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Phelan, Emma Lou Leeper, 1926-

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1926-

Biography

Emma Lou Leeper was born July 30, 1926 in Iowa. Her mother died in 1933, leaving seven children ages two to thirteen. Her father moved the family to Brooklyn, Iowa to live with his mother-in-law Katharine Roth and her sister Mary Fogel. Graduating from Brooklyn High School in 1944, Leeper took a greyhound bus to San Diego, California where she found a job at Ryan Aeronautical Company. She worked there until September 1945 as a riveter on jet airplanes for the Navy. When the war ended most of the work force was laid off. At that time she married Robert W. Phelan whom she had met at Ryan Aeronautical and they returned to Cherokee, Iowa where they established a home and raised a family of five children.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Emma Lou Leeper Phelan papers

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: IWA0226
Abstract

Brooklyn, Iowa, native who was a riveter for Ryan Aeronautical Company in California, 1944 to 1945.



Arrangement

One folder, shelved in SCVF.

Dates: 1945-1998