Slain Ice Cream Vendor Called Generous, ‘a Rock’

Carolyn LaFleur’s ice cream van took the same route seven days a week for 25 years.

Her customers across the San Fernando Valley, mostly children, could count on her to be there rain or shine, selling ice cream bars, Popsicles and candy, even running a tab when they were a little short of cash.

On Monday evening, just minutes from finishing her daily route, the 55-year-old Van Nuys resident was gunned down while sitting in the driver’s seat of her van in Canoga Park. The teenage gunman remains at large. And now investigators are unsure if robbery was the motive, as they initially believed.

“She was caring for 12 grandchildren, working seven days a week and this guy just robs her of the little life she had,” said Sheri Monterrosa, LaFleur’s older daughter.

LaFleur was shot in the torso just before 7 p.m. on the 8800 block of Variel Avenue, several feet from the intersection of Parthenia Street, police said. Police describe the gunman as black, 16 to 18 years old, 5 feet to 5 feet 5 and 120 to 125 pounds.

The shooting occurred near the end of her route, which typically took about five hours. Her job helped her pay the bills and have enough left over to give to her three children, her daughters said.

“She was barely scraping by,” Monterrosa, 37, said from her Van Nuys apartment. “She always made sure her grandkids had clothing. And no matter how broke she was, she would make sure she had Christmas gifts to give.”

LaFleur lived next door with her younger daughter, Renee Jensen.

On a good day La Fleur made about $75, but sometimes came home with only $20, Jensen said. “Just enough for groceries.”

The victim’s son, James LaFleur, 26, also lives in the apartment complex.

As an independent vendor, LaFleur began each day in North Hollywood at Dandy Boy Wholesale Ice-Cream and Candy, where she parked her van and bought her supplies.

She would move west through the Valley and finish her route at De Soto Gardens in Canoga Park, Monterrosa said.

“She was a rock,” said Bob Trop, manager of the North Hollywood company and a close friend of LaFleur’s for 17 years. “She was an icon here when it came to ice cream.”

Trop said ice cream vending was no longer as profitable as it had been 10 to 15 years ago, when specialty ice cream bars and Popsicles were sold exclusively by vendors. Because they are now available at most supermarkets, LaFleur’s income had steadily declined.

Trop estimated that LaFleur took home about $20,000 a year. Her daughters said money had become scarce.

Jensen said her mother couldn’t have been carrying more than $100 the day she was killed. Detectives have not determined a motive for the crime or the amount of money she had before the shooting, Lt. Joseph Eddy of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Devonshire Division said.

Former customers expressed grief for LaFleur’s death, a woman they said was generous and warm with children.

“I remember buying ice cream for my daughter and she told me to just pay her back, because I didn’t have enough cash on me,” said Joe Ricci, a former Canoga Park resident. “She was really great with kids.”

A native of Springfield, Mass., LaFleur was hoping to return to the East one day to live near her three siblings. Though LaFleur complained about how hard she had to work, she also felt a great sense of responsibility for her family, Trop said. La Fleur had been divorced for more than 30 years.

“Carolyn was all about other people,” said her brother, Edward Tourtellotte, from his home in Springfield. “She would give you the shirt off her back.”