https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=MifflinMargaret_JonasonFaye_2023-02-24_access.xml#segment135
Segment Synopsis: Mifflin recounts her life in Whittier, California, where she worked as a nurse’s aid and then a switchboard operator at Murphy Hospital and then at Whittier’s new hospital (likely Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (PIH) or Whittier Hospital Medical Center), where Mifflin advanced her career into management. She also discusses her marriage to Robert Mifflin and a coworker with rheumatoid arthritis.
Keywords: Army Air Corps; Murphy Hospital; Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (PIH); Whittier Hospital Medical Center; Whittier, California
https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=MifflinMargaret_JonasonFaye_2023-02-24_access.xml#segment808
Segment Synopsis: Mifflin recalls moving to San Clemente, California while Bob was in the Reserves, and then a move to Japan, where they lived a few years before returning to the United States and Fallbrook, California. Mifflin remembers how undeveloped Oceanside was at the time that her son moved there. Mifflin also recalls her experience as a docent at the Fallbrook Historical Society, and her and her husband’s employment during this time in their lives, which included stints at Palomar Airport, an RV dealership, California State Parks, and as a school bus driver.
Keywords: California State Parks; Camp Pendleton Coast State Office; Fallbrook Historical Society docents; Fallbrook, California; Hearst Castle; Oceanside, California; Palomar Airport; RV dealerships; San Marcos, California; San Onofre, California; San Simeon, California; brittle bone disease; San Clemente, California
00:00:00FAYE JONASON: Also representing, Cal State University San Marcos, uh, for their oral history programs. And my name is Faye Jonason. Could you please give me your full name and spell your last name for me?
00:00:19MARGARET MIFFLIN: My name is Margaret Mifflin, better known as Marni. The last name is Mifflin, M-I-F-F-L-I-N.
00:00:28JONASON: Lemme look here. So where were you born? Are you a Californian?
00:00:38MIFFLIN: Yep. Native California. Born in Long Beach, California. I lived there until I was almost three years old. <laugh>.
00:00:48JONASON: And so you moved to San Diego County when?
00:01:01MIFFLIN: San Clemente (Orange County) in 1974.
00:01:06JONASON: Okay. So before that you went to high school up in Whittier, or--?
00:01:11MIFFLIN: High school was in Norwalk, but it was a unified district of, uh, Bellflower, Artesia, Norwalk, and several surrounding communities.
00:01:20JONASON: Okay. And, what was your family like? What did your family do?
00:01:27MIFFLIN: My dad was retired from the Scottish regiments in World War I, <laugh>. And so he, uh, he worked part-time for Shell Oil Company at Signal Hill. So he actually had a job through the depression, and so we were better off. He only worked three days a week, but he had a job <laugh>. And that, it uh, so we stayed in Bellflower then until--actually until after I graduated from high school and got married the first time. And I moved to Holtville, California.
00:02:11JONASON: To where?
00:02:12MIFFLIN: Holtville in Imperial Valley.
00:02:14JONASON: Oh.
00:02:15MIFFLIN: So I spent two years down there learning to be a ranch wife, <laugh> Both my husband at that time and I decided this was not the careers that we wanted. So we moved back to and settled in Whittier, California. So our children grew up in Whittier.
00:02:38JONASON: And he was--he went and entered the service, right?
00:02:41MIFFLIN: At that time he was the Army Air Corps, old Army Air Corps that at the end, after the end of the war, he was discharged. Uh, from that and went back to school. So, I went back to work.
00:02:57JONASON: And what did you work?
00:02:59MIFFLIN: At that time I worked at the old Murphy Hospital in Whittier.
00:03:03JONASON: Okay.
00:03:04MIFFLIN: My first real hospital job was California Lutheran Hospital in Los Angeles as a teenager.
00:03:11JONASON: And what was your job as a, in the hospital?
00:03:13MIFFLIN: Nurses' aid. I did everything, surprisingly. It was war wartime years then. So they let you do almost everything <laugh>. uh, then, so I continued even when I went to Long Beach City College. I was pre-med student then at that time, but didn't follow through with it.
00:03:37JONASON: But how far did you get?
00:03:38MIFFLIN: Oh, just the year and a half at the city college plus some extension courses on it.
00:03:44JONASON: Well, that's good.
00:03:45MIFFLIN: And by then I had a family <laugh> on it.
00:03:50JONASON: How many kids did you have?
