Ray Hagenbaugh and the LAPD Shrine Club

There are multiple lines of Hagenbaughs living in the United States. These Hagenbaughs are actually Hagenbuchs. It’s just that their pronunciation and spelling of our family name has changed over time.

California is one state with a number of Hagenbaugh groups. Confusingly, some are descended from different sons of Andreas Hagenbuch (b. 1715). Case in point: William Allen Hagenbaugh (b. 1855) moved from Blackhawk County, Iowa to Redding, California in 1885. By 1910, the family was living in Los Angeles. William Allen is a descendant of Andreas’ son, Michael (b. 1746). Similarly named, William A. Hagenbaugh (b. 1850) relocated from Vermillion County, Indiana to Los Angeles, CA in 1890. He is a descendant of Andreas’ son, Henry (b. 1737).

Ray Hagenbaugh’s button from the Los Angeles Police Department Shrine Club

Last week, I noticed a 3 1/2 inch diameter button for sale on eBay as a collectible. It read “Los Angeles Police Dept. Shrine Club, Ray Hagenbaugh” and included a graphic of a police officer’s badge. The name on the button—Ray Hagenbaugh—is known to our family and has been featured in a past article. Still, the collectible left me with several questions that needed researched.

William “Ray” Raymond Hagenbaugh was born on May 28, 1904 in San Francisco, CA to William Louis Hagenbaugh (b. 1878) and Ida May (James) Hagenbaugh (b. 1883). His parents divorced in 1912 and remarried other people. Ray was raised by his mother, Ida, and stepfather, Frank E. Scott (b. 1872) in Oakland, CA and Los Angeles, CA. During this time, he remained close with his father’s side of the family, as shown in the below family photograph. Ray is in the young man reclining on the far left of the middle row. A full description of the people in the image can be found in this article.

Family of William Allen and Lydia (Barr) Hagenbaugh, December 25, 1926. Ray is in the young man reclining on the far left of the middle row.

In 1930, Ray Hagenbaugh followed in his father, William’s, footsteps and joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). By this year, he had also met his wife, Florence Beverly Inglis (b. 1907), of Washington. According to the 1930 census, the couple—who are listed as husband and wife—lived together on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles. However, the couple did not receive a California marriage license until June 21, 1937. Ray served as a police office for 33 years, rising to the rank of captain. When he retired from the LAPD in 1963, he was division commander for the Highland Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. Ray and Florence retired to Laguna Hills, CA where Ray died on Dec. 6, 1982. His burial place has not been located.

Officer William “Ray” Raymond Hagenbaugh posed with an injured robber, Joe Miller, 1934

While the basic facts of Ray Hagenbaugh’s life were known prior to finding his Shrine Club button, the circumstances surrounding the creation of the collectible weren’t immediately clear. The phrase “Shrine Club” suggested that the button had something to do with the Shriners. Even so, I really didn’t know much about the organization, except for their tradition of wearing Middle Eastern hats and driving tiny cars at parades. I set about to learn more.

Shriners International was founded in 1870 by Walter M. Flemming (b. 1838) and William J. Florence (b. 1831). Flemming and Florence were Freemasons, who frequently met for lunch in Manhattan. During one meeting, they developed an idea for a new, fraternal organization that focused on fun, fellowship, family, and philanthropy. To join, members already needed to be third degree Master Masons.The Shriners adopted a Middle Eastern theme for their organization. Members wore stylized, red fez hats on their heads. Headquarters buildings were often built in a Moorish Revival style and the logo for the organization featured a scimitar.

A Shriner driving a tiny car in an Independence Day parade, 2014. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

As I read about the Shriners, I remembered that I had other encounters with the organization. First, I had gone to the Shrine Circus as a child. The circus is affiliated with Shriners International and travels throughout the United States to perform. Second, a former work colleague is a clown with the Shriners and goes by the name Pickles. Pickles entertains children at the pediatric hospitals run by the group. The Shriners have numerous clubs within the organization, including those for clowns and motor patrol. I found out that the Motor Patrol Club is responsible for the driving of tiny cars at parades.

Ray Hagenbaugh appears to have been a member of the Los Angeles Police Department Club, which was once part of the Al Malaikah Shriners of Los Angeles, CA. It seems that the club had buttons made to identify each person as a member. With 33 years of service in the LAPD, one can imagine Ray wearing his button and sharing stories with other Shriners in the club.

Ray Hagenbaugh (third from the right) is honored for his service in the Highland Park Division of the LAPD. Credit: Highland Park News-Herald, April 23, 1961

As noted earlier, Ray and his wife, Florence, didn’t have any children. Without descendants to pass their effects too, objects such as pictures, documents, and this club button were sold. The seller of the button was located in Georgia and received a highest bid of $41 for the piece—probably from another collector. Yet, for those of us who are Hagenbuchs (or Hagenbaughs), the true value of such an item comes not from it being a collectible, but from the story of the person who once owned it.