Ellen Smith, 88; Writing Analyst at Olvera Street Booth

Ellen Smith, who analyzed the handwriting of visitors at her booth on historic Olvera Street for 32 years, has died. She was 88.

According to family members, Smith suffered a stroke on the afternoon of Dec. 19 while at work in her booth near the Olvera Street wishing well. Paramedics took her to County-USC Medical Center, where she died on Tuesday.

Smith was a graphologist -- an expert in what she once told a Times reporter was “the science of determining character and personality from the study of handwriting.” All her customers had to provide was a handwritten sentence and a few dollars for the fee.

“I tell them their emotions, their mental abilities, how they relate to people and what professions they may work well in,” Smith said.

Smith was born Ellen Holmes in Odgen, Utah, and grew up in Benson, Utah. She became interested in handwriting analysis after seeing an advertisement for it in a magazine. She studied her art in a correspondence course with the International Graphoanalysis Society, receiving a master’s certification in 1959.

She came to California in 1963 and a few years later began working on Olvera Street with another woman who practiced the trade. She eventually took over the booth and was a fixture on the street for decades.

Family members said it had not been decided whether the booth would stay in business.

She is survived by three daughters: Lynne Variano, Deanna-Marie Smith and Sally Ellen Brescini; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. at the Church of Religious Science, 907 Knob Hill Ave. in Redondo Beach. The interment will be later at a family plot in Heyburn, Idaho.