Daughter of United Parcel Service co-founder,
Charles Wallace Soderstrom, Sr. and Clare Eloise Kimball Lind
(Birth daughter of Harry Clarence Lind)
Career: Artist for Walt Disney Studios and Esquire Magazine
Marriage
To Russell Miller
Death Notice
Rites Set for Mrs. Lorna Miller, 56 - Funeral service for Mrs. Lorna Shirley Miller, 56, who painted covers for Esquire magazine for five years, will be conducted today at 2 p.m. at the Halverson - Leavitt Mortuary, San Pedro. Mrs. Miller, who lived at 3721 Alta Mesa Place, North Hollywood, died Sunday of cancer. Before working foe Esquire she was a head artist at Walt Disney Studios. She leaves her husband, Russell; a brother, Charles Soderstrom, and mother, Clare E. Soderstrom. Burial will be at Green Hills Cemetery. (Los Angeles Times, Wed., 22 Mar. 1967, Part III, page 8)
California Death Index
Name: Lorna S Miller
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at Washington
Death: 19 Mar 1967 at Los Angeles Co.
Mother's Maiden Name: Kimball
Burial: 22 Mar 1967, per cemetery records
(Laid to rest beside parents & brother)
Washington Birth Record
Name: (female) Lind
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at King Co., Washington
Father: Harry C. Lind
MotherL Clare E Kimball
Census
1930 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles W Soderstrom 54, married age 31, b. PA [Sweden], parents Sweden, secretary delivery service co., owns home $25,000
-Clare E Soderstrom, wife, 43, married age 23, b. NE, father IA, mother ME
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 19, b. WA
-Charles W Soderstrom Jr, son, 17, b. WA
-June V Kimball, niece, 9, b. WA, parents WA
1940 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles Soderstrom 64, b. PA [Sweden]
-Clare Soderstrom, wife, 53, b. NE
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 29, b. WA, sculptor for motion picture studio
-Charles Soderstrom Jr, son, 27, Proprietor Automobile Agency
-June Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 19, b. WA
-Lois Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 17, b. WA
In 1935 family in same house
[June & Lois Kimball were daughters of Clare's brother Fred Ellsworth Kimball & his wife Elsie Pelton, all born Seattle, WA; June Virginia, a registered nurse, married Army & then Air Force officer Seward Hansel Allen on 14 Jan 1946 at San Francisco.]
Parents
Step/adoptive father, Charles Wallace Soderstrom, was one of the four founders of the United Parcel Service in 1916 at Seattle, Washington. He is credited with naming the company and wisely choosing the now iconic "Pullman brown" color for the company's fleet of delivery vehicles, which he meticulously maintained. The other founders considered Charles their sage and depended on his judgment, problem solving, diligence, mechanical knowledge, quest for innovations, and attention to detail. However, in 1928 tragedy struck at Los Angeles's Fox Hills Country Club fairway when a golf ball struck his head, caving and cracking his skull requiring two surgeries by a top brain surgeon. Despite serious permanent injuries, Soderstrom continued to serve as the company's Vice-President until he retired between 1935 and 1937. He passed away in 1948, twenty years after the golfing accident, with his death certificate including the head injury among the causes of death.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he came to America with his family with residences including Olean, New York; Sheffield, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington. Drawn to vehicles and mechanized equipment, by 1903, Charles Soderstrom owned an automobile. When he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920's, he had one of the first two Model-A Fords in town, the other owned by actress Mary Pickford.
Death Notices
Soderstrom Dies -- Funeral services will be he;d at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn, for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, who died yesterday at Westwood [Whittier]. Mr. Soderstrom, father of Chas. W. Soderstrom Jr., San Pedro motor car dealer, was one of the four founders in 1907 [1916] in Seattle, Wash., of the United Parcel Service. He came to Southern California in 1922 and until his retirement in 1935 was a vice president of the firm. He was born in Allegheny, New York [Stockholm, Sweden]. Besides his interest in the United Parcel Service, Mr. Soderstrom aided in the development of color photography and for a time was assoociated with Telegraph Delivery Service. Besides his son, he leaves his wife, Mrs. Clare Soderstrom, and a daughter, Mrs. Shirley Miller of Westwood. (News-Pilot, San Pedro, California, Wed., 17 Mar 1948, p. 2)
Charles W. Soderstrom-- Funeral services for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, of 1034 Selby Ave., West Los Angeles, retired vice-president of the United Parcel Service Co. who died Tuesday, will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn Mortuary in charge. He leaves his widow Clare, a daughter, Mrs. Lorna S. Miller; a son, Charles Jr., and two nieces. (Los Angeles Times, Thurs., 18 Mar 1948, part II, p. 16)
Marriage
Washington Marriage Certificate
Groom: Charles W Soderstrom
Bride: Clare E. Lind
Marriage Date: 6 Nov 1920
Marriage Place: Seattle, King, Washington; 4228 Latona Ave
Father
California Death Certificate
Name: Charles Wallace Soderstrom
Age: 72 years, 9 months, 28 days
Birth: 18 May 1875 at Sweden
Death: 16 Mar 1948
Death Place: Whittier, Los Angeles, California; Grandview Sanitarium; stay 4 1/2 months.
Cause of death: Circulatory Failure, 6 days; Medullary Failure, 6 days; Generalized Arteriosclerosis; Dementia due to Head Injury, 20 years.
Residence: 1034 Selby ave, West Los Angeles
Stay: 25 years in California; 67 years in U.S.
Occupation: Vice President, United Parcel Service
Spouse: Clare E. Soderstrom, age 61
Father: born Sweden
Mother: born Stockholm, Sweden
Informant: Clare E. Soderstrom, 1034 Selby Ave, West Los Angeles
Burial: 19 Mar 1948 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale
Funeral Director: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association, Glendale
Cemetery Records
Green Hills Memorial Park
Re interred: 14 Nov 1972, at time of wife Clare's burial
Birthplace
Stockholm, Sweden (wife's Repatriation Naturalization document)
Came to U.S. with parents in 1880
His family settled at Sheffield, PA, then to Olean & Portville, New York; later Charles brought his parents to Seattle, WA.
Social Security Applications & Claims Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom
SSN: 129096541
Birth: 18 May 1875 Sheffield, PA [Stockholm, Sweden]
Father: Carl A [W]. Soderstrom[
Mother: Maria Peterson
Census
1900 Census, Portville, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn Street
(his parents & sisters)
-Carl W Soderstrom, head, 56, May 1844, b. Sweden, imm 1880, Barkloader at Tannery
-Marie E Soderstrom, wife, 53, Sept 1846, married 31 yrs, b. Swede, imm 1880
-Frances K Soderstrom, dau, 17, Sec 1882, b. PA, servant
-Florance E Soderstrom, dau, 13, Apr 1887, b. NY
1905 Census, Portville village, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn St.
-Charles Soderstrom, head, 61, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Currier
-Mary Soderstrom, wife, 59, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs
-Charles* E Soderstrom, son, 30, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Street Car Conductor
-Kate Soderstrom, dau, 22, b. U.S.
-Florence Soderstrom, dau, 18, b. U.S.
1920 census, Seattle, King, Washington; 538 Ravenna Blvd.
-Charles* W Soderstrom, head, 44, widowed, b. Sweden, imm 1880, native tongue Swedish, can speak English, Manager Merchant Parcel Delivery, owns home free of mortgage
-Charles W Soderstrom, father, 75, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880, retired
-Mary Soderstrom, mother, 73, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880
-Florence Soderstrom, sister, 32, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, School teacher
-Edith Johnson, niece, 28, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, stenographer postal telegraph
-Roy Johnson, nephew, 24, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, mechanic Merchant delivery
His Father
Carl William Soderstrom (1844- 1920)
Seattle, WA Death Notice lists him as "Carl William Soderstrom, 538 Ravenna Blvd."
His Mother
Washington, Select Death Certificate
Name: Mary Soderstrom
Age: 84(b. abt 1845)
Death: 30 Oct 1929 Seattle, King, Washington
Marital status: Married
Spouse: Carl Soderstrom
Mother: Mary Anderson
Burial Date: 2 Nov 1929 at Lake View Cemetery
Mother
California Death Index
Name: Clare E Soderstrom
Birth: 27 Sep 1886 at Nebraska
Death: 10 Nov 1972 at Los Angeles Co.
SSDI: Last residence San Pedro, CA
Burial: 14 Nov 1972, per cemetery records
Brother
California Death Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom [Jr]
Birth: 14 Feb 1913 at Washington
Death: 27 Jun 1976 at Los Angeles Co.
Burial: 1 Jul 1976, per cemetery records
[Married Dolores Lorraine Peterson b. SD; he had previously married Demetra A Castleberry (b. AZ) on 9 Jun 1936 at Signal Hill, CA]
Charles Jr owned a Ford Dealership at 16th & Pacific, San Pedro, CA. On the 11 May 1950 front page of the Torrance Herald he announced his plans to set a new record for light twin engine airplanes in his proposed June 1st coast-to-coast non-stop flight in a Beechcraft Bonanza. He took up flying in 1934. The front page of the 8 June 1950 paper confirmed his successful record breaking non-stop flight from San Pedro, CA to La Guadria in NY at 16 hours, 12 minutes. Active in the community, and also politically active, he served as Chairman of the Rebublican Central Committee of the 17th Congressional District.
