Emma Hale Curran

Emma Hale Sykes was born on April 11, 1900 in Murrieta, California.   She went by her middle name Hale, because she did not like the name Emma.   Her mother's and father's names were Ethel Louise Jane Hale and Harvey Sykes.  Her mother died from blood poisoning when Hale was only one week old.  After her mother's death she went to live with her Aunt Katie in Riverside because her father worked on a railroad and could not care for a baby.   They lived in Riverside until Hale was five years old .  Then they rented the Fountain House until 1912 when her Aunt Katie bought it. 

Hale went to school at the Murrieta School which was a two room schoolhouse.  It was on the corner of Second Street and Kalmia Street.  Her teacher was Mrs. Lasswell.  Mrs. Lasswell taught first grade through fourth grade in one room.   The principal, Miss Archbold, taught fifth through eighth grade in the other room.

Hale loved hiking, exploring and riding her horse bareback.  When Hale hiked she walked to a local volcano and waterfalls on the plateau behind her home.   All year there was flowing water in the creek behind her house.  She played in the creek.  When Hale was older she married a man named Richard Curran and gave birth to two children, which they named Marvin and Kay.

Hale worked at the post office for thirty-five years.  When she worked in the post office she knew everyone in town and everyone knew her.  Hale always loved history and was considered Murrieta's town historian.

On June 28, 1999 Hale passed away in her sleep at her daughter Kay's house.

After she died her son Marvin said, "It was a good life.  We had a lot of humor, simple humor.  In later life, she always said exactly what she thought.  You always knew where you stood with her."