Zelma Wilson(1918-1996)

Born in New York City, New York, USA; Wilson was raised in Santa Paula, where her parents ran a fabric store. Wilson left the area to study art at UC Berkeley and then architecture at USC. An architect since the 1940s. Her marriage to filmmaker Michael Wilson and the birth of their two daughters required her to take a few breaks from her architecture practice. When Michael was blacklisted in 1952 after co-producing a film about New Mexico zinc miners, Zelma took a leave from architecture during the couples' self-imposed exile in France. In France, Zelma studied sculpting at L'Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. When she returned from France, she settled with her family in Ojai, Ventura County, California, USA in the mid-1960s. Architecture once again garnered much of her attention. She opened her office, where she designed churches, schools, libraries, day-care centers, a shopping center and public buildings. Many of her designs won awards. Her design for Creek Road Bridge, Oak Grove Elementary and Secondary schools, and a new building for Saint Andrews Episcopal all won commendations. A member of dozens of architecture and civic boards and commissions, Wilson's battle with emphysema during the past 10 years seemed not to have slowed her down.