His wife Dolores
Dolores Lorraine Soderstrom (1923 - 2011)
Dolores Soderstrom passed away peacefully with her family by her side on August 25, 2011. She was a longtime resident of the San Pedro and Palos Verdes area. She was born Dolores Lorraine Peterson to Mabel and Clayton Peterson on July 9, 1923 in Oldham South Dakota. She attended nursing school and moved to CA in 1943 to help the war effort. She met and married her longtime sweetheart Charles W. Soderstrom in 1946. She was a beloved wife and mother contributing her time to her children and the community. In later years she became a successful business woman after her husband passed away. She leaves her daughters, Maya, Mona; and her son, Charles W. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren, Natalie, Audrey, Kimberly, Charles Soderstrom; Michelle and Marisa Cerami. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 11am at Green Hills Memorial Chapel. Reception to follow after graveside services at Rolling Hills Country Club, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. (An obituary was published in Daily Breeze, Torrance, California, on Sept. 1, 2011
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More About Father
Charles Wallace Soderstrom
(excerpt from Big Brown, by Greg Niemann)
Golf Accident Ends Career
Charles W. Soderstrom became one of the four founding partners of UPS in 1916, but a freak golfing accident in 1928 effectively ended his career. His input, mature outlook, diligence, and attention to detail, especially in developing and maintaining the company’s early fleet, are his legacy.
In the years of Merchants Parcel Delivery, Jim Casey explored every avenue he could think of that might lead to infusions of capital. He talked to bankers and others who might be interested in helping with the future development of their business. One possible investor who had an interest in the business was Charlie Soderstrom.
It was thus that the young company received a windfall in 1916, not only in the form of cash, but what came with the cash—a mature, experienced delivery man whose mechanical knowledge and quest for new innovations helped set the tone for the delivery company for years to come. His name was Charles W. Soderstrom and he became the fourth partner.
Born in Sweden
Born in Sweden in 1875, Charlie Soderstrom came to America with his family who settled in the small town of Olean, New York. He had to leave school before graduating from elementary school and went to work in a tannery where he became fascinated with all the machines in the plant.
He also learned how to play the cornet in his spare time and formed a band. Charlie Soderstrom and his Olean Brass Band were soon playing to numerous venues across the northeast. Then in 1898, at age 23, Soderstrom moved to Seattle, Washington, a city that had attracted many Swedes and Norwegians.
His first job in Seattle was as a streetcar motorman, which he shortly left to become a driver of a horse-drawn team owned by an old man named Cady, from which he delivered coal to various businesses and residences.
Instead of Cady getting most of the profits, the tall, gangly Swede bought his own horse-drawn team. He then went into business for himself and began hauling household goods and other miscellaneous trunks and crates. He also delivered furniture for a large furniture company.
This led to a contract for Soderstrom to handle the deliveries for the Stone-Fisher Company, a large dry-goods store (later renamed the Fraser-Paterson Company, one of Seattle’s largest department stores and owned by R.P. Paterson).
Among Soderstrom’s duties was purchasing and maintaining the company’s fleet of Ford delivery vehicles. He also took charge of their deliveries and became known as the best delivery department manager in Seattle. He had a good business sense, understood people, and loved vehicles and mechanized equipment. In fact, even by 1903 Soderstrom had owned an automobile, a second-hand Buick.
He then purchased a Hudson and drove it around for a number of years, the spotless vehicle definitely impressing the partners at Merchants Parcel Delivery when he met with them to discuss business.
Soderstrom later purchased a Stanley Steamer that he drove back and forth from his home in Green Lake, Seattle to Merchants Parcel Delivery. In Los Angeles in the early 1920s he had one of the first two Model A Fords in town. The other belonged to actress Mary Pickford.
Fraser-Paterson started using Merchants Parcel Delivery to augment the store’s delivery service by making out-of-area deliveries and providing special delivery services.
Jim Casey and his partners had great respect for Soderstrom. Jim realized that if they could get Charlie to have a financial interest in their company, they could continue to consult him in delivery and fleet matters. Soderstrom, meanwhile, was impressed with what Casey was doing and could continue to do, so on July 16, 1916, he bought $10,000 worth of Merchants Parcel Delivery stock, becoming a partner in the process.
At first, Soderstrom stayed in employ at Fraser-Paterson but went to Merchants Parcel Delivery every day to look over its fleet, take notes and offer suggestions. In time, Soderstrom left the Fraser-Paterson delivery department to his assistant Andy Duval and joined Merchants Parcel Delivery full time.
The company that Merchants Parcel Delivery grew into, United Parcel Service, became known through the years as a company with well-maintained, clean attractive vehicles. Much of that image is directly attributable to Charlie Soderstrom. He kept the fleet in tip-top condition and ensured that the vehicles were well maintained. To this day, thanks to practices established by Soderstrom, UPS performs several levels of formal Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs) designed to thwart prospective problems before they occur.
Why Brown?
Soderstrom is responsible for the famous UPS Brown as the company’s standard color. With the first Model T Ford painted red, it stood out. However, an advertising man told Jim Casey that yellow was the most conspicuous color, so they painted the second car yellow as they wanted to be conspicuous.
They had different schools of thought when it came to painting the third car, Jim Casey recalled. If they painted it a third color, perhaps the public might think they had a great many more vehicles than they actually had. The other idea was to paint them all the same color to create a standard fleet. After much discussion, Casey remembered, they decided to adopt the conspicuous yellow as the standard color for the fleet.
Soderstrom knew how the department stores would react to the bright yellow fleet and was appalled when he learned of that decision. He explained that the department stores saw their own vehicles as a form of advertising. For the stores to disband their own fleets and turn their parcels over to a company like Merchants Parcel Delivery, they would want the change to be subtle and scarcely noticed. He argued for a much more conservative color. The other partners, once empowered with that new viewpoint, agreed.
Soderstrom, in looking for the proper conservative color, discussed the dilemma with an old carriage painter named Charlie Place. Place told him about the recent experiments run by a railroad sleeper-car company named Pullman. Pullman wanted their rail cars to look as clean as possible even when out on the tracks subject to the elements of rain, snow and dust. Their experiments resulted in Pullman Brown, a distinctive color that blended well with the dirt. So the first Merchants Parcel Delivery fleet was painted Pullman Brown. During the early years the exact color changed slightly to become the UPS Brown in use today.
Tragedy struck
In the midst of the heady times following the UPS expansion into Los Angeles in the 1920s, tragedy struck, causing Charles Soderstrom to become the first of the four founders to step out of the leadership picture.
Soderstrom had been a widower in Seattle, who owned his own home and had his parents and sister living with him when he joined Jim Casey and his partners. He even occasionally sent his retired father, who was in his eighties, out on a few special deliveries just to give him something to do. Charlie remarried in Seattle right after the UPS opening in Oakland, and later moved his family to Los Angeles.
The other founders constantly sought advice from Soderstrom, whom they considered their sage. According to Jim Casey, “If we had a problem, we would talk to Charlie about it. Any situation which required the reasoning power, the judgment he possessed, was put on the table in front of him. He could sense whether something should be done or not.
“Though he lacked a formal education as such, he was still our advisor in every sense of the word. We called on Charlie for more or less an outsider’s slant on things…he could so often see what we couldn’t.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s days as a sounding board were tragically cut short. In late March, 1928, he was golfing at the Fox Hills Country Club in Los Angeles. He was standing in the middle of a fairway when a nearby golfer’s tee shot hit solidly on his skull, right above his ear. While Charlie remained conscious, his playing partner decided to stop right then.
According to Jim Casey, “Mac and I were together when the call came in. I immediately called our doctor, J. Mark Lacey, and he advised us that Charlie should be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital for X-rays. Mac and I were there when the ambulance drove up. Charlie lay there, his eyes open, a half smile on his face.
“The X-rays were taken and with Dr. Lacey we saw the results—the impact had caved in part of his skull and from that area radial cracks shot out. We were told it could be very serious, and immediately Dr. C.W. Rand, a top brain surgeon, was called in.”
After brief tests it was determined an operation was needed immediately. Jim Casey recalled, “Charlie looked up at me and said ‘I want you right with me, Jim.’ I stayed by his side, all during the operation. I can see it even today.
“That marked the end of the most active part of his career. We thought he was recovering, but he began to get dizzy spells—headaches—although this didn’t keep him from work. He would never make it through a full day—we didn’t want him to—but his advice was still a valuable commodity, and people still came for it.”
Soderstrom had to have a second operation two years later, Casey again at his side. “Once more I stood next to him during the whole thing. Who says a man never cries?”
After the second operation, Soderstrom convalesced at the Desert Hotel in the Mojave Desert near Twentynine Palms, California. He was visited by numerous of his former co-workers, including Mr. and Mrs. Bert Meyer (Sales manager and the first Big Idea editor) and Mr. and Mrs. Bert Barnes (Sales/Big Idea editor) who wrote about their visits in the company publication.
While Charlie Soderstrom did make a couple of later trips to New York, he couldn’t do much. Although a semi-invalid, his consulting was still highly regarded. But a saddened Jim Casey realized he had lost another partner.
Soderstrom, whose ideas and attention to detail became hallmarks at UPS, retired in 1937, and lived in a continually deteriorating mental condition until finally passing away on March 6, 1948 at the age of 83 [72]. He was survived by his wife Clare, a daughter, Shirley, and a son, Charles, Jr.
