Los Angeles County
Biographies
LLOYD JOHN KILLIAN
KILLIAN, LLOYD JOHN, Investments, Los Angeles, California, was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, May 8, 1880, the son of Thomas Killian and Mary (Zelczny) Killian. He married Alma Theresa Zoeller-Jamieson at Pasadena, California, September 12, 1910.
Mr. Killian, who is a member of one of the most important investment concerns on the Pacific Coast, is a true product of the new West. He received the early part of his education in the public schools of his native town and in 1898 entered the University of Nebraska, taking up scientific studies. He did not finish there, however, but stopped in his Junior year to take up business.
Mr. Killian entered the mercantile and banking business with his father and brothers at Wahoo, Nebraska. The Killians were at that time the owners of a chain of stores in Nebraska and Iowa and theirs was one of the most important enterprises in that section of the Middle West, Mr. Killian was appointed manager of the drygoods department, having in charge the buying for all the stores, and continued in that capacity for about five years.
In 1907 Mr. Killian went to California, locating in Pasadena, there applying in his operations the business knowledge he had gained in association with his father and brothers in their mercantile establishments. Like many other men of means who go to Southern California he was charmed by the beauties of the country, with its mountains and flowered valleys, and he immediately saw an opportunity in the real estate field. Accordingly, he, with others, organized the Arrowhead Realty Corporation, which was incorporated in August, 1907.
Mr. Killian was elected Secretary, Treasurer and Manager of the company which began by purchasing four thousand acres of land in San Bernardino County, and immediately turned half of the tract into a vineyard. This is today one of the most extensive and successful grape-growing sections in Southern California, more than two thousand acres being in production at the present time (1912). Mr. Killian was one of the dominant factors of this company, which devoted a large amount of capital to the development and improvement of its land, with the result that a large number of home owners were attracted to the lands, which they put on the market.
For four years Mr. Killian devoted his entire time to the upbuilding of this land and remained in active charge of the work until the improvements were matured. He then sold out, in 1911, and moved to Los Angeles, where he has since been located. For the first few months after his arrival he was inactive, but later he became associated with G. M. Purcell and R. B. Dickinson in the firm of Purcell, Dickinson & Killian, now recognized as one of the substantial financial houses of the city of Los Angeles, and members of the Los Angeles Stock Exchange. They are engaged in general investment enterprises, including stocks, bonds and insurance. The men who compose the firm are generally regarded as among the successful business builders of Southern California.
Mr. Killian, aside from his actual business, is one of the most enthusiastic men within the confines of California and an ardent advocate of the lands and opportunities for fortune afforded there. He never loses an opportunity to praise the fruit lands, especially of this particular section, and is himself the possessor of a splendid ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, comprising about four hundred and eighty acres. He also has other small holdings in California, but this property, located in one of the richest valleys on the American Continent, is his chief pride, and he has devoted much time and money to its improvement. He has a home in Los Angeles, but spends part of each year on his ranch.
Since locating in Southern California, Mr. Killian, who has a genial personality, has won a large number of friends and is one of the most popular young clubmen of the Southwest. Being an enthusiastic golfer, he is a member of the San Gabriel Country Club and of the Annandale Country Club, and also holds membership in the Pasadena Polo Club. His other clubs are the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Sierra Madre Club of Los Angeles, the Pasadena Athletic Club and the Overland Club of Pasadena.
Mr. Killian is prominent in fraternal circles, being a Mason, member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Theta Nu Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternities.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 551,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2010 Joyce
Rugeroni.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPIES