Thanks to the donation a scrapbook by a relative of Class of 1924 graduate Abigail Francis “Frankie” Reed, the AHS Alumni Association has learned about an important Colonist connection to the famous California Rose Parade.
Back in the late 1880s, Frankie’s mother, Grace (Monroe) Reed, who grew up in Pasadena, started the New Year’s tradition of a carriage parade and picnic on New Year’s Day with her friends and family.

This group became the Valley Hunt Club and the parade became the famous Rose Parade. Grace made sure her family followed the tradition and Frankie became a eager participant of the parade throughout her life.
Here is Frankie’s biography as provided by her granddaughter, Melody Lavrakas, daughter of “Frankie’s daughter, Dorothy Suzanne Ballantyne.

Abigail Francis Reed – Class of 1924

Abigail Francis Reed attended Anaheim Union High School between 1920 and 1924. She was never called Abigail and went by her middle name of Francis. By age 1 year, family members shortened it to Frankie.

Her sister Ruth Reed was the academic of the family and a member of the school’s award winning debate team. Francis found it hard to keep up with sister, as she was more of an athlete and adventurer. She took drama classes throughout high school. In her freshman year she acted in “The Thirteenth Chair” and in a vaudeville production in her senior year.

She was a member of the swim team her junior and senior years and competed in the 20- and 40-yard meets. She was a strong swimmer and loved the ocean and swimming in it.

She loved parties and attended all the dances and plays. Her scrapbook is filled with mementoes from all her school activities.

Frankie grew up “very much a tomboy,” according to a letter written to the AHS Alumni Association by her granddaughter, who related that Frankie’s mother wrote that she was “born in a hurry and has been rushing ahead ever since.”

A. Francis Reed was born January 1905 in Los Alamitos to John Oren Reed and Grace Monroe Reed. They met in Pasadena, where Grace lived and attended Throup Polytechnic Institute, later known as Cal Tech.

John worked for J. Ross Clark Sugar Co. in Los Alamitos as a sugar boiler. Their first child Ruth was born in 1902. A second child, Dorothy, was born in 1903, but only lived 12 days. Frankie was born in January 1905, and Marjory was born in August 1906. The family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1907 to be near his parents.

Working on his father’s apple orchard didn’t suit John, nor did the primitive living conditions. In 1908 they moved back to California and bought a 20-acre ranch in Anaheim on Lincoln Avenue. This is where Frankie grew up and attended local schools. Her only brother, Donald Monroe Reed, was born on the ranch in 1908.

The Reeds were a close-knit family and did everything together. On weekends, they traveled to Orange County Park (now Irvine Park) for picnics. Balboa Island and Laguna Beach were their favorite swim spots. Another family activity was attending band concerts in Long Beach.

On New Year’s they took their carriage to Pasadena to join friends and family for the annual carriage parade and picnic. Grace and friends started this tradition back in the late 1880s. This group became the Valley Hunt Club and the parade became the famous Rose Parade.

The family was prospering and the original ranch house on Lincoln was torn down and a new house with “nine large rooms and two bathrooms” was built in 1909. In 1913, they bought their first car, a Studebaker, and Grace was one of the few women who drove. Frankie learned to drive while she was still in school.

As a teenager, Frankie helped the Knott’s children sell jam from the family fruit stand. Frankie was a Jobs Daughter debutant at age 16.

When she graduated from Anaheim High, she was accepted at California Berkley, where her sister Ruth was attending. She attended for two years and then was asked to leave as her interest in learning was lacking. Her interest in boys was intact, and she met her husband, Thomas Scott Ballantyne from San Diego, while at Cal Berkley. Her father insisted that they wait until she was 21 to marry.

In 1926, John and Grace sold their ranch and built a large house at 2467 N. Riverside Drive in Anaheim. Frankie and Tom’s wedding was held in the backyard.

The young couple moved to El Cajon, where he managed various ranches and worked for the state as an agricultural inspector. They had three children: Thomas Reed, Robert Monroe, and Dorothy Suzanne. Tom died in September 1950. Frankie remarried to Walter A. Lucas in 1953 and moved to Winnemucca, Nevada. They returned to California and lived in Long Beach until divorcing in 1967.