Charles W. Soderstrom Jr. was also an achiever. Owner of a San Pedro, California Ford agency and California delegate to the Republican National Convention, Charles Jr. got his name in a record book for flying a small plane non-stop from Los Angeles to New York. (Excerpt from Greg Niemann book, Big Brown)
Charles Wallace Soderstrom, Sr. and Clare Eloise Kimball Lind
(Birth daughter of Harry Clarence Lind)
Career: Artist for Walt Disney Studios and Esquire Magazine
Marriage
To Russell Miller
Death Notice
Rites Set for Mrs. Lorna Miller, 56 - Funeral service for Mrs. Lorna Shirley Miller, 56, who painted covers for Esquire magazine for five years, will be conducted today at 2 p.m. at the Halverson - Leavitt Mortuary, San Pedro. Mrs. Miller, who lived at 3721 Alta Mesa Place, North Hollywood, died Sunday of cancer. Before working foe Esquire she was a head artist at Walt Disney Studios. She leaves her husband, Russell; a brother, Charles Soderstrom, and mother, Clare E. Soderstrom. Burial will be at Green Hills Cemetery. (Los Angeles Times, Wed., 22 Mar. 1967, Part III, page 8)
California Death Index
Name: Lorna S Miller
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at Washington
Death: 19 Mar 1967 at Los Angeles Co.
Mother's Maiden Name: Kimball
Burial: 22 Mar 1967, per cemetery records
(Laid to rest beside parents & brother)
Washington Birth Record
Name: (female) Lind
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at King Co., Washington
Father: Harry C. Lind
MotherL Clare E Kimball
Census
1930 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles W Soderstrom 54, married age 31, b. PA [Sweden], parents Sweden, secretary delivery service co., owns home $25,000
-Clare E Soderstrom, wife, 43, married age 23, b. NE, father IA, mother ME
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 19, b. WA
-Charles W Soderstrom Jr, son, 17, b. WA
-June V Kimball, niece, 9, b. WA, parents WA
1940 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles Soderstrom 64, b. PA [Sweden]
-Clare Soderstrom, wife, 53, b. NE
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 29, b. WA, sculptor for motion picture studio
-Charles Soderstrom Jr, son, 27, Proprietor Automobile Agency
-June Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 19, b. WA
-Lois Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 17, b. WA
In 1935 family in same house
[June & Lois Kimball were daughters of Clare's brother Fred Ellsworth Kimball & his wife Elsie Pelton, all born Seattle, WA; June Virginia, a registered nurse, married Army & then Air Force officer Seward Hansel Allen on 14 Jan 1946 at San Francisco.]
Parents
Step/adoptive father, Charles Wallace Soderstrom, was one of the four founders of the United Parcel Service in 1916 at Seattle, Washington. He is credited with naming the company and wisely choosing the now iconic "Pullman brown" color for the company's fleet of delivery vehicles, which he meticulously maintained. The other founders considered Charles their sage and depended on his judgment, problem solving, diligence, mechanical knowledge, quest for innovations, and attention to detail. However, in 1928 tragedy struck at Los Angeles's Fox Hills Country Club fairway when a golf ball struck his head, caving and cracking his skull requiring two surgeries by a top brain surgeon. Despite serious permanent injuries, Soderstrom continued to serve as the company's Vice-President until he retired between 1935 and 1937. He passed away in 1948, twenty years after the golfing accident, with his death certificate including the head injury among the causes of death.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he came to America with his family with residences including Olean, New York; Sheffield, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington. Drawn to vehicles and mechanized equipment, by 1903, Charles Soderstrom owned an automobile. When he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920's, he had one of the first two Model-A Fords in town, the other owned by actress Mary Pickford.
Death Notices
Soderstrom Dies -- Funeral services will be he;d at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn, for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, who died yesterday at Westwood [Whittier]. Mr. Soderstrom, father of Chas. W. Soderstrom Jr., San Pedro motor car dealer, was one of the four founders in 1907 [1916] in Seattle, Wash., of the United Parcel Service. He came to Southern California in 1922 and until his retirement in 1935 was a vice president of the firm. He was born in Allegheny, New York [Stockholm, Sweden]. Besides his interest in the United Parcel Service, Mr. Soderstrom aided in the development of color photography and for a time was assoociated with Telegraph Delivery Service. Besides his son, he leaves his wife, Mrs. Clare Soderstrom, and a daughter, Mrs. Shirley Miller of Westwood. (News-Pilot, San Pedro, California, Wed., 17 Mar 1948, p. 2)
Charles W. Soderstrom-- Funeral services for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, of 1034 Selby Ave., West Los Angeles, retired vice-president of the United Parcel Service Co. who died Tuesday, will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn Mortuary in charge. He leaves his widow Clare, a daughter, Mrs. Lorna S. Miller; a son, Charles Jr., and two nieces. (Los Angeles Times, Thurs., 18 Mar 1948, part II, p. 16)
Marriage
Washington Marriage Certificate
Groom: Charles W Soderstrom
Bride: Clare E. Lind
Marriage Date: 6 Nov 1920
Marriage Place: Seattle, King, Washington; 4228 Latona Ave
Father
California Death Certificate
Name: Charles Wallace Soderstrom
Age: 72 years, 9 months, 28 days
Birth: 18 May 1875 at Sweden
Death: 16 Mar 1948
Death Place: Whittier, Los Angeles, California; Grandview Sanitarium; stay 4 1/2 months.
Cause of death: Circulatory Failure, 6 days; Medullary Failure, 6 days; Generalized Arteriosclerosis; Dementia due to Head Injury, 20 years.
Residence: 1034 Selby ave, West Los Angeles
Stay: 25 years in California; 67 years in U.S.
Occupation: Vice President, United Parcel Service
Spouse: Clare E. Soderstrom, age 61
Father: born Sweden
Mother: born Stockholm, Sweden
Informant: Clare E. Soderstrom, 1034 Selby Ave, West Los Angeles
Burial: 19 Mar 1948 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale
Funeral Director: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association, Glendale
Cemetery Records
Green Hills Memorial Park
Re interred: 14 Nov 1972, at time of wife Clare's burial
Birthplace
Stockholm, Sweden (wife's Repatriation Naturalization document)
Came to U.S. with parents in 1880
His family settled at Sheffield, PA, then to Olean & Portville, New York; later Charles brought his parents to Seattle, WA.
Social Security Applications & Claims Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom
SSN: 129096541
Birth: 18 May 1875 Sheffield, PA [Stockholm, Sweden]
Father: Carl A [W]. Soderstrom[
Mother: Maria Peterson
Census
1900 Census, Portville, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn Street
(his parents & sisters)
-Carl W Soderstrom, head, 56, May 1844, b. Sweden, imm 1880, Barkloader at Tannery
-Marie E Soderstrom, wife, 53, Sept 1846, married 31 yrs, b. Swede, imm 1880
-Frances K Soderstrom, dau, 17, Sec 1882, b. PA, servant
-Florance E Soderstrom, dau, 13, Apr 1887, b. NY
1905 Census, Portville village, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn St.
-Charles Soderstrom, head, 61, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Currier
-Mary Soderstrom, wife, 59, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs
-Charles* E Soderstrom, son, 30, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Street Car Conductor
-Kate Soderstrom, dau, 22, b. U.S.
-Florence Soderstrom, dau, 18, b. U.S.
1920 census, Seattle, King, Washington; 538 Ravenna Blvd.
-Charles* W Soderstrom, head, 44, widowed, b. Sweden, imm 1880, native tongue Swedish, can speak English, Manager Merchant Parcel Delivery, owns home free of mortgage
-Charles W Soderstrom, father, 75, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880, retired
-Mary Soderstrom, mother, 73, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880
-Florence Soderstrom, sister, 32, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, School teacher
-Edith Johnson, niece, 28, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, stenographer postal telegraph
-Roy Johnson, nephew, 24, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, mechanic Merchant delivery
His Father
Carl William Soderstrom (1844- 1920)
Seattle, WA Death Notice lists him as "Carl William Soderstrom, 538 Ravenna Blvd."
His Mother
Washington, Select Death Certificate
Name: Mary Soderstrom
Age: 84(b. abt 1845)
Death: 30 Oct 1929 Seattle, King, Washington
Marital status: Married
Spouse: Carl Soderstrom
Mother: Mary Anderson
Burial Date: 2 Nov 1929 at Lake View Cemetery
Mother
California Death Index
Name: Clare E Soderstrom
Birth: 27 Sep 1886 at Nebraska
Death: 10 Nov 1972 at Los Angeles Co.
SSDI: Last residence San Pedro, CA
Burial: 14 Nov 1972, per cemetery records
Brother
California Death Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom [Jr]
Birth: 14 Feb 1913 at Washington
Death: 27 Jun 1976 at Los Angeles Co.
Burial: 1 Jul 1976, per cemetery records
[Married Dolores Lorraine Peterson b. SD; he had previously married Demetra A Castleberry (b. AZ) on 9 Jun 1936 at Signal Hill, CA]
Charles Jr owned a Ford Dealership at 16th & Pacific, San Pedro, CA. On the 11 May 1950 front page of the Torrance Herald he announced his plans to set a new record for light twin engine airplanes in his proposed June 1st coast-to-coast non-stop flight in a Beechcraft Bonanza. He took up flying in 1934. The front page of the 8 June 1950 paper confirmed his successful record breaking non-stop flight from San Pedro, CA to La Guadria in NY at 16 hours, 12 minutes. Active in the community, and also politically active, he served as Chairman of the Rebublican Central Committee of the 17th Congressional District.