00:03:51MIFFLIN: Two girls and a boy.
00:03:52JONASON: Well, that's quite a bit. That's a lot. A handful. <laugh>. Okay.
00:03:56MIFFLIN: Yeah. Yeah. My girls were five and six when my son was born. So, uh, had time to enjoy then. So I went--when I went back to work at the old Murphy Hospital, which now is a dormitory for Whittier College <laugh>. On it at, um, that I worked as a nurse's aide in O-B-G-Y-N and had a lot of interesting experiences there, on it. And, then one night, when my friend worked in the switchboard downstairs and we'd take our lunches together. And so I watched switchboard on and one evening shift when I was working, they ran upstairs and says, "can anybody run the switchboard?" And I said, "yeah, I can if you need me." Well, the elderly lady that had had the evening shift, had I guess a nervous breakdown and pulled all the cords in the middle of an evening shift. And they said, "quick, somebody come." So I transferred in the middle of a shift to the business department and took over the switchboard <laugh>. So--
00:05:03JONASON: And that's where you had to plug in all those--
00:05:05MIFFLIN: To plug in all those--
00:05:05JONASON: What did they call those things?
00:05:07MIFFLIN: Yeah, you had to plug all the miscellaneous cords from the incoming lines and you had to plug it into the extension--
00:05:14JONASON: Where it was supposed to go--
00:05:15MIFFLIN: Where it was supposed to go. Fortunately, I had learned enough watching my friend do it, on it, and it was fun! I enjoyed doing it. So I changed departments in the middle of the shift <laugh>.
00:05:26JONASON: And did that stay permanent?
00:05:29MIFFLIN: Well, it did. Then that was before my son was born. So I stayed home for a couple years while he was little. And then I went back to work. At that time they were thinking of building a new hospital (Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital most likely or Whittier Hospital Medical Center) in Whittier. And so--which was very convenient, just a couple of blocks from where I lived. And so I applied for a job there as a part-time switchboard operator on it. And got hired immediately. So I was number sixty. My employee number was sixty. So I was the, the 60th person they hired. I worked all night, the first night the hospital was open, in December, 1958, <laugh>, A really fun job. At that time we did everything from ER reception to the phones to talking to the doctors on it. And it gradually--as my kids got older and got in school full time, I went full-time. Pretty soon I was managing the department then. And then they added the admissions and receptions to it. And I kept moving up--
00:06:44JONASON: You kept advancing.
00:06:45MIFFLIN: --on it. And, uh, I enjoyed the work and it was close to home that way. And so when I took over the admitting section too, they had no procedure manuals. Right. So we had to rewrite all the procedure manuals for all of the thing. Then eventually, we grew to too many people under the--they separated reception area and the switchboard on it. So that I ended up with just the admitting section. But, uh, I did that then for almost twenty years. Twenty years. And stayed there, probably would've stayed longer except Bob (Mifflin) had the opportunity to go to Japan and take--
00:07:30JONASON: So you married him (Robert Mifflin) sometime during your children's growing up?
00:07:34MIFFLIN: Yeah. That, uh, um, I'm--I married (Mifflin's first husband) just right out of junior college. At that time you couldn't get into college unless--I went straight from high school into the summer session because there was a waiting list even to get in on it. So I took typing and shorthand in the summer session 'cause it was the only classes open to get into, but that way I could get the pre-med then in September <laugh>. So it was an interesting time.
00:08:04JONASON: So you were married to Bob while you were in that class?
00:08:08MIFFLIN: No, no, I didn't, um, that--my former marriage kind of fell apart, in the--
00:08:16JONASON: And how long before you met Bob or married Bob, I should say, 'cause I--you said you knew him in in school.
00:08:22MIFFLIN: High school, but we went our separate ways then.
00:08:25JONASON: Sure.
00:08:26MIFFLIN: Until 1966 or so. (Mifflin address Robert Mifflin off screen; Mifflin says something inaudible) Yeah. We--I met him again in '66--
00:08:32JONASON: And so in 1966, when you met Bob, what was your situation?
00:08:37MIFFLIN: I was divorced then.
00:08:38JONASON: And what was your situation for work and your children?
00:08:42MIFFLIN: Yeah. I was working my same job. I was divorced with three kids to support.
00:08:47JONASON: Wow. So you were a single mom?
