FULL TEXT: Two little girls with winning smiles yesterday were ordered returned to the custody of their mother over their tearful objections of their grandmother.
The difficult decision was made by Superior Court Judge Roy L. Hearndon in denying a petition filed by the grandmother, Mrs. Madge Williams, 50, of 3909 Alla Road , Venice
Mrs. Williams’ petition was fought by her daughter, Mrs. Ethel Martin, 27, UCLA library clerk, who charged that her mother had deliberately turned the children against her.
From the witness stand, Mrs. Williams charged that her daughter had been “running around” with “a half dozen other men” while still wed to the father of the girls, Frederick J. Schneider, 32, an aircraft company employee.
The grandmother testified that her daughter returned home under the influence of liquor on many occasions, failed to take proper care of the children, and in recent months paid them hardly any visits.
Mrs. Martin, now the wife of Earl W. Martin, 32, bus driver, countered with accusations that her mother had engendered hatred against her because she had divorced Schneider.
“My mother tried to hold Fred and me together by force,” Mrs. Martin declared. “There was no love between us, but still my mother insisted that we remain together. She upheld his side on every dispute we had.”
Mrs. Martin added that she had realized in recent months that she herself had been the victim of circumstances such as her children now face.
“After my father and mother were divorced,” Mrs. Martin testified, “my mother turned me against my father. I hated my father while I was a little girl.”
At the conclusion of testimony, Judge Herndon interviewed the older child. On announcement of the decision, the younger girl was already in her mother’s arms but Starr Anne broke into tears.
[“Girls in Custody Fight Ordered Back to Mother,” Los Angeles Times (Ca.), Jul. 16, 1950, part 2, p. 1]
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