His wife Dolores
Dolores Lorraine Soderstrom (1923 - 2011)
Dolores Soderstrom passed away peacefully with her family by her side on August 25, 2011. She was a longtime resident of the San Pedro and Palos Verdes area. She was born Dolores Lorraine Peterson to Mabel and Clayton Peterson on July 9, 1923 in Oldham South Dakota. She attended nursing school and moved to CA in 1943 to help the war effort. She met and married her longtime sweetheart Charles W. Soderstrom in 1946. She was a beloved wife and mother contributing her time to her children and the community. In later years she became a successful business woman after her husband passed away. She leaves her daughters, Maya, Mona; and her son, Charles W. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren, Natalie, Audrey, Kimberly, Charles Soderstrom; Michelle and Marisa Cerami. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 11am at Green Hills Memorial Chapel. Reception to follow after graveside services at Rolling Hills Country Club, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. (An obituary was published in Daily Breeze, Torrance, California, on Sept. 1, 2011
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More About Father
Charles Wallace Soderstrom
(excerpt from Big Brown, by Greg Niemann)
Golf Accident Ends Career
Charles W. Soderstrom became one of the four founding partners of UPS in 1916, but a freak golfing accident in 1928 effectively ended his career. His input, mature outlook, diligence, and attention to detail, especially in developing and maintaining the company’s early fleet, are his legacy.
In the years of Merchants Parcel Delivery, Jim Casey explored every avenue he could think of that might lead to infusions of capital. He talked to bankers and others who might be interested in helping with the future development of their business. One possible investor who had an interest in the business was Charlie Soderstrom.
It was thus that the young company received a windfall in 1916, not only in the form of cash, but what came with the cash—a mature, experienced delivery man whose mechanical knowledge and quest for new innovations helped set the tone for the delivery company for years to come. His name was Charles W. Soderstrom and he became the fourth partner.
Born in Sweden
Born in Sweden in 1875, Charlie Soderstrom came to America with his family who settled in the small town of Olean, New York. He had to leave school before graduating from elementary school and went to work in a tannery where he became fascinated with all the machines in the plant.
He also learned how to play the cornet in his spare time and formed a band. Charlie Soderstrom and his Olean Brass Band were soon playing to numerous venues across the northeast. Then in 1898, at age 23, Soderstrom moved to Seattle, Washington, a city that had attracted many Swedes and Norwegians.
His first job in Seattle was as a streetcar motorman, which he shortly left to become a driver of a horse-drawn team owned by an old man named Cady, from which he delivered coal to various businesses and residences.
Instead of Cady getting most of the profits, the tall, gangly Swede bought his own horse-drawn team. He then went into business for himself and began hauling household goods and other miscellaneous trunks and crates. He also delivered furniture for a large furniture company.
This led to a contract for Soderstrom to handle the deliveries for the Stone-Fisher Company, a large dry-goods store (later renamed the Fraser-Paterson Company, one of Seattle’s largest department stores and owned by R.P. Paterson).
Among Soderstrom’s duties was purchasing and maintaining the company’s fleet of Ford delivery vehicles. He also took charge of their deliveries and became known as the best delivery department manager in Seattle. He had a good business sense, understood people, and loved vehicles and mechanized equipment. In fact, even by 1903 Soderstrom had owned an automobile, a second-hand Buick.
He then purchased a Hudson and drove it around for a number of years, the spotless vehicle definitely impressing the partners at Merchants Parcel Delivery when he met with them to discuss business.
Soderstrom later purchased a Stanley Steamer that he drove back and forth from his home in Green Lake, Seattle to Merchants Parcel Delivery. In Los Angeles in the early 1920s he had one of the first two Model A Fords in town. The other belonged to actress Mary Pickford.
Fraser-Paterson started using Merchants Parcel Delivery to augment the store’s delivery service by making out-of-area deliveries and providing special delivery services.
Jim Casey and his partners had great respect for Soderstrom. Jim realized that if they could get Charlie to have a financial interest in their company, they could continue to consult him in delivery and fleet matters. Soderstrom, meanwhile, was impressed with what Casey was doing and could continue to do, so on July 16, 1916, he bought $10,000 worth of Merchants Parcel Delivery stock, becoming a partner in the process.
At first, Soderstrom stayed in employ at Fraser-Paterson but went to Merchants Parcel Delivery every day to look over its fleet, take notes and offer suggestions. In time, Soderstrom left the Fraser-Paterson delivery department to his assistant Andy Duval and joined Merchants Parcel Delivery full time.
The company that Merchants Parcel Delivery grew into, United Parcel Service, became known through the years as a company with well-maintained, clean attractive vehicles. Much of that image is directly attributable to Charlie Soderstrom. He kept the fleet in tip-top condition and ensured that the vehicles were well maintained. To this day, thanks to practices established by Soderstrom, UPS performs several levels of formal Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs) designed to thwart prospective problems before they occur.
Why Brown?
Soderstrom is responsible for the famous UPS Brown as the company’s standard color. With the first Model T Ford painted red, it stood out. However, an advertising man told Jim Casey that yellow was the most conspicuous color, so they painted the second car yellow as they wanted to be conspicuous.
They had different schools of thought when it came to painting the third car, Jim Casey recalled. If they painted it a third color, perhaps the public might think they had a great many more vehicles than they actually had. The other idea was to paint them all the same color to create a standard fleet. After much discussion, Casey remembered, they decided to adopt the conspicuous yellow as the standard color for the fleet.
Soderstrom knew how the department stores would react to the bright yellow fleet and was appalled when he learned of that decision. He explained that the department stores saw their own vehicles as a form of advertising. For the stores to disband their own fleets and turn their parcels over to a company like Merchants Parcel Delivery, they would want the change to be subtle and scarcely noticed. He argued for a much more conservative color. The other partners, once empowered with that new viewpoint, agreed.
Soderstrom, in looking for the proper conservative color, discussed the dilemma with an old carriage painter named Charlie Place. Place told him about the recent experiments run by a railroad sleeper-car company named Pullman. Pullman wanted their rail cars to look as clean as possible even when out on the tracks subject to the elements of rain, snow and dust. Their experiments resulted in Pullman Brown, a distinctive color that blended well with the dirt. So the first Merchants Parcel Delivery fleet was painted Pullman Brown. During the early years the exact color changed slightly to become the UPS Brown in use today.
Tragedy struck
In the midst of the heady times following the UPS expansion into Los Angeles in the 1920s, tragedy struck, causing Charles Soderstrom to become the first of the four founders to step out of the leadership picture.
Soderstrom had been a widower in Seattle, who owned his own home and had his parents and sister living with him when he joined Jim Casey and his partners. He even occasionally sent his retired father, who was in his eighties, out on a few special deliveries just to give him something to do. Charlie remarried in Seattle right after the UPS opening in Oakland, and later moved his family to Los Angeles.
The other founders constantly sought advice from Soderstrom, whom they considered their sage. According to Jim Casey, “If we had a problem, we would talk to Charlie about it. Any situation which required the reasoning power, the judgment he possessed, was put on the table in front of him. He could sense whether something should be done or not.
“Though he lacked a formal education as such, he was still our advisor in every sense of the word. We called on Charlie for more or less an outsider’s slant on things…he could so often see what we couldn’t.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s days as a sounding board were tragically cut short. In late March, 1928, he was golfing at the Fox Hills Country Club in Los Angeles. He was standing in the middle of a fairway when a nearby golfer’s tee shot hit solidly on his skull, right above his ear. While Charlie remained conscious, his playing partner decided to stop right then.
According to Jim Casey, “Mac and I were together when the call came in. I immediately called our doctor, J. Mark Lacey, and he advised us that Charlie should be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital for X-rays. Mac and I were there when the ambulance drove up. Charlie lay there, his eyes open, a half smile on his face.
“The X-rays were taken and with Dr. Lacey we saw the results—the impact had caved in part of his skull and from that area radial cracks shot out. We were told it could be very serious, and immediately Dr. C.W. Rand, a top brain surgeon, was called in.”
After brief tests it was determined an operation was needed immediately. Jim Casey recalled, “Charlie looked up at me and said ‘I want you right with me, Jim.’ I stayed by his side, all during the operation. I can see it even today.
“That marked the end of the most active part of his career. We thought he was recovering, but he began to get dizzy spells—headaches—although this didn’t keep him from work. He would never make it through a full day—we didn’t want him to—but his advice was still a valuable commodity, and people still came for it.”
Soderstrom had to have a second operation two years later, Casey again at his side. “Once more I stood next to him during the whole thing. Who says a man never cries?”
After the second operation, Soderstrom convalesced at the Desert Hotel in the Mojave Desert near Twentynine Palms, California. He was visited by numerous of his former co-workers, including Mr. and Mrs. Bert Meyer (Sales manager and the first Big Idea editor) and Mr. and Mrs. Bert Barnes (Sales/Big Idea editor) who wrote about their visits in the company publication.
While Charlie Soderstrom did make a couple of later trips to New York, he couldn’t do much. Although a semi-invalid, his consulting was still highly regarded. But a saddened Jim Casey realized he had lost another partner.
Soderstrom, whose ideas and attention to detail became hallmarks at UPS, retired in 1937, and lived in a continually deteriorating mental condition until finally passing away on March 6, 1948 at the age of 83 [72]. He was survived by his wife Clare, a daughter, Shirley, and a son, Charles, Jr.
