San Diego County
Biographies
DEMPSTER McKEE
Dempster
McKee, prominent corporation attorney of San Diego, where he has been
continuously engaged in practice for nearly a quarter century, is a member of
the firm of Wright & McKee, with offices on the sixth floor of the Southern
Title & Trust Company Building. He
was born in Nashua, Iowa, August 20, 1886, his parents being the Rev. L. U. and
Blanche (King) McKee, natives of Iowa and Illinois, respectively. The father spent practically all his active
life as a Methodist minister, serving a number of pastorates in Iowa, and on
retiring from the pulpit came to California in 1907. He made his home in San Diego until his
death, which occurred in 1914, when he had attained the age of sixty-two
years. Dempster
McKee is the elder of two living children of Rev. and Mrs. McKee, his sister
being Mrs. Ed Kennedy of Los Angeles.
Dempster
McKee was reared in Iowa but was graduated from the central high school of
Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1902. His more
advanced educational training was acquired at Cornell College of Iowa, from
which institution he received the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of
Arts. In specific preparation for a
professional career he entered the law department of the University of
Michigan, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1909,
came to San Diego in September of the same year and was admitted to the
California bar. His ability in the work
of the courts brought him growing reputation and in 1915 he became associated
with the law firm of Wright & Winnek, which
continued as Wright, Winnek & McKee until 1917,
when the present style of Wright & McKee was adopted. Mr. McKee is counselor for a number of business
corporations, also engages in general law practice and has long enjoyed high
standing among the leading representatives of his profession in San Diego city
and county. He served as assistant
district attorney of San Diego from 1911 to 1915, and he is a member of both
the San Diego Bar Association and the California Bar Association.
On the 28th of December,
1910, in San Diego, Mr. McKee was united in marriage to Miss Lois Andrews,
daughter of Judge C. M. Andrews, of the superior court of San Diego, and his
wife, Marie (Baldwin) Andrews. Mrs.
McKee was born, reared and educated in Minnesota. By her marriage she has become the mother of
three children: Mary Alice, who is
secretary in the San Diego State Teachers College; John Dempster
(Jack), a senior in high school; and Richard Andrews, who is a junior high
school student.
In his political views Mr. McKee is
a Republican. At the time of the World
War he rendered patriotic service to the government as a Four-Minute speaker
and also on the local legal advisory board.
He is a member of the University Club of San Diego, the Sigma Nu
fraternity and San Diego Lodge, No. 168, B. P. O. E. When leisure permits he indulges his fondness
for hunting.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 521-522, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S SAN DIEGO BIOGRAPHIES