Archie, Lucy, and Camilla

When the census-taker came to our house in April 1940, he found Archie Strout,  his wife Camilla, and adopted son Lindsay (14).  Archie's occupation was listed as "technical engineer" in the oil industry.   His annual income was $5,000, which was sumptuous in those days.

But who the hell were the Strouts?  What was their story?  I shifted from the National Archives to Google.  A few clicks revealed that Archie Strout went to UC Berkeley, graduating in the class of 1909.  He married Lucy Ray Finley on June 1, 1911.  They adopted Lindsay at some point and built our house in 1924. 

Why was Lucy replaced by Camilla?  According to the Berkeley Gazette archives, Lucy was driving from a volunteers' meeting at The Baby Hospital (now Children's Hospital, Oakland) on February 6, 1935, when she suffered a cerebral hemorrhrage at age 56.  She was buried in the family plot at the Santa Rosa Cemetery.  

The Strout plot in Santa Rosa Cemetery

Archie soldiered on in the house until 1960, when he sold to the Ellis family. When he died in 1970, he was buried next to Lucy in Santa Rosa.   

The  Ellises lived here until 1984, when we bought the house. They remodeled the original kitchen and added a bathroom, enclosed a porch, and extended the garage.  They also put up calico-ish wallpaper in my studio that I don't like but  am too lazy to do anything about.  But under that wallpaper:  A remnant of the Strouts?

Did Lucy or Camilla pick it out?