Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JAMES I. CONDIE
One
of the most active and successful real estate brokers is James I. Condie, who
has been a resident of Alhambra since 1931, and whose firm, James I. Condie and
Associates, is recognized as one of the outstanding real estate organizations
in the San Gabriel Valley, and for many years Mr. Condie’s name has been listed
by the Marquis Company in Who’s Who In the West.
James
Ira Condie was born January 24, 1901, in Grover, Wyoming, the fifth child of a
family of eight children born to Gibson A. and Emily E. (Tucker) Condie. Gibson A. Condie, an educator and Probate
Judge in Blaine County, Idaho, was a grandson of Thomas Condie who immigrated
from Clackmannon, Scotland, to Utah in 1848.
Emily E. (Tucker) Condie was the daughter of James Tucker, who came to
Utah from England in 1860.
Mr.
Condie spent his boyhood in Carey, Idaho, near the now famous Sun Valley
Resort. He received his early schooling
in Idaho and Utah, attended the Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, Utah,
and received his Bachelor of Law degree from the La Salle Extension University
in 1935. Leaving school in 1920 he
entered the direct selling field, and from 1925 to 1929 operated his own sales organization
with headquarters in Los Angeles. In
1929 Mr. Condie devoted all his time in caring for his lemon and orange grove
at Fallbrook, and planted young avocado trees there. Due to extremely low prices of citrus in
1931, he accepted a position with the Alhambra Police Department. While there he helped to organize the Police
Juvenile Division, and headed that department for several years.
Mr.
Condie resigned from the Police Department in 1946, purchased the Inland Realty
Company at 1121 West Main Street in Alhambra, which he very successfully
operated until January 1, 1950, when he accepted the position as Chief of
Police of the City of Alhambra. During
his administration from January 1, 1950, to April 1, 1956, the Police
Department was reorganized to conform to modern standards and community needs
with a view toward future growth, a new police station was planned to house the
modern organization, and a bond issue was submitted to the people to finance
the new facility. The new police station
and jail, completed and occupied in August, 1955, is recognized today as being
one of the most practical and serviceable police facilities in California. Chief Condie retired from the Police
Department in 1956 at the age of fifty-five.
He
reopened his real estate and insurance office, and within five years, James I.
Condie and Associates, Inc., have grown to the extent
that the organization operates four offices, and is recognized as one of the
leading real estate firms in the San Gabriel Valley.
Widely
known in this area for his activity in church, civic and fraternal work, Mr.
Condie is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
has served as President of an Elders Quorum, as member of the Pasadena Stake
High Council, and in 1948 as Bishop of Alhambra Ward. He has been active in community affairs, is
presently a member of the board of directors of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce,
and on the board of directors of the Alhambra Community Hospital. Mr. Condie is a member of the Alhambra Rotary
Club, and has served as treasurer and secretary of the Alhambra District Board
of Realtors.
Mr.
Condie, active in fraternal organizations, has been a member of the Masonic
Lodge since 1928. He has received all
the Scottish Rite degrees up to and including the 32nd,
and belongs to the York Rite bodies up to and including the Commandery. He helped organize, and in 1945 was charter
president of the Alhambra High Twelve Club, the local unit of High Twelve
International, a Masonic social organization.
He is a Shriner and belongs to Al Malaikah Temple in Los Angeles. Mr. Condie went through the chairs of
Alhambra Lodge No. 322, served as Master in 1949, and was president of the
officers’ association of the 91st Masonic District. He is also a member of the Alhambra Elks
Lodge No. 1328.
Mr.
Condie was married on October 18, 1922, in the L.D.S. Temple at Logan, Utah, to
Miss Mary Lloyd, daughter of Daniel and Alice Lloyd of Logan, Utah. They have three living children, and one
daughter, Norma, born May 17, 1926, who died in infancy.
Their
older daughter, Mrs. Mary Louis Bunker, born August 11, 1923, at Logan, Utah,
wife of Earle R. Bunker, Jr., is Secretary-Treasurer of James I. Condie and
Associates, Inc. Mr. Bunker is a
registered professional engineer specializing in Electronics and Systems
Engineering. They have three children,
Robert L. Bunker, born in 1945, Thomas W. Bunker, born in 1955, and Carol
Jeanne Bunker, born in 1960.
Their
third daughter, Dr. Afton Lucille Taylor, born September 21, 1927, in Glendale,
California, is the wife of Dr. Frank Taylor.
Husband and wife have separate practices. Dr. Afton specializes in Anesthesiology, and
Dr. Frank specializes in Ophthalmology.
They have three children, Claire Louise Taylor, born 1954; Frank Condie
Taylor, born in 1955; and Afton Anne Taylor, born in 1957.
Mr.
and Mrs. James I. Condie’s only son, James Ira Condie, Jr., was born February
8, 1940, in Alhambra, California. He is
presently serving as a full time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints with headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Upon his return in 1963, he intends to
continue his pre-medical studies at Occidental College for a career in
medicine.
Mr.
James I. Condie attributes his success to the support he has received from his
wife Mary, who has likewise been active in church, fraternal and community
projects. The Condie family will be long
remembered for the service they have rendered to the organizations to which
they belong, and to the City of Alhambra.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 509-511, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES