Cheers to Diana Viveros from the House on Shorb

Diana (in Dodgers blue) and her family and friends on the front porch at Shorb

When I first walked into Diana Viveros’ Alhambra home it was completely empty.  Freshly painted white to prepare it for sale, there were few clues about who had lived there.  I was straddling the top of a ladder, wrestling with an old ceiling fan, when a neighbor tapped on the metal screen door to warn me about street cleaning tickets. 

Abraham and Diana had been neighbors for more than 30 years and with equal parts fondness and the protectiveness of someone that guards the block, Abraham told me Diana would have been thrilled that I was the one preparing her home for sale. At first I thought he was just being kind but the more I learned about Diana, the more I understood why he thought she’d be rooting for me: 

Diana, who passed away in 2022, was the first woman ever hired as a maintenance worker by the City of Los Angeles.  She started in 1986 as one of only three women in the training program.  One transferred quickly and the other dropped out but Diana kept at it. 

Her only granddaughter Tiffany remembers the pride Diana took in her work. “She would show up anyone who doubted her,” Tiffany told me.  “If you said she couldn’t, she’d do it better and make you eat your words.” Her command of the job was unmistakable, replacing lights before they failed and creating emergency protocols, earning respect for always being one step ahead. 

Diana at work as a maintenance worker for the City of Los Angeles

That instinct came from her father, a general contractor who let Diana shadow him as a girl. While her siblings weren’t interested, she never passed up a chance to tag along. It gave her not just skills but a sense of pride in work done well which she carried into every project. 

Still, once she began her career in maintenance work, she was caught in between worlds. Men in the field doubted she would last, while the women she had worked alongside as a telephone operator for nearly twenty years no longer embraced her. Even positive recognition fell short when a plaque honoring her had her name misspelled; a small but stinging reminder of how hard it could be simply to be seen. 

Diana accepting an award for completing job training with the City of Los Angeles

But in the eyes of her family, there was never any doubt.  Tiffany spoke with admiration when she described her grandmother’s mix of grit and warmth. “She could out-party anyone in our family,” she laughed. “She was tough, but she made everything fun. You just wanted to be around her.”  

Diana also had the good fortune of a supportive boss and a close circle of friends who cheered her on. When she and her partner Gloria bought the Alhambra house in 1972, it quickly became the central gathering place for her family and community.  With her father’s help, Diana added a bedroom and laundry room. They poured concrete, expanded the backyard under a pergola and added a bathroom so no line would ever get in the way of a good party. 

But it was the garage that truly defined the house. Converted into what Tiffany called a “she cave,” it held a pool table, dartboard, 1970s bar, and round table where cards were dealt late into the night.  Over the years it cycled through sofas, a slot machine, even a jacuzzi, always evolving to match the moment. The garage was where most holidays were celebrated, where Tiffany learned to play blackjack and pool, where bowling teammates gathered for baby showers, and Bud Light was always served in a frosted glass.  On her 75th birthday, Diana celebrated with a taco bar and DJ with a stereo system. At one in the morning, the music continued to blast as the dance floor spilled into the backyard. 

Dancing in the “She Cave”

The energy of the "she cave” carried through every season. At Christmastime Diana insisted on putting up her own decorations, climbing ladders to hang lights on the front of the house long after most would have asked for help.  She poured that same spirit into everything she loved: bowling two or three nights a week, cheering on the Dodgers, and traveling.  For her 80th birthday she went to Scotland and Norway. She took a bus tour to the Grand Canyon, and just months before she passed, she traveled to Maine, New York and Boston. Tiffany smiles when she says, “even up until she passed away my grandma was still celebrating life and partying like she was in her twenties. Nothing held her back.” 

Diana before zip lining

I never met Diana. But working on her home, I felt her.  What are the odds that the first woman maintenance worker for the City of Los Angeles would, more than 50 years later, have her home prepared for sale by another woman learning the trades?  Tiffany and I both believe it wasn’t an accident. 

Like Diana, I’ve worked in spaces where women are still the exception: first in a healthcare boardroom and now in renovation. I know the sideways looks, the moments of doubt, the insistence on carrying my tools for me.  Diana shouldered even more of that weight, and in doing so, cleared a path and made space for women like me. 

So when I think of Diana, I feel gratitude. I admire her courage, how she served others, how she created community in her home and always made time to enjoy an ice-cold beer.  She’s taught us that the best way to live is without fear or apology.  

Tiffany put it best: “Don’t be held back by fear or public perception. Live your life for you and not what other people expect or hope for.  That’s how my Grandma was.”