Charles W. Soderstrom Jr. was also an achiever. Owner of a San Pedro, California Ford agency and California delegate to the Republican National Convention, Charles Jr. got his name in a record book for flying a small plane non-stop from Los Angeles to New York. (Excerpt from Greg Niemann book, Big Brown)
Daughter of United Parcel Service co-founder,
Charles Wallace Soderstrom, Sr. and Clare Eloise Kimball Lind
(Birth daughter of Harry Clarence Lind)
Career: Artist for Walt Disney Studios and Esquire Magazine
Marriage
To Russell Miller
Death Notice
Rites Set for Mrs. Lorna Miller, 56 - Funeral service for Mrs. Lorna Shirley Miller, 56, who painted covers for Esquire magazine for five years, will be conducted today at 2 p.m. at the Halverson - Leavitt Mortuary, San Pedro. Mrs. Miller, who lived at 3721 Alta Mesa Place, North Hollywood, died Sunday of cancer. Before working foe Esquire she was a head artist at Walt Disney Studios. She leaves her husband, Russell; a brother, Charles Soderstrom, and mother, Clare E. Soderstrom. Burial will be at Green Hills Cemetery. (Los Angeles Times, Wed., 22 Mar. 1967, Part III, page 8)
California Death Index
Name: Lorna S Miller
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at Washington
Death: 19 Mar 1967 at Los Angeles Co.
Mother's Maiden Name: Kimball
Burial: 22 Mar 1967, per cemetery records
(Laid to rest beside parents & brother)
Washington Birth Record
Name: (female) Lind
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at King Co., Washington
Father: Harry C. Lind
MotherL Clare E Kimball
Census
1930 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles W Soderstrom 54, married age 31, b. PA [Sweden], parents Sweden, secretary delivery service co., owns home $25,000
-Clare E Soderstrom, wife, 43, married age 23, b. NE, father IA, mother ME
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 19, b. WA
-Charles W Soderstrom Jr, son, 17, b. WA
-June V Kimball, niece, 9, b. WA, parents WA
1940 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles Soderstrom 64, b. PA [Sweden]
-Clare Soderstrom, wife, 53, b. NE
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 29, b. WA, sculptor for motion picture studio
-Charles Soderstrom Jr, son, 27, Proprietor Automobile Agency
-June Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 19, b. WA
-Lois Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 17, b. WA
In 1935 family in same house
[June & Lois Kimball were daughters of Clare's brother Fred Ellsworth Kimball & his wife Elsie Pelton, all born Seattle, WA; June Virginia, a registered nurse, married Army & then Air Force officer Seward Hansel Allen on 14 Jan 1946 at San Francisco.]
Parents
Step/adoptive father, Charles Wallace Soderstrom, was one of the four founders of the United Parcel Service in 1916 at Seattle, Washington. He is credited with naming the company and wisely choosing the now iconic "Pullman brown" color for the company's fleet of delivery vehicles, which he meticulously maintained. The other founders considered Charles their sage and depended on his judgment, problem solving, diligence, mechanical knowledge, quest for innovations, and attention to detail. However, in 1928 tragedy struck at Los Angeles's Fox Hills Country Club fairway when a golf ball struck his head, caving and cracking his skull requiring two surgeries by a top brain surgeon. Despite serious permanent injuries, Soderstrom continued to serve as the company's Vice-President until he retired between 1935 and 1937. He passed away in 1948, twenty years after the golfing accident, with his death certificate including the head injury among the causes of death.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he came to America with his family with residences including Olean, New York; Sheffield, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington. Drawn to vehicles and mechanized equipment, by 1903, Charles Soderstrom owned an automobile. When he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920's, he had one of the first two Model-A Fords in town, the other owned by actress Mary Pickford.
Death Notices
Soderstrom Dies -- Funeral services will be he;d at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn, for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, who died yesterday at Westwood [Whittier]. Mr. Soderstrom, father of Chas. W. Soderstrom Jr., San Pedro motor car dealer, was one of the four founders in 1907 [1916] in Seattle, Wash., of the United Parcel Service. He came to Southern California in 1922 and until his retirement in 1935 was a vice president of the firm. He was born in Allegheny, New York [Stockholm, Sweden]. Besides his interest in the United Parcel Service, Mr. Soderstrom aided in the development of color photography and for a time was assoociated with Telegraph Delivery Service. Besides his son, he leaves his wife, Mrs. Clare Soderstrom, and a daughter, Mrs. Shirley Miller of Westwood. (News-Pilot, San Pedro, California, Wed., 17 Mar 1948, p. 2)
Charles W. Soderstrom-- Funeral services for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, of 1034 Selby Ave., West Los Angeles, retired vice-president of the United Parcel Service Co. who died Tuesday, will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn Mortuary in charge. He leaves his widow Clare, a daughter, Mrs. Lorna S. Miller; a son, Charles Jr., and two nieces. (Los Angeles Times, Thurs., 18 Mar 1948, part II, p. 16)
Marriage
Washington Marriage Certificate
Groom: Charles W Soderstrom
Bride: Clare E. Lind
Marriage Date: 6 Nov 1920
Marriage Place: Seattle, King, Washington; 4228 Latona Ave
Father
California Death Certificate
Name: Charles Wallace Soderstrom
Age: 72 years, 9 months, 28 days
Birth: 18 May 1875 at Sweden
Death: 16 Mar 1948
Death Place: Whittier, Los Angeles, California; Grandview Sanitarium; stay 4 1/2 months.
Cause of death: Circulatory Failure, 6 days; Medullary Failure, 6 days; Generalized Arteriosclerosis; Dementia due to Head Injury, 20 years.
Residence: 1034 Selby ave, West Los Angeles
Stay: 25 years in California; 67 years in U.S.
Occupation: Vice President, United Parcel Service
Spouse: Clare E. Soderstrom, age 61
Father: born Sweden
Mother: born Stockholm, Sweden
Informant: Clare E. Soderstrom, 1034 Selby Ave, West Los Angeles
Burial: 19 Mar 1948 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale
Funeral Director: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association, Glendale
Cemetery Records
Green Hills Memorial Park
Re interred: 14 Nov 1972, at time of wife Clare's burial
Birthplace
Stockholm, Sweden (wife's Repatriation Naturalization document)
Came to U.S. with parents in 1880
His family settled at Sheffield, PA, then to Olean & Portville, New York; later Charles brought his parents to Seattle, WA.
Social Security Applications & Claims Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom
SSN: 129096541
Birth: 18 May 1875 Sheffield, PA [Stockholm, Sweden]
Father: Carl A [W]. Soderstrom[
Mother: Maria Peterson
Census
1900 Census, Portville, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn Street
(his parents & sisters)
-Carl W Soderstrom, head, 56, May 1844, b. Sweden, imm 1880, Barkloader at Tannery
-Marie E Soderstrom, wife, 53, Sept 1846, married 31 yrs, b. Swede, imm 1880
-Frances K Soderstrom, dau, 17, Sec 1882, b. PA, servant
-Florance E Soderstrom, dau, 13, Apr 1887, b. NY
1905 Census, Portville village, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn St.
-Charles Soderstrom, head, 61, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Currier
-Mary Soderstrom, wife, 59, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs
-Charles* E Soderstrom, son, 30, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Street Car Conductor
-Kate Soderstrom, dau, 22, b. U.S.
-Florence Soderstrom, dau, 18, b. U.S.
1920 census, Seattle, King, Washington; 538 Ravenna Blvd.
-Charles* W Soderstrom, head, 44, widowed, b. Sweden, imm 1880, native tongue Swedish, can speak English, Manager Merchant Parcel Delivery, owns home free of mortgage
-Charles W Soderstrom, father, 75, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880, retired
-Mary Soderstrom, mother, 73, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880
-Florence Soderstrom, sister, 32, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, School teacher
-Edith Johnson, niece, 28, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, stenographer postal telegraph
-Roy Johnson, nephew, 24, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, mechanic Merchant delivery
His Father
Carl William Soderstrom (1844- 1920)
Seattle, WA Death Notice lists him as "Carl William Soderstrom, 538 Ravenna Blvd."
His Mother
Washington, Select Death Certificate
Name: Mary Soderstrom
Age: 84(b. abt 1845)
Death: 30 Oct 1929 Seattle, King, Washington
Marital status: Married
Spouse: Carl Soderstrom
Mother: Mary Anderson
Burial Date: 2 Nov 1929 at Lake View Cemetery
Mother
California Death Index
Name: Clare E Soderstrom
Birth: 27 Sep 1886 at Nebraska
Death: 10 Nov 1972 at Los Angeles Co.
SSDI: Last residence San Pedro, CA
Burial: 14 Nov 1972, per cemetery records
Brother
California Death Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom [Jr]
Birth: 14 Feb 1913 at Washington
Death: 27 Jun 1976 at Los Angeles Co.
Burial: 1 Jul 1976, per cemetery records
[Married Dolores Lorraine Peterson b. SD; he had previously married Demetra A Castleberry (b. AZ) on 9 Jun 1936 at Signal Hill, CA]
Charles Jr owned a Ford Dealership at 16th & Pacific, San Pedro, CA. On the 11 May 1950 front page of the Torrance Herald he announced his plans to set a new record for light twin engine airplanes in his proposed June 1st coast-to-coast non-stop flight in a Beechcraft Bonanza. He took up flying in 1934. The front page of the 8 June 1950 paper confirmed his successful record breaking non-stop flight from San Pedro, CA to La Guadria in NY at 16 hours, 12 minutes. Active in the community, and also politically active, he served as Chairman of the Rebublican Central Committee of the 17th Congressional District.