00:08:48MIFFLIN: I was a single mom. And I worked--the one time I worked two jobs. I worked for an answering service <laugh> in the morning hours. (Then) that I worked at the hospital, at the other hours on it.
00:08:59JONASON: Wow. Was the answering service also?
00:09:02MIFFLIN: Yeah, it was. I worked for an exceptional woman--
00:09:07JONASON: What did they call that? Pb?
00:09:09MIFFLIN: Yeah. It was PBX Board at that time. Hers was a little different. She, the lady I worked for was a hundred--considered by the state, a hundred percent handicapped from rheumatoid arthritis. And she refused to not do something to support herself. So the state set her up with a little switchboard that pulled on a table over her bed, and she worked that all the waking hours of night and day, except for a few mornings a week. She had two ladies come in and relieve her on it. So it was a different type, but--
00:09:41JONASON: So were you one of the relief people?
00:09:43MIFFLIN: So the (inaudible) was one of the ladies <laugh>. that worked Tuesday and Thursday morning--
00:09:47JONASON: Oh my goodness.
00:09:48MIFFLIN: --for her. But she was an indomitable one, like I said, she would've been considered a hundred percent disabled, but she refused to give up <laugh>. So some of the interesting people that I have met that way.
00:10:01JONASON: How long did she last?
00:10:03MIFFLIN: She, I think she was well close to fifty when she finally passed away. I wasn't working for her at the time, but I still knew her. And that--
00:10:18JONASON: That's a testament to determination, isn't It?
00:10:22MIFFLIN: It is, yeah. And just will to be independent. Uh, that, um, so---
00:10:28JONASON: And so what attracted you to Bob at this point?
00:10:32MIFFLIN: Uh, we had a lot of things in common. We went back, discussed things we'd done, and we were both in the band in high school.
00:10:41JONASON: Oh, really? What did you play?
00:10:42MIFFLIN: I played the trombone. He played the trumpet <laugh>.
00:10:46JONASON: The trombone. I can't picture you with a trombone <laugh>.
00:10:49MIFFLIN: It was fun. I, well, <laugh> it was interesting because I decided that I wanted, I wanted to be in the band, but I wanted to play the trombone. And my folks were not poor, but they weren't wealthy either. And my mom said, "well, we'll buy the trombone, but what about the lessons?" So I babysat the teacher's kids in exchange for my music lessons.
00:11:11JONASON: You had to pay for your lessons? You didn't, they didn't have people to teach you in school?
00:11:14MIFFLIN: To get into the band. You had to be at that time, you had to (Mifflin and Jonason begin talking over each other)--
00:11:18JONASON: --Already have some knowledge I see--
00:11:20MIFFLIN: --To get into it. So I spent the summer, most of the summer babysitting the teachers kids that paid for my lessons. So <laugh> But it was a fun experience for high school that the marching band was really--An interesting part is that years later, I passed the trombone on to my granddaughter and she played it in the UCLA band.
00:11:48JONASON: Oh my.
00:11:49MIFFLIN: So <laugh>. But, um--
00:11:53JONASON: That's quite something, right?
00:11:55MIFFLIN: <Laugh> That, um, that, uh--
00:11:58JONASON: So, you and Bob had played instruments and, and you got married. And what was Bob doing at the time you married him?
00:12:08MIFFLIN: Uh, let's see-- (Robert Mifflin, off camera, interjects with "Fullerton") he was, he was working at Fullerton Airport in air traffic control.
00:12:15JONASON: Okay.
00:12:17MIFFLIN: And I was always interested in aviation things. Anyway, so, but he just showed up one day and said, "Would you meet me at a coffee shop? And we'll just talk for a while." So I did meet him at the coffee shop in Fullerton, We talked for a while and decided that maybe we would talk again. <laugh>. And three years later we got married.
00:12:42JONASON: Well that's wonderful. Wonderful.
00:12:44MIFFLIN: And interestingly enough, people ask us where we got married, and we said, we got married in Knott's Berry Farm. And they always give you a strange look. But at that time, there was a beautiful little lake with a church on the lake at Knott's Berry Farm. It had been moved from, I think the Episcopal Church in Downey years ahead there. And so it was the Baptist Minister at the--
00:13:09JONASON: It was like a little chapel that they had?
00:13:11MIFFLIN: The little church of reflections. At Knottsberry Farm. <laugh> On itself. Uh, that, and then, we lived in Whittier at that time, and he drove to Fullerton, the air, the tower there.
