Our Staff

Arzella J. Valentine, Vice-President/Co-Owner Arzella J. Valentine, Vice-President and Co-Owner, is a Licensed Funeral Director and Life Insurance Agent.  She was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Mount Olive, Arkansas.  She moved to Pasadena, California where she met and married Fred W. Valentine in 1949.  Together they purchased James Woods Mortuary from Fred's Aunt, Annie Mae Woods, and built the business we know today as Woods-Valentine Mortuary. Arzella earned an A.A. Degree from Pasadena City College and pursued her love for writing at U.C.L.A.  Although retired, she still consults with daughters, Janyce and Gail regularly about business matters and helps with payroll.

She is an accomplished business woman who also is a published poet. She has written and self-published two books, "Growing Up In Mt. Olive" and "Return to Mt. Olive", both including beautiful poems and short stories about her upbringing in the rural south. She has served on numerous boards and as an active member of many organizations such as The Pasadena NAACP, The Pasadena Urban League, Jack and Jill of America, Pasadena Altadena Links, The Soroptimist club, and others.  She is a member of Friendship Baptist Church, where she served in many capacities throughout the years.  Arzella is a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, godmother, and friend to many.