His wife Dolores
Dolores Lorraine Soderstrom (1923 - 2011)
Dolores Soderstrom passed away peacefully with her family by her side on August 25, 2011. She was a longtime resident of the San Pedro and Palos Verdes area. She was born Dolores Lorraine Peterson to Mabel and Clayton Peterson on July 9, 1923 in Oldham South Dakota. She attended nursing school and moved to CA in 1943 to help the war effort. She met and married her longtime sweetheart Charles W. Soderstrom in 1946. She was a beloved wife and mother contributing her time to her children and the community. In later years she became a successful business woman after her husband passed away. She leaves her daughters, Maya, Mona; and her son, Charles W. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren, Natalie, Audrey, Kimberly, Charles Soderstrom; Michelle and Marisa Cerami. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 11am at Green Hills Memorial Chapel. Reception to follow after graveside services at Rolling Hills Country Club, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. (An obituary was published in Daily Breeze, Torrance, California, on Sept. 1, 2011
-
More About Father
Charles Wallace Soderstrom
(excerpt from Big Brown, by Greg Niemann)
Golf Accident Ends Career
Charles W. Soderstrom became one of the four founding partners of UPS in 1916, but a freak golfing accident in 1928 effectively ended his career. His input, mature outlook, diligence, and attention to detail, especially in developing and maintaining the company’s early fleet, are his legacy.
In the years of Merchants Parcel Delivery, Jim Casey explored every avenue he could think of that might lead to infusions of capital. He talked to bankers and others who might be interested in helping with the future development of their business. One possible investor who had an interest in the business was Charlie Soderstrom.
It was thus that the young company received a windfall in 1916, not only in the form of cash, but what came with the cash—a mature, experienced delivery man whose mechanical knowledge and quest for new innovations helped set the tone for the delivery company for years to come. His name was Charles W. Soderstrom and he became the fourth partner.
Born in Sweden
Born in Sweden in 1875, Charlie Soderstrom came to America with his family who settled in the small town of Olean, New York. He had to leave school before graduating from elementary school and went to work in a tannery where he became fascinated with all the machines in the plant.
He also learned how to play the cornet in his spare time and formed a band. Charlie Soderstrom and his Olean Brass Band were soon playing to numerous venues across the northeast. Then in 1898, at age 23, Soderstrom moved to Seattle, Washington, a city that had attracted many Swedes and Norwegians.
His first job in Seattle was as a streetcar motorman, which he shortly left to become a driver of a horse-drawn team owned by an old man named Cady, from which he delivered coal to various businesses and residences.
Instead of Cady getting most of the profits, the tall, gangly Swede bought his own horse-drawn team. He then went into business for himself and began hauling household goods and other miscellaneous trunks and crates. He also delivered furniture for a large furniture company.
This led to a contract for Soderstrom to handle the deliveries for the Stone-Fisher Company, a large dry-goods store (later renamed the Fraser-Paterson Company, one of Seattle’s largest department stores and owned by R.P. Paterson).
Among Soderstrom’s duties was purchasing and maintaining the company’s fleet of Ford delivery vehicles. He also took charge of their deliveries and became known as the best delivery department manager in Seattle. He had a good business sense, understood people, and loved vehicles and mechanized equipment. In fact, even by 1903 Soderstrom had owned an automobile, a second-hand Buick.
He then purchased a Hudson and drove it around for a number of years, the spotless vehicle definitely impressing the partners at Merchants Parcel Delivery when he met with them to discuss business.
Soderstrom later purchased a Stanley Steamer that he drove back and forth from his home in Green Lake, Seattle to Merchants Parcel Delivery. In Los Angeles in the early 1920s he had one of the first two Model A Fords in town. The other belonged to actress Mary Pickford.
Fraser-Paterson started using Merchants Parcel Delivery to augment the store’s delivery service by making out-of-area deliveries and providing special delivery services.
Jim Casey and his partners had great respect for Soderstrom. Jim realized that if they could get Charlie to have a financial interest in their company, they could continue to consult him in delivery and fleet matters. Soderstrom, meanwhile, was impressed with what Casey was doing and could continue to do, so on July 16, 1916, he bought $10,000 worth of Merchants Parcel Delivery stock, becoming a partner in the process.
At first, Soderstrom stayed in employ at Fraser-Paterson but went to Merchants Parcel Delivery every day to look over its fleet, take notes and offer suggestions. In time, Soderstrom left the Fraser-Paterson delivery department to his assistant Andy Duval and joined Merchants Parcel Delivery full time.
The company that Merchants Parcel Delivery grew into, United Parcel Service, became known through the years as a company with well-maintained, clean attractive vehicles. Much of that image is directly attributable to Charlie Soderstrom. He kept the fleet in tip-top condition and ensured that the vehicles were well maintained. To this day, thanks to practices established by Soderstrom, UPS performs several levels of formal Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs) designed to thwart prospective problems before they occur.
Why Brown?
Soderstrom is responsible for the famous UPS Brown as the company’s standard color. With the first Model T Ford painted red, it stood out. However, an advertising man told Jim Casey that yellow was the most conspicuous color, so they painted the second car yellow as they wanted to be conspicuous.
They had different schools of thought when it came to painting the third car, Jim Casey recalled. If they painted it a third color, perhaps the public might think they had a great many more vehicles than they actually had. The other idea was to paint them all the same color to create a standard fleet. After much discussion, Casey remembered, they decided to adopt the conspicuous yellow as the standard color for the fleet.
Soderstrom knew how the department stores would react to the bright yellow fleet and was appalled when he learned of that decision. He explained that the department stores saw their own vehicles as a form of advertising. For the stores to disband their own fleets and turn their parcels over to a company like Merchants Parcel Delivery, they would want the change to be subtle and scarcely noticed. He argued for a much more conservative color. The other partners, once empowered with that new viewpoint, agreed.
Soderstrom, in looking for the proper conservative color, discussed the dilemma with an old carriage painter named Charlie Place. Place told him about the recent experiments run by a railroad sleeper-car company named Pullman. Pullman wanted their rail cars to look as clean as possible even when out on the tracks subject to the elements of rain, snow and dust. Their experiments resulted in Pullman Brown, a distinctive color that blended well with the dirt. So the first Merchants Parcel Delivery fleet was painted Pullman Brown. During the early years the exact color changed slightly to become the UPS Brown in use today.
Tragedy struck
In the midst of the heady times following the UPS expansion into Los Angeles in the 1920s, tragedy struck, causing Charles Soderstrom to become the first of the four founders to step out of the leadership picture.
Soderstrom had been a widower in Seattle, who owned his own home and had his parents and sister living with him when he joined Jim Casey and his partners. He even occasionally sent his retired father, who was in his eighties, out on a few special deliveries just to give him something to do. Charlie remarried in Seattle right after the UPS opening in Oakland, and later moved his family to Los Angeles.
The other founders constantly sought advice from Soderstrom, whom they considered their sage. According to Jim Casey, “If we had a problem, we would talk to Charlie about it. Any situation which required the reasoning power, the judgment he possessed, was put on the table in front of him. He could sense whether something should be done or not.
“Though he lacked a formal education as such, he was still our advisor in every sense of the word. We called on Charlie for more or less an outsider’s slant on things…he could so often see what we couldn’t.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s days as a sounding board were tragically cut short. In late March, 1928, he was golfing at the Fox Hills Country Club in Los Angeles. He was standing in the middle of a fairway when a nearby golfer’s tee shot hit solidly on his skull, right above his ear. While Charlie remained conscious, his playing partner decided to stop right then.
According to Jim Casey, “Mac and I were together when the call came in. I immediately called our doctor, J. Mark Lacey, and he advised us that Charlie should be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital for X-rays. Mac and I were there when the ambulance drove up. Charlie lay there, his eyes open, a half smile on his face.
“The X-rays were taken and with Dr. Lacey we saw the results—the impact had caved in part of his skull and from that area radial cracks shot out. We were told it could be very serious, and immediately Dr. C.W. Rand, a top brain surgeon, was called in.”
After brief tests it was determined an operation was needed immediately. Jim Casey recalled, “Charlie looked up at me and said ‘I want you right with me, Jim.’ I stayed by his side, all during the operation. I can see it even today.
“That marked the end of the most active part of his career. We thought he was recovering, but he began to get dizzy spells—headaches—although this didn’t keep him from work. He would never make it through a full day—we didn’t want him to—but his advice was still a valuable commodity, and people still came for it.”
Soderstrom had to have a second operation two years later, Casey again at his side. “Once more I stood next to him during the whole thing. Who says a man never cries?”
After the second operation, Soderstrom convalesced at the Desert Hotel in the Mojave Desert near Twentynine Palms, California. He was visited by numerous of his former co-workers, including Mr. and Mrs. Bert Meyer (Sales manager and the first Big Idea editor) and Mr. and Mrs. Bert Barnes (Sales/Big Idea editor) who wrote about their visits in the company publication.
While Charlie Soderstrom did make a couple of later trips to New York, he couldn’t do much. Although a semi-invalid, his consulting was still highly regarded. But a saddened Jim Casey realized he had lost another partner.
Soderstrom, whose ideas and attention to detail became hallmarks at UPS, retired in 1937, and lived in a continually deteriorating mental condition until finally passing away on March 6, 1948 at the age of 83 [72]. He was survived by his wife Clare, a daughter, Shirley, and a son, Charles, Jr.
Charles W. Soderstrom Jr. was also an achiever. Owner of a San Pedro, California Ford agency and California delegate to the Republican National Convention, Charles Jr. got his name in a record book for flying a small plane non-stop from Los Angeles to New York. (Excerpt from Greg Niemann book, Big Brown)
Charles Wallace Soderstrom, Sr. and Clare Eloise Kimball Lind
(Birth daughter of Harry Clarence Lind)
Career: Artist for Walt Disney Studios and Esquire Magazine
Marriage
To Russell Miller
Death Notice
Rites Set for Mrs. Lorna Miller, 56 - Funeral service for Mrs. Lorna Shirley Miller, 56, who painted covers for Esquire magazine for five years, will be conducted today at 2 p.m. at the Halverson - Leavitt Mortuary, San Pedro. Mrs. Miller, who lived at 3721 Alta Mesa Place, North Hollywood, died Sunday of cancer. Before working foe Esquire she was a head artist at Walt Disney Studios. She leaves her husband, Russell; a brother, Charles Soderstrom, and mother, Clare E. Soderstrom. Burial will be at Green Hills Cemetery. (Los Angeles Times, Wed., 22 Mar. 1967, Part III, page 8)
California Death Index
Name: Lorna S Miller
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at Washington
Death: 19 Mar 1967 at Los Angeles Co.