00:13:28JONASON: Okay. So after, after his, uh, time at Whittier and after you decided to move, where did you move to from Whittier?
00:13:36MIFFLIN: We moved to San Clemente. I always loved the ocean. And we had an opport--we were camping at the campgrounds at San Onofre or at San Clemente at that time. And they were building some houses up on the hill. And they said, well, let's just drive by and take a look at that. Before we knew it, we had signed up to buy a town, a town home, without ever seeing anything. We stood on the empty ground and walked around it <laugh> and, and bought it, <laugh> or signed up to buy it on the spot. So then we moved there in March of 1974. On it. And that time I drove to Whittier that, uh, it was just almost exactly an hour from the time I left home till I pulled into my parking spot at the hospital there. So that we were still, we were living in San--
00:14:32JONASON: And during that time he was still in the Reserves.
00:14:35MIFFLIN: Yeah. He was a--
00:14:35JONASON: Were you considered an enlisted wife at that time while he was in the Reserves?
00:14:39MIFFLIN: Yeah. But, um, but I wasn't that much in <inaudible> since I was working full time too.
00:14:45JONASON: So you weren't that involved with the bases or anything?
00:14:46MIFFLIN: I wasn't that involved with the base that, uh, some of the meetings off base. I knew the--some of the wives of the people he worked with that way on it. But I'd always been pretty independent, <laugh>. And it was a big decision actually, to give up my job and go retire and go overseas, 'cause I had cherished my independence. <laugh>
00:15:12JONASON: Yes, yes.
00:15:14MIFFLIN: But it turned out to be the best thing. And like I said, my kids learned to be, to really love Bob as their stepfather that, he's very close to all of them. <laugh>.
00:15:25JONASON: Well that's good. So you stayed in San Clemente for a while. Um, at what point did you, you moved to, well--
00:15:35MIFFLIN: We went to San Clemente in March of 1974. And in December or January of '78, we went to Japan and our son lived in the--
00:15:48JONASON: You took your kids with you at that--
00:15:49MIFFLIN: No, at that time they were all out on their own on it. And, the, the one boy, Bob's son, stayed in our house in there while we were gone 'cause he was going to college at the time too. And so we were there until we came home in July of '80, 1981. And at that time, our son moved to Oceanside <laugh>, which was way out in the country then <laugh>. And, uh--
00:16:21JONASON: Not very much there, huh?
00:16:23MIFFLIN: No, <laugh> that, um--
00:16:25JONASON: What year was that?
00:16:27MIFFLIN: 1980, 81? Yeah, mid--
00:16:29JONASON: Really? It was still kind of barren out there?
00:16:30MIFFLIN: --summer. Summer of 81.
00:16:32JONASON: Wow.
00:16:33MIFFLIN: Because actually, we first drove down to see where they bought, and he said, turn on Oceanside Boulevard and just keep going. And we got to El Camino Real, and there was nothing, wide open spaces on. I says, are you sure that this is where they said, you know, <laugh>. And we kept driving until we got to College and discovered here were all of these houses, which now was just like a mile from where we're settled now, actually, <laugh>. But there was, uh--
00:17:01JONASON: Nothing there at the time.
00:17:02MIFFLIN: --like a couple of miles of open country between that part of Oceanside and the old original part of Oceanside. And we both, we really liked San Clemente and we had a nice ocean view from our townhome there, but he really wanted a place, a garden to dig in the soil on it. So we kept driving back over to Fallbrook and looking at it and found a piece of property that we liked on it, and arranged to start buying that with the idea that we would maybe build on that there. And, as we looked further into it, we decided that this was maybe not the best part of town, that we had a chance to buy another house. That at that time my son had moved to Fallbrook because he was training Marines at Camp Pendleton--
00:18:03JONASON: Oh!
00:18:04MIFFLIN: But he was an--he had been an aircraft controller in the Army. And so he, uh, had a job training at Camp (Pendleton)--
00:18:13JONASON: So did he transfer into the Corps or he stayed at the Army?
00:18:15MIFFLIN: No, he stayed at civilian, civilian employee, but he worked fifteen years at Camp Pendleton training Marines there. And so he and his wife had moved to Fallbrook, and so we liked their house. And we met the lady that she well, she's building another one in the San Luis Ray Heights section of, uh, of Fallbrook. So we went down to look at that and decided that really, this is a lot better area and a nicer house. And (clock chiming, <inaudible>). So we sold, sold the lot and went ahead and bought the house under construction <laugh> there.