Frankie lived in Long Beach for the rest of her life. She worked for AARP and P.O.E. as a secretary until she retired. Frankie passed away in 1971.

All her life, Frankie was adventurous and loved going places and doing things. After she left college, she toured the United States with her mother for four months. After her divorce, she traveled to Europe for four months. But she always came back home to California and the ocean she loved.

Anaheim High Class of 1944 alumna Gania Demaree Trotter died peacefully at home in the loving presence of her family members. Gania’s father, Dr. Paul H. Demaree, was principal of Anaheim Union High School from 1941 to 1954. In 2014, Gania established an endowed scholarship in her father’s name that has been awarded since to graduating Colonists.

Gania stayed close with her classmates, including her best friend, Kathryn (Gauer) Kopitzke. Friends going back to kindergarten at Horace Mann Elementary School, together they attended the YMCA’s Camp Oceola, worked as soda jerks at Jackson Drug Store and as waitresses at Knott’s Berry Farm.

While a student at Anaheim High, Gania was president of Girls’ League and the Girls’ Reserve. She also was a member of the school choir and an honor student.

Gania returned to her alma mater for a short time in the 1950s to serve as choral director. She also served as a guest speaker in 2019 for “The Poston Experience – Paving the Way for the Next Generations.” Presented in Cook Auditorium, the event was a rare opportunity to witness the testimony of Anaheim’s Japanese families who were incarcerated in camps during WWII.

Dr. Demaree was principal at Anaheim High during WWII when 50 students of Japanese descent were forced to leave their homes and relocate to the camps. Poignant in that Demaree was born in Japan to missionary parents, he was especially vocal in speaking out against discrimination toward Japanese-Americans, a courageous position to take considering the war fervor at the time.

As a musician and choral director, an arts development administrator, a political activist, and a devoted friend, Gania’s energetic intellect and vibrant personality enriched the lives of every person and community she encountered.

Gania grew up in Southern CA and earned a degree in choral music from Occidental College (1949) and a MA in Education from Columbia Teachers College (1952). She married the Rev. Dr. F. Thomas Trotter in 1953 and helped him establish Montclair Methodist Church in 1956.

In their 66 years of marriage, they supported each other through a wide array of professional and personal adventures in the service of many communities and callings. They were a loving, supportive and inspiring presence to their children and many extended family members.

In her university days, Gania studied choral music with Howard Swan and sang with Robert Shaw. Later, she was director of Choral Music at John Muir College. In the 1960s and 70s, she directed other choral groups, including the adult and youth choirs at Claremont UMC.

After moving to Nashville, TN in 1973, Gania devoted much of her energy to volunteer work in education and social services. She was a principal architect of a group whose work established major reforms in Nashville’s public schools. She was an active member of West End UMC, singing in the chancel choir and serving on many committees that shaped the congregational life. Professionally, her work as Director of Development for Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music enabled Gania to merge her love for music, education and community outreach.

In 1988, Gania and Tom moved to Anchorage, where Tom was President of Alaska Pacific University, and Gania built up the school’s development program. During this time, Gania and Tom were also deeply engaged in the founding and development of Africa University, a Pan-African and United Methodist-related institution in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

After retiring in 1995, Gania returned to work as Director of Development for Claremont School of Theology (1999-2001). In her post-retirement years, Gania remained active in political, environmental and arts groups, and held leadership and service positions at Mount San Antonio Gardens.

In 2017, she published her memoirs: a book cherished by many family members and friends. Gania is survived by her children, Ruth Elizabeth Trotter (Brett Watterson), Tania Trotter Batson (Greg Batson) and Mary Kathleen Trotter (Robert Kaufman); grand-children Thomas, Daniel and Wesley Batson; step-grandchildren Travis Watterson (Meetra), Ryan Watterson, and Rachel Azevedo (Lucas); and numerous beloved sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews.

Gania was predeceased by her husband Tom, parents Paul Holland and Mary Sunnen Demaree, siblings Kay Bean, Ruth Preston and Daniel Demaree, and daughter Paula Anne.