Mother's Maiden Name: Kimball
Burial: 22 Mar 1967, per cemetery records
(Laid to rest beside parents & brother)
Washington Birth Record
Name: (female) Lind
Birth: 26 Feb 1911 at King Co., Washington
Father: Harry C. Lind
MotherL Clare E Kimball
Census
1930 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles W Soderstrom 54, married age 31, b. PA [Sweden], parents Sweden, secretary delivery service co., owns home $25,000
-Clare E Soderstrom, wife, 43, married age 23, b. NE, father IA, mother ME
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 19, b. WA
-Charles W Soderstrom Jr, son, 17, b. WA
-June V Kimball, niece, 9, b. WA, parents WA
1940 Census, Los Angeles (Westwood), Los Angeles, California; 1034 Selby Ave
-Charles Soderstrom 64, b. PA [Sweden]
-Clare Soderstrom, wife, 53, b. NE
-Lorna S* Soderstrom, dau, 29, b. WA, sculptor for motion picture studio
-Charles Soderstrom Jr, son, 27, Proprietor Automobile Agency
-June Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 19, b. WA
-Lois Soderstrom [Kimball], niece, 17, b. WA
In 1935 family in same house
[June & Lois Kimball were daughters of Clare's brother Fred Ellsworth Kimball & his wife Elsie Pelton, all born Seattle, WA; June Virginia, a registered nurse, married Army & then Air Force officer Seward Hansel Allen on 14 Jan 1946 at San Francisco.]
Parents
Step/adoptive father, Charles Wallace Soderstrom, was one of the four founders of the United Parcel Service in 1916 at Seattle, Washington. He is credited with naming the company and wisely choosing the now iconic "Pullman brown" color for the company's fleet of delivery vehicles, which he meticulously maintained. The other founders considered Charles their sage and depended on his judgment, problem solving, diligence, mechanical knowledge, quest for innovations, and attention to detail. However, in 1928 tragedy struck at Los Angeles's Fox Hills Country Club fairway when a golf ball struck his head, caving and cracking his skull requiring two surgeries by a top brain surgeon. Despite serious permanent injuries, Soderstrom continued to serve as the company's Vice-President until he retired between 1935 and 1937. He passed away in 1948, twenty years after the golfing accident, with his death certificate including the head injury among the causes of death.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he came to America with his family with residences including Olean, New York; Sheffield, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington. Drawn to vehicles and mechanized equipment, by 1903, Charles Soderstrom owned an automobile. When he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920's, he had one of the first two Model-A Fords in town, the other owned by actress Mary Pickford.
Death Notices
Soderstrom Dies -- Funeral services will be he;d at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn, for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, who died yesterday at Westwood [Whittier]. Mr. Soderstrom, father of Chas. W. Soderstrom Jr., San Pedro motor car dealer, was one of the four founders in 1907 [1916] in Seattle, Wash., of the United Parcel Service. He came to Southern California in 1922 and until his retirement in 1935 was a vice president of the firm. He was born in Allegheny, New York [Stockholm, Sweden]. Besides his interest in the United Parcel Service, Mr. Soderstrom aided in the development of color photography and for a time was assoociated with Telegraph Delivery Service. Besides his son, he leaves his wife, Mrs. Clare Soderstrom, and a daughter, Mrs. Shirley Miller of Westwood. (News-Pilot, San Pedro, California, Wed., 17 Mar 1948, p. 2)
Charles W. Soderstrom-- Funeral services for Charles W. Soderstrom, 72, of 1034 Selby Ave., West Los Angeles, retired vice-president of the United Parcel Service Co. who died Tuesday, will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Wee Kirk o' the Heather, Forest Lawn Mortuary in charge. He leaves his widow Clare, a daughter, Mrs. Lorna S. Miller; a son, Charles Jr., and two nieces. (Los Angeles Times, Thurs., 18 Mar 1948, part II, p. 16)
Marriage
Washington Marriage Certificate
Groom: Charles W Soderstrom
Bride: Clare E. Lind
Marriage Date: 6 Nov 1920
Marriage Place: Seattle, King, Washington; 4228 Latona Ave
Father
California Death Certificate
Name: Charles Wallace Soderstrom
Age: 72 years, 9 months, 28 days
Birth: 18 May 1875 at Sweden
Death: 16 Mar 1948
Death Place: Whittier, Los Angeles, California; Grandview Sanitarium; stay 4 1/2 months.
Cause of death: Circulatory Failure, 6 days; Medullary Failure, 6 days; Generalized Arteriosclerosis; Dementia due to Head Injury, 20 years.
Residence: 1034 Selby ave, West Los Angeles
Stay: 25 years in California; 67 years in U.S.
Occupation: Vice President, United Parcel Service
Spouse: Clare E. Soderstrom, age 61
Father: born Sweden
Mother: born Stockholm, Sweden
Informant: Clare E. Soderstrom, 1034 Selby Ave, West Los Angeles
Burial: 19 Mar 1948 Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale
Funeral Director: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association, Glendale
Cemetery Records
Green Hills Memorial Park
Re interred: 14 Nov 1972, at time of wife Clare's burial
Birthplace
Stockholm, Sweden (wife's Repatriation Naturalization document)
Came to U.S. with parents in 1880
His family settled at Sheffield, PA, then to Olean & Portville, New York; later Charles brought his parents to Seattle, WA.
Social Security Applications & Claims Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom
SSN: 129096541
Birth: 18 May 1875 Sheffield, PA [Stockholm, Sweden]
Father: Carl A [W]. Soderstrom[
Mother: Maria Peterson
Census
1900 Census, Portville, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn Street
(his parents & sisters)
-Carl W Soderstrom, head, 56, May 1844, b. Sweden, imm 1880, Barkloader at Tannery
-Marie E Soderstrom, wife, 53, Sept 1846, married 31 yrs, b. Swede, imm 1880
-Frances K Soderstrom, dau, 17, Sec 1882, b. PA, servant
-Florance E Soderstrom, dau, 13, Apr 1887, b. NY
1905 Census, Portville village, Cattaraugus, New York; Brooklyn St.
-Charles Soderstrom, head, 61, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Currier
-Mary Soderstrom, wife, 59, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs
-Charles* E Soderstrom, son, 30, b. Sweden, in U.S. 25 yrs, Street Car Conductor
-Kate Soderstrom, dau, 22, b. U.S.
-Florence Soderstrom, dau, 18, b. U.S.
1920 census, Seattle, King, Washington; 538 Ravenna Blvd.
-Charles* W Soderstrom, head, 44, widowed, b. Sweden, imm 1880, native tongue Swedish, can speak English, Manager Merchant Parcel Delivery, owns home free of mortgage
-Charles W Soderstrom, father, 75, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880, retired
-Mary Soderstrom, mother, 73, married, b. Sweden, imm 1880
-Florence Soderstrom, sister, 32, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, School teacher
-Edith Johnson, niece, 28, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, stenographer postal telegraph
-Roy Johnson, nephew, 24, single, b. NY, parents Sweden, mechanic Merchant delivery
His Father
Carl William Soderstrom (1844- 1920)
Seattle, WA Death Notice lists him as "Carl William Soderstrom, 538 Ravenna Blvd."
His Mother
Washington, Select Death Certificate
Name: Mary Soderstrom
Age: 84(b. abt 1845)
Death: 30 Oct 1929 Seattle, King, Washington
Marital status: Married
Spouse: Carl Soderstrom
Mother: Mary Anderson
Burial Date: 2 Nov 1929 at Lake View Cemetery
Mother
California Death Index
Name: Clare E Soderstrom
Birth: 27 Sep 1886 at Nebraska
Death: 10 Nov 1972 at Los Angeles Co.
SSDI: Last residence San Pedro, CA
Burial: 14 Nov 1972, per cemetery records
Brother
California Death Index
Name: Charles W Soderstrom [Jr]
Birth: 14 Feb 1913 at Washington
Death: 27 Jun 1976 at Los Angeles Co.
Burial: 1 Jul 1976, per cemetery records
[Married Dolores Lorraine Peterson b. SD; he had previously married Demetra A Castleberry (b. AZ) on 9 Jun 1936 at Signal Hill, CA]
Charles Jr owned a Ford Dealership at 16th & Pacific, San Pedro, CA. On the 11 May 1950 front page of the Torrance Herald he announced his plans to set a new record for light twin engine airplanes in his proposed June 1st coast-to-coast non-stop flight in a Beechcraft Bonanza. He took up flying in 1934. The front page of the 8 June 1950 paper confirmed his successful record breaking non-stop flight from San Pedro, CA to La Guadria in NY at 16 hours, 12 minutes. Active in the community, and also politically active, he served as Chairman of the Rebublican Central Committee of the 17th Congressional District.
