The four Babcock children were born at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, and delivered by their parents' good friend, Dr. Maynard Bensley.
Margery Elizabeth Babcock was born on May 30, 1927, the day her grandfather, Theodore Lewis Beck, was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. She was named for her mother's sister, Margery Elizabeth Beck.
Alida Kelsey Babcock, born January 16, 1930, was named for her father's mother, Alida May Kelsey Babcock.
Guilford Carlile Babcock III was born April 11, 1931. He was called Carlile as his father had been. He changed to Gil when he entered the tenth grade at the Webb School in Claremont, California; he changed the spelling to Guil in the 1980s.
Carlile, Margery & Alida | Mike, Carlile, Alida & Margery |
Alexander Beck Babcock, named for his mother's eldest brother, Alexander
Beck, was born on March 18, 1933, and was called Mike because he was born
close to Saint Patrick's Day and had red hair.
The Babcock family lived in Summit, New Jersey at 160 Bellevue Avenue. Carlile
and Dorothy built the house in 1926 and the children enjoyed playing on the
three floors and in the big backyard. Their mother ran a nursery school in
the garage for several years and Alida and Carlile were two of her students.
Life changed for the family in 1936 when they moved to Bradenton, Florida for two years; and on to a new home in Altadena, California in 1938. Running constant carpools for the children's different schedules at Polytechnic School in Pasadena soon convinced Dorothy that she wanted to live closer to school. Fortunately the house at 1099 Arden Road became available and the Babcocks made their final move there.
2612 N Lincoln, Altadena CA |
The family bought the beach house at 826 West Bay Avenue, Balboa in 1942, right after Pearl Harbor. The owners were fearful of a Japanese invasion of the west coast and were eager to sell. All four children spent their summers there, and would later bring their own children back for summer vacations.
826 W Bay Ave, Balboa CA |
All four Babcock children graduated from the ninth grade at Polytechnic Junior High School: Margery in 1942, Alida in 1945; Carlile in 1946 and Mike in 1948. The girls went on to Westridge School for Girls, graduating in 1945 and 1947; Guil and Mike went to the Webb School in Claremont, graduating in 1949 and 1951.
Margery went to Sweet Briar College, near Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated
in 1949. She loved the horseback riding and the beautiful countryside which
surrounded the campus, and kept up with her Sweet Briar friends for many years.
Alida entered Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, her grandmother
Babcock's alma mater, but withdrew after a semester of health problems. She
moved to Summit, New Jersey to live with the Becks and attended Kent Place
School, where her mother and aunt had gone. She spent two and a half years
at Scripps College in Claremont, before taking a trip to Europe. Her parents
wanted her to have this trip before her marriage to Gene Croft on June 27,
1952.
Three Guilford Carlile Babcocks | Guil, Marge, Lydy & Mike and pets | Marge, Becky, DeeDee, & Mary |
Guil went to college at Princeton University, where he majored in math and minored in English. He played four years of JV football, was a member of the Quadrangle Club, and was active in the campus Christian movement. He graduated in 1953, and joined the Army. Guil eventually spent eighteen months in Berlin with Army Counter Intelligence.
Mike followed Guil to Princeton, where he was a psychology major and a member of Tiger Inn. He graduated in 1955 and married Carole Louise Bailey on June 18 of the same year. The wedding was at Whitehall, her parents' home in Peru, Indiana. Mike and Carole spent the next three years with the Navy, first in Newport, Rhode Island while Mike attended Officer's Candidate School. Graduating second in his class, Mike was then able to select Jacksonville, Florida, for his two years of duty. Their eldest son, Michael Alexander Babcock was born on June 13, 1957, and their daughter, Linda Carole Babcock, on August 29, 1958.
Marge married Norman Carl Nagel on October 2, 1954. They lived in La Canada, and had three daughters: Margery Beck Nagel (Becky), born September 5, 1957, Dorothy Katharina Nagel (Deedee), born November 5, 1958, and Mary Babcock Nagel, born June 16, 1962. Marge taught horseback riding at the Flintridge Riding Club and all three daughters became strong riders. Marge and Norm were later divorced, and Marge remarried Franklin Reynolds Chamberlin on June 20, 1966.
Marge and Frank moved to a ranch in Grass Valley, which they called Triton Farms, and Marge became a teacher at the Clear Creek School. She was a popular teacher and an active member of the 4 H program. She raised horses and sheep as well as many small animals and continued to give horseback riding lessons. Frank died on May 11, 1986. Marge died tragically in a car accident on December 7, 1988.
Lydy and Gene had five children: four boys and a girl. Eugene Lewis Croft, Jr. (Geno), was born August 29, 1954, David Babcock Croft on August 9, 1955, Kelsey Lochridge Croft on May 27, 1957, Alexander Carlile Croft (Sandy), on July 30, 1958 and Alida Kelsey Croft (Lidy), on April 29, 1963.
Gene, Kelsey, Geno, Lydy & Lidy; Sandy & David Croft |
The Croft family lived in San Marino, Santa Barbara, Balboa and, finally moved to Grass Valley in 1968. Lydy and Gene were divorced, and Lydy married James Paul Grant on July 14, 1973. Two years later, Lydy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After surgery and an initial course of chemotherapy, she lived with several recurrences and accompanying courses of chemotherapy for eleven years. She finally succumbed to the cancer on February 26, 1987.
Mike and Carole returned to California. They lived in Tustin, Pasadena, La Jolla, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, and finally moved back to Pasadena. Scott Carlile Babcock was born on August 22, 1960 and David Bailey Babcock on February 23, 1963. Mike received his Masters of Arts in Education from USC in 1962, and began his teaching career at the La Jolla Country Day School. He next taught math at Polytechnic School and spent one year at the Crane School in Santa Barbara as Headmaster. He then returned to Poly, and in 1981 became Headmaster of the school.
Linda, Mike, Carole, David, Scott & Michael Babcock |
Carole is a multi-talented artist. She has performed as an actress and a dancer, and has painted and sculpted. She has concentrated on sculpture for the past few years.
After the Army, Guil earned his Masters of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in 1958. He then moved to Rockaway, New Jersey, for a year and a half while working for Stapling Machines Company. Early in 1960 he returned to Southern California to work as a financial analyst for Wagenseller and Durst, a local investment firm.
He married Gwendolyn Chandler Garland on December 3, 1960, in San Marino.
The following year, he returned to UCLA to work on his PhD, which he earned
in 1965. Sarah Garland Babcock was born in Los Angeles on October 2, 1961
and Ann Kelsey Babcock was born there on March 12, 1963. The following year,
the family moved to Berkeley when Guil took a job as Assistant Professor in
the School of Business Administration at the University of California.
Susan Hinman Babcock was born in Berkeley on November 4, 1965, and after the
family moved back to San Marino in 1968, John Carlile Babcock was born in
Los Angeles on July 14, 1969.
Sarah, John, Gwen, Guil, Annie, and Susan Babcock |
Guil joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1968, and continues as an Associate Professor in the department of Finance and Business Economics. Gwen serves on the board of the Times Mirror Company and is an Overseer of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. She has been a genealogist for 25 years.