the humanitarian front, they recycled much of their profits to help disadvantaged youths in the area.

Next week, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to honor the brothers by naming an intersection in Lincoln Heights “Wolze Square.”

The small hardware store, located where Pasadena Avenue, Avenue 26 and Daly Street meet, was well-known in the area for its slogan--”If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” The store closed last year when Roy Wolze died. Ray, who died in 1995 at age 76, was instrumental in founding the Hollenbeck Youth Center in Boyle Heights.

“I was just a summer employee in 1980, but he was so nice to me,” recalled Elizabeth Rodriguez, a receptionist at the center. “He had such a positive attitude.”

Rodriguez remembers the time when the center’s secretary, Martha Luna, broke her watch.

“Ray took us all out to lunch at the Bicycle Club,” Luna said. “Martha was looking at watches at a gift shop. She loved this one watch and Ray just went and bought it for her right there. We were all in shock. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

While Ray was a benefactor for the youth center, Roy focused his efforts on the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club in Lincoln Heights.

“We refer to Roy Wolze as the angel of the community,” said Henry Molina, the club’s director.

Said Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce President Steve Kasten: “Lots of times Roy would give money to people in need out of his own pocket. These were two brothers who made money from the community and gave it right back.”