His wife Dolores
Dolores Lorraine Soderstrom (1923 - 2011)
Dolores Soderstrom passed away peacefully with her family by her side on August 25, 2011. She was a longtime resident of the San Pedro and Palos Verdes area. She was born Dolores Lorraine Peterson to Mabel and Clayton Peterson on July 9, 1923 in Oldham South Dakota. She attended nursing school and moved to CA in 1943 to help the war effort. She met and married her longtime sweetheart Charles W. Soderstrom in 1946. She was a beloved wife and mother contributing her time to her children and the community. In later years she became a successful business woman after her husband passed away. She leaves her daughters, Maya, Mona; and her son, Charles W. She also leaves behind seven grandchildren, Natalie, Audrey, Kimberly, Charles Soderstrom; Michelle and Marisa Cerami. Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 11am at Green Hills Memorial Chapel. Reception to follow after graveside services at Rolling Hills Country Club, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. (An obituary was published in Daily Breeze, Torrance, California, on Sept. 1, 2011
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More About Father
Charles Wallace Soderstrom
(excerpt from Big Brown, by Greg Niemann)
Golf Accident Ends Career
Charles W. Soderstrom became one of the four founding partners of UPS in 1916, but a freak golfing accident in 1928 effectively ended his career. His input, mature outlook, diligence, and attention to detail, especially in developing and maintaining the company’s early fleet, are his legacy.
In the years of Merchants Parcel Delivery, Jim Casey explored every avenue he could think of that might lead to infusions of capital. He talked to bankers and others who might be interested in helping with the future development of their business. One possible investor who had an interest in the business was Charlie Soderstrom.
It was thus that the young company received a windfall in 1916, not only in the form of cash, but what came with the cash—a mature, experienced delivery man whose mechanical knowledge and quest for new innovations helped set the tone for the delivery company for years to come. His name was Charles W. Soderstrom and he became the fourth partner.
Born in Sweden
Born in Sweden in 1875, Charlie Soderstrom came to America with his family who settled in the small town of Olean, New York. He had to leave school before graduating from elementary school and went to work in a tannery where he became fascinated with all the machines in the plant.
He also learned how to play the cornet in his spare time and formed a band. Charlie Soderstrom and his Olean Brass Band were soon playing to numerous venues across the northeast. Then in 1898, at age 23, Soderstrom moved to Seattle, Washington, a city that had attracted many Swedes and Norwegians.
His first job in Seattle was as a streetcar motorman, which he shortly left to become a driver of a horse-drawn team owned by an old man named Cady, from which he delivered coal to various businesses and residences.
Instead of Cady getting most of the profits, the tall, gangly Swede bought his own horse-drawn team. He then went into business for himself and began hauling household goods and other miscellaneous trunks and crates. He also delivered furniture for a large furniture company.
This led to a contract for Soderstrom to handle the deliveries for the Stone-Fisher Company, a large dry-goods store (later renamed the Fraser-Paterson Company, one of Seattle’s largest department stores and owned by R.P. Paterson).
Among Soderstrom’s duties was purchasing and maintaining the company’s fleet of Ford delivery vehicles. He also took charge of their deliveries and became known as the best delivery department manager in Seattle. He had a good business sense, understood people, and loved vehicles and mechanized equipment. In fact, even by 1903 Soderstrom had owned an automobile, a second-hand Buick.
He then purchased a Hudson and drove it around for a number of years, the spotless vehicle definitely impressing the partners at Merchants Parcel Delivery when he met with them to discuss business.
Soderstrom later purchased a Stanley Steamer that he drove back and forth from his home in Green Lake, Seattle to Merchants Parcel Delivery. In Los Angeles in the early 1920s he had one of the first two Model A Fords in town. The other belonged to actress Mary Pickford.
Fraser-Paterson started using Merchants Parcel Delivery to augment the store’s delivery service by making out-of-area deliveries and providing special delivery services.
Jim Casey and his partners had great respect for Soderstrom. Jim realized that if they could get Charlie to have a financial interest in their company, they could continue to consult him in delivery and fleet matters. Soderstrom, meanwhile, was impressed with what Casey was doing and could continue to do, so on July 16, 1916, he bought $10,000 worth of Merchants Parcel Delivery stock, becoming a partner in the process.
At first, Soderstrom stayed in employ at Fraser-Paterson but went to Merchants Parcel Delivery every day to look over its fleet, take notes and offer suggestions. In time, Soderstrom left the Fraser-Paterson delivery department to his assistant Andy Duval and joined Merchants Parcel Delivery full time.
The company that Merchants Parcel Delivery grew into, United Parcel Service, became known through the years as a company with well-maintained, clean attractive vehicles. Much of that image is directly attributable to Charlie Soderstrom. He kept the fleet in tip-top condition and ensured that the vehicles were well maintained. To this day, thanks to practices established by Soderstrom, UPS performs several levels of formal Preventative Maintenance Inspections (PMIs) designed to thwart prospective problems before they occur.
Why Brown?
Soderstrom is responsible for the famous UPS Brown as the company’s standard color. With the first Model T Ford painted red, it stood out. However, an advertising man told Jim Casey that yellow was the most conspicuous color, so they painted the second car yellow as they wanted to be conspicuous.
They had different schools of thought when it came to painting the third car, Jim Casey recalled. If they painted it a third color, perhaps the public might think they had a great many more vehicles than they actually had. The other idea was to paint them all the same color to create a standard fleet. After much discussion, Casey remembered, they decided to adopt the conspicuous yellow as the standard color for the fleet.
Soderstrom knew how the department stores would react to the bright yellow fleet and was appalled when he learned of that decision. He explained that the department stores saw their own vehicles as a form of advertising. For the stores to disband their own fleets and turn their parcels over to a company like Merchants Parcel Delivery, they would want the change to be subtle and scarcely noticed. He argued for a much more conservative color. The other partners, once empowered with that new viewpoint, agreed.
Soderstrom, in looking for the proper conservative color, discussed the dilemma with an old carriage painter named Charlie Place. Place told him about the recent experiments run by a railroad sleeper-car company named Pullman. Pullman wanted their rail cars to look as clean as possible even when out on the tracks subject to the elements of rain, snow and dust. Their experiments resulted in Pullman Brown, a distinctive color that blended well with the dirt. So the first Merchants Parcel Delivery fleet was painted Pullman Brown. During the early years the exact color changed slightly to become the UPS Brown in use today.
Tragedy struck
In the midst of the heady times following the UPS expansion into Los Angeles in the 1920s, tragedy struck, causing Charles Soderstrom to become the first of the four founders to step out of the leadership picture.
Soderstrom had been a widower in Seattle, who owned his own home and had his parents and sister living with him when he joined Jim Casey and his partners. He even occasionally sent his retired father, who was in his eighties, out on a few special deliveries just to give him something to do. Charlie remarried in Seattle right after the UPS opening in Oakland, and later moved his family to Los Angeles.
The other founders constantly sought advice from Soderstrom, whom they considered their sage. According to Jim Casey, “If we had a problem, we would talk to Charlie about it. Any situation which required the reasoning power, the judgment he possessed, was put on the table in front of him. He could sense whether something should be done or not.
“Though he lacked a formal education as such, he was still our advisor in every sense of the word. We called on Charlie for more or less an outsider’s slant on things…he could so often see what we couldn’t.”
Unfortunately, Charlie’s days as a sounding board were tragically cut short. In late March, 1928, he was golfing at the Fox Hills Country Club in Los Angeles. He was standing in the middle of a fairway when a nearby golfer’s tee shot hit solidly on his skull, right above his ear. While Charlie remained conscious, his playing partner decided to stop right then.
According to Jim Casey, “Mac and I were together when the call came in. I immediately called our doctor, J. Mark Lacey, and he advised us that Charlie should be taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital for X-rays. Mac and I were there when the ambulance drove up. Charlie lay there, his eyes open, a half smile on his face.
“The X-rays were taken and with Dr. Lacey we saw the results—the impact had caved in part of his skull and from that area radial cracks shot out. We were told it could be very serious, and immediately Dr. C.W. Rand, a top brain surgeon, was called in.”
After brief tests it was determined an operation was needed immediately. Jim Casey recalled, “Charlie looked up at me and said ‘I want you right with me, Jim.’ I stayed by his side, all during the operation. I can see it even today.
“That marked the end of the most active part of his career. We thought he was recovering, but he began to get dizzy spells—headaches—although this didn’t keep him from work. He would never make it through a full day—we didn’t want him to—but his advice was still a valuable commodity, and people still came for it.”
Soderstrom had to have a second operation two years later, Casey again at his side. “Once more I stood next to him during the whole thing. Who says a man never cries?”
After the second operation, Soderstrom convalesced at the Desert Hotel in the Mojave Desert near Twentynine Palms, California. He was visited by numerous of his former co-workers, including Mr. and Mrs. Bert Meyer (Sales manager and the first Big Idea editor) and Mr. and Mrs. Bert Barnes (Sales/Big Idea editor) who wrote about their visits in the company publication.
While Charlie Soderstrom did make a couple of later trips to New York, he couldn’t do much. Although a semi-invalid, his consulting was still highly regarded. But a saddened Jim Casey realized he had lost another partner.
Soderstrom, whose ideas and attention to detail became hallmarks at UPS, retired in 1937, and lived in a continually deteriorating mental condition until finally passing away on March 6, 1948 at the age of 83 [72]. He was survived by his wife Clare, a daughter, Shirley, and a son, Charles, Jr.
Charles W. Soderstrom Jr. was also an achiever. Owner of a San Pedro, California Ford agency and California delegate to the Republican National Convention, Charles Jr. got his name in a record book for flying a small plane non-stop from Los Angeles to New York. (Excerpt from Greg Niemann book, Big Brown)
Family Members
Siblings
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