Carl Manson, 1893-1983, and Izola Manson, 1911-1995

Carl Edward Manson was the first child of Otis and Betty Manson, born January 2, 1893 in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. After leaving Rockdale, he lived for a while in Ballinger, Runnels County, Texas, where he worked as a Teamster. For some period of time he was married to a woman I can only identify as Mary M. At some point in the 1940s, he married Izola Fuqua. She was from Dallas, Texas. The couple moved from Texas to Los Angeles.

The only thing I knew of Uncle Carl was that in the 1960s he ran a dress and hat shop with his wife Zoe in south-central Los Angeles. I recall visiting their store in 1966. His death certificate, however, says that he worked as a yard man for Southern Pacific Railroad for 30 years. Of course, by the 1960s, he was no doubt retired from Southern Pacific.




Carl Manson died on April 4, 1983. Zoe was the informant for the death certificate. Somewhat surprisingly, the names of Carl's parents are listed as unknown, although their birth places are listed as Texas.

The cause of death listed on the death certificate sets off the warning tone for me. The primary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, due to arteriosclerotic heart disease. Carl's mother, Betty Sanford Manson, also died of heart disease.

At the time of Carl's death, he and Zoe were residing at 125 E. 36th St in Los Angeles. Their shop is pictured at left.

Carl had been hospitalized at Queen of Angels Hospital at 2301 Bellevue St in Los Angeles. He was buried on April 7, 1983, at Woodlawn Cemetery, 1715 W. Greenleaf Blvd, Compton, California.

Aunt Zoe was born Izola Fuqua on April 5, 1911, in Texas. According to her death certificate, her father was Oliver Fuqua, born in Texas, and her mother was Marilla McGuire, born in Alabama.

There's a lot of information on Zoe's death certificate that is new to me. First of all, her occupation is given as public school teacher for 25 years. Again, I thought she had simply run the hat and dress shop. The death certificate form in use when she died, had a space for "years in county." There it says that she had lived in Los Angeles County for 50 years. If this is correct, then Carl and Zoe moved to Los Angeles in 1945.

The informant for Zoe's death certificate was Katrina Rolland, described as "grand daughter."I have never heard of Katrina Rolland. She lived in Long Beach, California. The death certificate says that Zoe died at home, that meaning 727 W. 27th St in Los Angeles. the date of her death was December 31, 1995. The cause of her death (third alarm for me) was acute myocardial infarction due to arteriosclerotic heart disease.

A curious fact is that Zoe was buried in Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. Recall that Carl was buried in a private cemetery in Compton. Usually burial at a national cemetery is reserved for veterans and their spouses. Spouses usually cannot be buried at the national cemetery unless the veteran is buried there as well. Why Zoe (without Carl) is buried in a national cemetery is a mystery.