Ex-GI bride seeks information

A WARRINGTON-born former GI bride who may have been the youngster person to entertain US troops during World War 2 is appealing for information about a club where she performed as a child.
Stella Studebaker, now a widow and living in California has tried on several occasions to find out about the club which apparently opened somewhere behind the Lord Rodney pub.
But she has always drawn a blank
Stella is an active member of the RAF Burtonwood Association.
She married US Air Force serviceman Bill (Wilburn) Studebaker in 1958 after they met at the Skyline Airman’s Club
He was with the 53rd Weather Squadron and they married at Newmarket. He was then posted to Morocco but Stella stayed in this country to have her first baby.
In 1962 they went to Texas but came back to this country until Bill was posted to Vietnam
Stella spent a wonderful year in Tampa, with her sister Joyce who had also married a USAF man from Burtonwood – Rick Simmons.
But in 1970 Stella and Bill settled in California until Bill sadly died in 1995.
Stella said: “I have tried many times to find information about the opening of a club in Warrington behind the Lord Rodney on Orford Lane.
“A USO group of singers performed and my Dad was asked to let me sing with them. The memories are very vivid as I wore a grass
skirt and bra top, (much too big).
“Someone found a black baby doll and I sang ‘Tura Lura Baby’ and I remember dancing with a tall black GI who was on his knees. There were flash bulbs going off and some of the photos went State side. I remember getting packages of all kinds of things and there was mention of a US publication stating I was the youngest entertainer of WW2.
“I would have been about three or four years old at the time.”