Named in December 1952 after Mamie Eisenhower (1896-1979), wife of President Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (1890-1969). Days earlier, Marshall Boyar, whose father Louis was one of Lakewood’s developers, gave an interview in which he announced plans to name streets here “Dwight” and “Eisenhower” for the President-elect. County engineers supposedly put the kibosh on this idea, but let him keep Nixon Street for Ike’s VP and Mamie Avenue for the new First Lady. Mamie Geneva Doud was born in Iowa to a wealthy meatpacking executive. She split her formative years between Denver and San Antonio and married Eisenhower in 1916. The pre-White House Mamie has been described by biographers as the devoted but anxious wife of an itinerant military officer: they moved at least 27 times before finally buying their first home in Gettysburg, PA in 1948. As First Lady, however, she was hailed as a charming hostess and was widely admired by the American people.
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