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                                                                EXHIBIT 31.1

                                CERTIFICATION

         I, Stephen M. O'Hara, certify that:

         1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Angelica
              Corporation;

         2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
              statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
              necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
              circumstances under which such statements were made, not
              misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
              financial information included in this report, fairly present
              in all material respects the financial condition, results of
              operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for,
              the periods presented in this report;

         4.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are
              responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
              controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
              13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

                      (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
                      or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to
                      be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
                      material information relating to the registrant,
                      including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
                      to us by others within those entities, particularly
                      during the period in which this quarterly report is
                      being prepared;

                      (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                      disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
                      this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of
                      the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
                      of the period covered by this quarterly report based
                      on such evaluation; and

                      (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the
                      registrant's internal control over financial reporting
                      that occurred during the registrant's most recent
                      fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
                      reasonably likely to materially affect, the
                      registrant's internal control over financial
                      reporting; and

         5.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have
              disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
              control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
              and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors
              (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

                      (a) All significant deficiencies and material
                      weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
                      control over financial reporting which are reasonably


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                      likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
                      record, process, summarize and report financial
                      information; and

                      (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                      management or other employees who have a significant
                      role in the registrant's internal control over
                      financial reporting.

Date: December 8, 2003


                                       /s/ Stephen M. O'Hara
                                       -------------------------------------
                                       Stephen M. O'Hara
                                       President and Chief Executive Officer
                                       of Angelica Corporation


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