Los Angeles
County
Biographies
ROBERT F. BREWER
The
proprietor of Brewer’s Cleaners & Dyers came to California and to Alhambra
in 1921. Mr. Robert F. Brewer
established himself in service to the community of Alhambra as a dry cleaner in
1932; he took over an establishment called the De Luxe
Cleaners.
Mr.
Brewer built his own dry cleaning plant at the corner of Garfield Avenue and
Huntington Drive in Alhambra in 1939. At
that time the name became Acme Cleaners and Dyers, but Mr. Brewer changed the
firm’s name again in 1941 to Brewer’s Cleaners & Dyers.
Mr.
Brewer built the present modern plant at 300 South Atlantic Boulevard,
Alhambra, and occupied it on October 1, 1955.
The plant is the largest of its kind in capacity in Alhambra. Mr. Brewer now has one truck and twelve
employees in his firm.
A
member and graduate of the National Dry Cleaners Institute, Mr. Brewer is also
associated with the California Dry Cleaners Association. He is a member of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce.
Mr.
Brewer was born November 4, 1908, to Mr. Joseph F. and Mrs. Dora (Ferguson)
Brewer at Lyons, Indiana. He is one of
five children. His father, a farmer in
Indiana, moved to California and is now a retired employee of the Alhambra
Water Department living in Alhambra.
Mr.
Brewer came to California with his father and was educated in Alhambra
elementary schools and Alhambra High School.
He
is a member of the Granada Lodge of the Masons in Alhambra and a charter member
of the High Twelve service club of the Lodge.
He and his wife are members of the Granada Lodge of the Order of the
Eastern Star in Alhambra.
Miss
Mary Alice Heckman of Stewartsville, Indiana, became Mr. Brewer’s wife on July
21, 1930, in Yuma, Arizona.
Their
son, Mr. Robert Lee Brewer, has brought himself international fame and parental
pride as an Olympic figure skater.
Robert began skating when he was seven years old and has not stopped
yet. A graduate of Alhambra High School,
he went on to capture the National Novice Figure Skating title in 1954 in Los
Angeles. In 1955 he was runner-up for
the next highest title, the National Junior Title, which he won in 1956. As third-place man on the United States
Olympic figure skating team he was also entitled to a place on the World Figure
Skating Team in 1960.
In
1960 Robert placed seventh in the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California
in figure skating. This year, by turning
professional just before the Olympic teams left for Rome, Robert was saved from
the fate of his teammates on the World Team.
An airplane crash in Brussels, Belgium, ended their lives.
Robert
escaped death one before at Sun Valley, Idaho.
He and a group of his companions were skating in the snow paradise when
he called his mother and asked her to meet him.
He wanted to leave Sun Valley because he was tired of skating
there. He departed the valley one week
before his friends all perished in an automobile accident.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 551-553, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES