Context: Photographer Peter Gowland and 1950s Pinup. Paige Young. Playboy. Under Construction.

Peter Gowland 1963-1965 It was around this time I think, Paige meets and models for famous photographer Peter Gowland. By this time, Peter and Alice Gowland had already enjoyed a thriving photography business for over a decade. This includes many Playboy Playmates. Richard Sample confirmed what I had suspected, that Paige had known and modeled for Gowland already several years before her Playboy centerfold…

1958-1962 Donna Cotterell remarries. Ned LaRocca dies. A New Decade.

Donna Virginia LaRocca Cotterell marries John “Jack” Holroyd in Las Vegas on October 3, 1958, per online Vegas wedding records difficult to decipher. Found on ancestry.com. Patriarch Joseph Ned LaRocca dies of lung cancer towards the end of 1959. Ned LaRocca’s grave is in Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar. Below are closeups of Ned LaRocca’s death certificate. It looks like he spent about…

1950s #3 Diana Cotterell. SFV. Grade School. Horses. Sepulveda Stables. Van Nuys Junior High.

Diana started grade school in about 1950. She attended Riverside Dr. Elementary. A schoolmate of Diana’s at Riverside confirmed this for me–Robbyn Samuels. I visited in 2016. Located at 13061 Riverside Drive. If the Cotterell girls walked to school from their house on Moorpark, all they had to do was turn north on Ethel Ave. and walk straight to the school. It could have…

1950s #2 SFV. Virginia Young LaRocca CSP. Family Life At 13055 Moorpark st. aka 4414 N. Ethel St.

Virginia Young LaRocca is Diana’s grandmother. She started out life as a Mormon in Utah, but somewhere along the way became a Christian Scientist. She is listed as “Chr. Sci.pr.” (Christian Science Practitioner) in Los Angeles telephone directories in the 40 and 50s, and listed with her own telephone line. A Christian Science practitioner is an individual who prays for others according to the teachings of Christian…

1950s #1 Updated 4/29/22: 1950 Census. Gardena. Move to San Fernando Valley. Ned LaRocca. Recording Industry LA. Leith Stevens.

San Fernando Valley abbreviated SFV. The newly released 1950 census gives us more information about the LaRocca/Cotterell family unit: listed at a residence in Gardena. Joseph’s occupation, Radio Orchestra Manager, Virginia, Christian Science Practitioner, Donna has an empty box for occupation, Head of House granddaughters Constance S is listed as 7 years and Diana L as 5 years. With this new information I now…