00:18:51JONASON: So it had not, I mean, you just site unseen basically, you're--
00:18:55MIFFLIN: No, it was partially, uh--
00:18:57JONASON: Partially built?
00:18:59MIFFLIN: Uhuh. And it had been under contract to a Naval officer that wanted to make a bunch of changes in it. And they told him, no, that you've got--you can't do this. So he backed out of the deal on it. And so they said, you know, we could, if we liked it the way it was, fine, we could take over. So it was--bare ground and half-built house. But we did, we moved there then in March of '84 on it, and became involved in Fallbrook. Had joined the historical society there. And then shortly after that, saw a little ad in the local newspaper from the history museums at Camp Pendleton that were looking for docents. And I thought, well, that would be interesting. But I hadn't gone back to work yet or anything. So, I showed up for their orientation meeting and I met my friend Maria Crawford and Maria and I turned out to be the first enlisted wives to join the formerly all officer's wives' docent program on it.
00:20:10JONASON: What year was that?
00:20:11MIFFLIN: 19--September of 1984. On it. And they were very gracious to us, accepted us in to the program on it. And, began to learn more about that and, really enjoyed that and still did it off and on as I went back to work. I still belonged to the docents.
00:20:37JONASON: And where were you working? And did you change hospitals or?
00:20:41MIFFLIN: Well, at that time, Bob was transferred from, uh, he was working at the airport at Palomar. And he was transferred up to Santa Maria for a while. So we let our kids live in our house in Fallbrook, and we temporarily moved up north and, shared with our daughters that lived up in the area there. So, and at that time, my daughter's friend was the head ranger at San Simeon, and he said, you're not going to stay home, do you, while Bob's working? And I said, yeah, I plan to just enjoy the area on it. And he says, I have a job for you. So I went back to work for the--for the State Parks--
00:21:27JONASON: Were you interpreter?
00:21:29MIFFLIN: No, I worked as a part-time, nine months out of the year, a temp on it. And we worked at the campground at San Simeon and Hearst Castle. And we did everything from direct parking, lots to ride, direct people. We worked at the campground at San Simeon just, and we drove--washed the patrol, the ranger's cars <laugh>. We did it, we did everything that was needed. But it was a wonderful chance to learn more of the area and to learn more about Hearst Castle, because we had to go up the hill to get our paychecks. We had to follow the tour bus up the hill to get through the gates to get our paychecks up there. So I did that for the nine months that he was up there. So when we came back down to Fallbrook, then I said, well, I just, why don't I just go over here to Camp Pendel--to the Pendleton Coast State Office and see what's going on there? And they said, well, you know, what did you do? And I told them about Hearst and, and who Bill Miller was the ranger on it. And they said, well, we'll take your application. This was probably January or something like that, and then one day in the 1st of April, the phone rang and they said, why aren't you at work? And I said, well, I didn't know I'd been hired. Didn't--nobody called on it. And they said, well, come, can you come right away? And I says, I have the old uniform. I don't even have the new shirts! "Put on your old uniform. Come as you are, you're on the schedule for today!" <laugh>.
00:23:09JONASON: And what was it you were doing?
00:23:11MIFFLIN: Park. Uh, Park Aid actually.
00:23:12JONASON: Oh, for again, the state.
00:23:14MIFFLIN: They said, yeah. But they had neglected to tell me I was hired <laugh>. So I worked like nine months on and three months off there at San Clemente and San Onofre. Uh, that and met all kinds of interesting people, that, and about that time Bob decided, well, if she's working down there, I'm gonna go down there <laugh>. So I said, so, so they hired him driving the trash truck, <laugh>. And he said he'd never done anything like that, but why not? So he would come by the kiosk there and pick me up for a coffee break and we would drive to the dump for the trash truck, So I stayed with that until the state was having a cutback on it. And the two other--
00:24:06JONASON: Which every government does.
