L. Pauline Wooten; Former Pentagon Secretary

L. Pauline Wooten, a retired secretary and former bookkeeper, died Saturday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura after a brief illness. She was 87.

She was born Jan. 12, 1913, in Mill Creek, W.Va., and had been a Ventura County resident for the past 27 years.

After beginning as a bookkeeper, Wooten became a claims adjuster for Kemper Insurance Co. in Chicago. Later she worked for Frank B. Hall Insurance Co. as an insurance claim secretary.

After World War II, Wooten worked in the office of the chief engineers at the Pentagon, for the adjutant general in Stuttgart, Germany, and in the office of Army Gen. Lucius D. Clay, commander of the U.S. occupation forces in Berlin.

She was a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Oxnard, the Order of Eastern Star No. 322 and the Oxnard Fleet Reserve.

Wooten was preceded in death by a son, Harry, and a daughter, Lavonda.

She is survived by sons Victor Gear of Portage, Ind., Joseph Wooten of Oxnard; daughters Lou Roy, also of Portage, Gail Scheir of Florida; daughter-in-law Betty Gear of Oxnard; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. today at Engle Funeral Home in Portage, Ind. This is also where the funeral services are scheduled, at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Local arrangements are under the direction of Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.