Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JESSE
BENJAMIN CHAPMAN
Mr.
Jesse Benjamin Chapman is one of the popular and respected citizens of
Alhambra. Texas born, he came to
California in 1914, when he was eight years old. After completing his education, he held jobs
with a railroad and an oil company. In
1945 after two and one-half years in the Army Air Force, he started to work for
a Los Angeles bank.
His
career with First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Alhambra began in
1953, and Mr. Chapman has been well-known in business, social and civic circles
ever since. Now eight years later, Mr.
Chapman is Assistant Vice President and Chief Appraiser of First Federal
Savings and Loan Association of Alhambra at 1 West Bay State Street. During these years business has increased to
over $100,000,000 in assets and, instead of the 15 people employed in the
office when Mr. Chapman was the 16th to be hired, there are
presently 60 people now serving the customers of the organization which was
founded in 1925 and is the oldest and largest Federal Savings and Loan
Association in the San Gabriel Valley.
Mr.
Chapman is a member of Los Angeles Chapter No. 1, Society of Residential
Appraisers; a member of Residential Research Committee of Los Angeles; a member
of the American Savings & Loan Institute; a member of the Alhambra District
Board of Realtors; and a member of the teaching staff of University Extension,
University of California at Los Angeles.
He is also a Senior Member of the Society of Residential Appraisers and
served as a director for three years of the Los Angeles Chapter No. 1.
Mr.
Jesse Benjamin Chapman was born in Dallas, Texas, on August 8, 1906. He is the only child of Edward Albert Chapman
and Bertha (Powell) Chapman. His father
came to the United States from Fern, County Wexford, Ireland, and was in the
manufacturing business of orthopedic appliances in St. Louis, Dallas and Los
Angeles. In 1914 the family moved to Los
Angeles where young Chapman received most of his education. After graduating from Los Angeles Polytechnic
High School he attended Woodbury Business College and University Extension,
University of California at Los Angeles where he majored in business administration.
For
eight years he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad in the Treasury Department
and for another eight years for Richfield Oil Company in the Sales Department
from 1934 to 1942, when he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and
was stationed at the Santa Ana Army Air Base.
The unusual event in his military life was his enlistment. He was allowed to enlist at Santa Ana by
special written permission from the Adjutant General of the Army Air
Force. He was honorably discharged in
1945 with the rank of Sergeant and began his banking career in the same
year. He worked for the California Bank
from 1945 to 1953 in the Cashier’s and Real Estate Loan Departments. In 1953 he became associated with First
Federal Savings and Loan Association of Alhambra and is now assistant Vice President
and Chief Appraiser. He is credited with
setting up an efficient appraisal department which is now in operation.
On
May 16, 1927, Mr. Chapman and Miss Juanita Viola Roth were married in the
Church of the Angels in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Chapman is a fourth generation Californian, born in Los Angeles,
and is a descendent of one of the distinguished California pioneer
families. Her great-grandfather,
Benjamin Foxen an English sea captain who had settled
in California in 1827 and married the beautiful Eduarda
Osuna, acquired Rancho Tinaquaic,
comprising two leagues of land, and located in Foxen
Canyon about 15 miles northwest of Los Olivos in
Santa Barbara County. In 1846, during
the Mexican War, Benjamin Foxen led General Fremont
over San Marcus Pass into Santa Barbara.
Mr.
and Mrs. Chapman have been residents of the San Gabriel Valley since 1936 and
now live in Arcadia. They have one
daughter, 17 years-old Trudy Ann Chapman who attends Arcadia High School and
plays cello in the high school orchestra.
The Chapman’s are members of Saint Edmund’s Episcopal Church in San
Marino.
Mr.
Chapman has been a member of the Alhambra Kiwanis Club since 1953 and was
president in 1960. He is currently
President of the Alhambra High Twelve Club and served for two years as
President of the San Gabriel Valley Philharmonic Artists Association. He is a life member of Pentalpha
Lodge No. 202, F. & A. M., Los Angeles and was
Master in 1948. His hobbies are
collecting historical pictures of this area and photography.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 568-569, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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BIOGRAPHIES