00:24:07MIFFLIN: Yeah. The two other ladies that worked with me were single moms that were dependent on the job on it. And I said, if somebody has to go, you know, I'm not dependent on this. So I said, I'll quit now on it. And then he did too. But we both enjoyed that. And, the one day up there, I even got a package, the Ranger came back and he says, this came in the mail for you. And I said, what it was, I said, it just said "Marni at San Clemente State Park." And I opened it, it was a bottle of wine from Italy that a couple that I had enjoyed visiting with there sent me from Italy <laugh> On it. And so I was just all kinds of interesting things there. So but then when I--and we decided to, we'd buy a motor home, it'd be nice to travel around and see things. So Bob decided that the best way is to go to work for RV dealer and see what was there. So he signed up as a salesman for an RV dealer in San Marcos. And so then one day, just a month or so later, he called and he said, can you come over and help in the office here? And I said, I guess so, you know, but I said, well, she's looking for a new office manager, but she just needs somebody to fill in for a couple of weeks or so. So I said, okay. So I went over and ended up, and she kept interviewing people. Nothing was happening and all that. Pretty soon I was doing the payroll and writing up the invoices and running everything on it. And then as I began to learn more about it, I decided that I really don't like the way they're running this business on it. And then, then when I saw her forged signature on a thing on it, I decided, I really don't want this--
00:26:04JONASON: You didn't feel comfortable with that, this.
00:26:05MIFFLIN: --part of this. And so I walked into her partner's office to say, you know, I'm quitting. You know, you've had your time to hire someone else on it. And he says, that's funny. 'cause she just told me I had to get rid of you, <laugh>. And I said, fine. So I, this was almost a year later, so I left my mutual agreement and Bob did too. In the meantime, we had bought a small motor home and enjoyed that. But it was just one of the many odd--that was a nice part of being retired. You didn't have to stick with your job.
00:26:39JONASON: You could take it or leave it.
00:26:40MIFFLIN: If you didn't like it, you could move on. It was a chance to learn. And, uh, other small episode after returning from Japan to San Clemente in 1980, '82, I guess at that time, my friend came back and she says, I'm driving a bus for Capistrano School District. They need a substitute bus driver. And I said, I've never driven a bus before! She says, oh, but its only part-time, you won't mind that <laugh>. So then we were living in San Clemente, and this was the school district there at, um, Capistrano, so I ended up learning to drive the school bus, the Highway patrol taught the classes on it and checked out on it. So I got my school bus driver license.
00:27:26JONASON: Wow.
00:27:26MIFFLIN: And, I ended up driving the handicap bus because I was not afraid of working with the handicap kids in the wheelchair. And I said, well, just relief, not all the time. And at that time, the lady that had that route went on medical leave. So they said, you can take, will you take her job till she comes back? So for that whole year until we moved to Fallbrook, I drove the handicap bus (for) the school district, and met some of the most interesting people that way too, including the little gal that had the brittle bone disease that was on her TV program and everything. I used to pick her up at her house and bring her back to the school there on it. And one little girl that lived at the campground, went to the local schools. There's that, there was really--and one of the little boys that I picked up, picked up from the campground there at San Clemente, he ended up becoming a ranger at San Clemente <laugh>. So that--it's strange the way the, your path you, but, uh, it's not always planned ahead, but God has his ways <laugh>.
00:28:40JONASON: So do you still have relationships with any of the people that you worked with in San Clemente?
00:28:45MIFFLIN: No, it's so many years ago now 'cause this was back in the early eighties before we moved to Fallbrook on it. Then the Rangers are all retired now. But the only ones we stayed acquainted with was, was the one from San Simeon, because he was--his wife was a nurse with my daughter is how met him on it and then they stayed friends for years afterwards. Uh, but, then we came back. We failed retirement, I guess you'd say <laugh> <laugh>, because while we were still living in Fallbrook, a friend of mine here in Oceanside called and said, could you help me out this afternoon? I said, sure. What do you need? She says, well I work for the car dealership here, and they need the car delivered, and I need another driver on it. So I came over and went with her to deliver the car and everything. And before I knew they were calling again and, and again, pretty soon we were delivering cars for the dealer. And then I wasn't available one day when Bob answered the phone. He said, well, can I help you? And she says, well, sure. So then he ended up doing it. So we spent the next almost twenty years just working part-time for car dealers, delivering new cars all and met more interesting people all over Southern California and we finally, um, we retired when we turned, he turned 90 and I was almost 90. We sent in our letter of retirement on it. And he said, well, why? Why're you quitting? I said, well, we made it to 90 with no tickets, no accidents on it. It was time to make room for someone else on it. So, they had a retirement cake and met, and we got letters from dealerships all over Southern California that our boss had let these people know that we were retiring and they all sent letters on it. And so I said that there's so many nice people out there that--and we learned a lot about Southern California geography. We learned some little towns we'd lived here all our lives and hadn't been to but if they had a car dealer, <laugh>, we found--
00:31:10JONASON: Or if you needed to deliver a car there, you know.
00:31:11MIFFLIN: Right. Uhhuh, I was getting to move, driving the first Hummer in Southern California on it, and, uh, it was a wonderful experience on it. So we still stay friends with all the people there.
00:31:26JONASON: So during this time you were also docenting at the ranch house.
00:31:29MIFFLIN: Yeah. But for a while--
00:31:30JONASON: And you were also working with Angels (Angel Society of Fallbrook)?
00:31:33MIFFLIN: Yeah, I, when we first moved to Fallbrook, we worked with the Historical Society there for quite a while, and one of the ladies really active in that said, oh, you've gotta come and join. I knew she was with the Angels. And at that time, my granddaughter that was with the NCL, National Charity League and the teenagers had to do a season of volunteer work too. So when her mom couldn't go with her, I would take her shift with her at the Angel shop. Well, she graduated from high school and left, and I was still with the Angel Society there. So I probably belonged close to 30 years. I was president for a couple of years and I went what they call sustaining a couple of years ago. So now I don't have the responsibility, but I still go in a couple days a month and stay--
00:32:21JONASON: That's a nice shop. The Angel Shop,
00:32:22MIFFLIN: --and stay as long as I feel like staying on it. So I can still stay active in it. Plus I'm still always interested in the docents and what they're doing, even though though COVID kind of made a dent in both of our, uh, well all our volunteer positions. But anytime I can learn something new is great.
00:32:43JONASON: You've been an, a volunteer extraordinaire.
00:32:47MIFFLIN: <Laugh>, But, um--
00:32:50JONASON: What a story. And so then now you're in Oceanside.
00:32:56MIFFLIN: Right.
00:32:57JONASON: And not far from Fallbrook really.
00:33:01MIFFLIN: No, no. I still have Fallbrook connections. Like I say, the Angel Society is still a big part of my life. And my friends there that in the (Camp Pendleton) base chapel. When we moved from Fallbrook to Oceanside, we started going to the the chapel there at the base. We've met a lot of interesting people coming and going through there also. And that's when we met Jeannie Vincey and her husband Richard, who were docents.
00:33:33JONASON: Do you still keep in touch with them?
00:33:34MIFFLIN: Yeah. That time. And uh, so when they retired and went to the East Coast too. We still hear from him. He retired as a Rear Admiral--
00:33:46JONASON: Oh my.
00:33:47MIFFLIN: --on it. He was ready to retire from Washington. In fact we visited them in Washington DC when he was there. And he was ready to retire. They had asked the people to vacate their home in Florida on it, and he was up for Rear Admiral. So he decided, well, I guess I'll stay a little longer. <Laugh>. So eventually they did stay--did, uh, retire on it. But--and they're grandparents now. So they're--all these families grow up.
00:34:18JONASON: Yes. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yes.
00:34:20MIFFLIN: And that's when we met Suzanne, who is now a big part of our life <laugh> that we keep track with her.
00:34:30JONASON: That's good.
00:34:31MIFFLIN: Remarkable lady.
00:34:33JONASON: You have been very, very active and what a wonderful, rich life you seem to have had. What would you like to tell young people that hear your story?
00:34:52MIFFLIN: Probably that you can do almost anything you set your mind to. And don't get trapped in something that you don't like on it. There's always a way out of it.
00:35:05JONASON: Right.
00:35:06MIFFLIN: God had his plans for you. They may be not be your plans, but in the long run, they turn out to be the best.
00:35:14JONASON: Anything that you'd like to pass about your life in San Diego County? Is there anything in particular about San Diego County that you'd like to share?
00:35:26MIFFLIN: Well, we looked all over, uh, California, Washington, Oregon and other places to permanently retire to, and decided that San Diego County was the best place. And I'm glad we did settle here. I think we have the best of everything. It has its problems like everything else. I--sometimes we think, well, California, somebody stole our old California, it's not the same. But by and large, there's really no place else that we'd be better off than we are where we are right here. We're very happy with a smaller house, convenient to everything. So I think it was a good decision to stay here.
00:36:11JONASON: Thank you.
