OTTO J. EMME

Los Angeles County

Biographies

OTTO J. EMME

Probably no member of the Los Angeles bar is more frequently referred to in terms of friendly fellowship and admiration by citizens of all walks of life than Otto J. Emme who has been a successful attorney of Southern California for over twenty years.

Mr. Emme was born in Topeka, Kansas, July 3, 1888, the son of the late Louis and Louise (Gunther) Emme. Louis Emme was a native of Germany who came to America a young man and settle in St. Louis, Missouri, where he followed the machinist trade a number of years. His later years he spent in Los Angeles where he passed away in 1935. Mr. Emme’s mother was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and passed away in 1934.

Otto J. Emme completed his early education in the public schools of Los Angeles from which he entered the law school of the U. S. C. where he received this LL. B. degree in 1917 although he had been admitted to the bar in 1914. In April, 1919 he formed a partnership with Leo M. Rosecrans and since that time the firm has been known as Rosecrans and Emme with offices continuously in the Black building.

Mr. Emme has always been active in civic affairs and was a member of the Legislature in 1923-24 where he served with distinction. In 1935 he was chosen as a director of The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a public corporation, organized in 1928 under authority of the Metropolitan Water District and adopted by the State Legislature in 1927. It is composed of the cities of Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Compton, Fullerton, Glendale, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Marino, Santa Ana, Santa Monica, and Torrance. The magnitude of work involved in the building of the Colorado River Aqueduct can be seen by quoting the estimated cost of $218,844,000, of which the Metropolitan Water Board of Directors has full charge.

During the period of the World war from October, 1917 until the close of the war, Mr. Emme served in the U. S. Navy entering as a second class seaman. He rose to the rank of Ensign.

He belongs to Victory Post No. 54 of the American Legion, and is past commander to the United Veterans of Republic; the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, is a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Sacred heart Parish. A member of the Eagles of which he is past President of Eagles Home Association, and is a member of Delta Chi Legal Fraternity.

In June 1935, Mr. Emme was installed exalted ruler B. P. O. Elks Lodge No. 99, which is one of the largest in the United States, occupying entirely one of the finest buildings in Los Angeles costing over three million dollars to build, and overlooking beautiful West Lake Park.

Professionally he is a member of the State Bar of California, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

It is truly said Mr. Emme has always stood for those that were right and for the advance of good citizenship and especially interested in the intellectual development of his community.

Transcribed By: Michele Y. Larsen on October 20, 2012.

Source: California of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 405-406, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.

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