Before he passed, Charlotte’s brother Bob lamented that he was the only one left who could tell Charlotte’s story. Unfortunately, his health did not allow him to finish it. He did, however, leave some wonderful notes about the life and accomplishments of his older sister.
Bright, studious and artistic, Charlotte danced in her youth and graduated from South Pasadena High School and then from Stanford University. During World War II she worked as a top Secretary at Lockheed. She enlisted in the US Women’s Army Corps and was sent overseas to work as a WAC in Germany. At the end of the war, Charlotte stayed on and explored Europe on her own. This was remarkably adventurous, for a single woman in her twenties to explore Europe during the chaos and deprivations that followed World War II. Even with her WAC training, it can’t have been easy! She rented an apartment in Zermatt and eventually brought home many amazing photographs of post-war Europe.
Charlotte returned to America in the summer of 1952 on the Queen Mary, and became a distinguished librarian. She worked for years at the Henry E. Huntington Rare Book Library in San Marino, California, and secured summer jobs there for her young brother Bob while he was attending Pomona College. She then headed to San Diego, where for many years she served as Supervisor of the Art and Music Section of the San Diego Public Library.
The Speik Family 