‘If I were handed enough money so I could retire, I wouldn’t.’

Rae Teed of Encino has been selling real estate for 10 years. That wasn’t what her father had in mind when she was growing up in Hancock Park. Eventually Teed decided her place was not in the home, and she has been happily working ever since.

I got married the first time when war started. The war started the 7th of December, and we were married the 13th. We had taken out our license the Friday before. He was graduating from the air school in Sacramento. We lived in Savannah, Ga., until he left for Europe in April. He was the first flier from the American forces killed in Western Europe. We opened hostilities from England to Holland on July 4, 1942, and he was killed on that first flight. Our only child was born the following September.

When Bill died I was a shy, scared-to-death kid. I was 25 and pregnant when he was killed. After that happened, nothing ever bothered me.

I knew I’d never love again. It was a complete love affair. But I remarried 3 1/2 years later, got pregnant immediately, then found out that he was a drunkard and I divorced him immediately.

The second marriage was a mistake, but it didn’t affect me that much, except that by marrying him I lost my government support. So I didn’t have any money. I had two babies, so I didn’t want to go to work then because I wanted to be with them. I’d never been trained for anything. My dad was a real estate broker, and I wanted to go in with him. He said: “No. A woman’s place is in the home. Just get remarried.” So I did.

Mr. Teed came along, and I married him in 1948, and he adopted my first two children. Our child was born nine months and one day later.

After the children were older I wanted to go to work, but Mr. Teed was like my father. He said, “If you want to go to work, fine, get a divorce first.” So I never went to work. He also wouldn’t let me drive a car. I was smothered.

I finally got divorced in 1971, after 23 years, for mainly one reason. I thought, “When I go to die, if I haven’t tried to have a different life, I’m always going to regret it.”

I’d been raised by my parents the old-fashioned way, which I think is completely wrong: that the man had all the brains and that the woman should just stay home and take care of the house, be a hostess for parties and make sure her husband gets promoted.

When I got divorced, I thought I had enough settlement that I could invest, which I did. But I’d been brought up to trust the men. I had a male stockbroker, and it didn’t take him long to lose the money. And I ran into a very crooked real estate man up in Nevada. By the time I got down to $4,000, I decided that I’d better go to work. Now what can I do?

In 1976 I was completely broke. So I took the real estate exam and went to work. I’ve been working ever since, and I love it.

I didn’t have any connections or friends like other people, churches or clubs. All of that helps. I didn’t have any of that and I still don’t. It’s just hard work. Anybody can make it if they work hard. I work seven days a week. Now and then I take a week off and go away.

I started my newsletter, Rae Teed’s Neighborhood News, with selling prices, real estate news, recipes and cartoons, in 1978. Every month I hit it. I walk around and ring doorbells sometimes, or I just lay it by the door. They all know me, even the dogs. Door to door, that’s what it takes. I’ve had people come running down the street to ask questions when they realized I was in the neighborhood.

I think that if you have enough ambition and enough drive and you like people and get along well with people, you can do anything you want to do.

I knew when I lost all of my money that unless I could get a nest egg like I had, I would be doing this all my life. I don’t have any retirement. I’m 70 now, and if I were handed enough money so I could retire, I wouldn’t. I like working with people. I like listening to their joys and their troubles and helping them. I really like it. I can’t see myself ever quitting.