Los Angeles
County
Biographies
ROLFE K. McCAFFREE
Though
he came to Rosemead only comparatively recently, Rolfe K. McCaffree has settled
down to stay. He came in 1957, the year
he retired from his position with the Signal Oil Company, and now can devote
all his time to the community of his choice.
He is the first manager of the Rosemead Chamber of Commerce, having
joined the chamber in 1960, the year it enjoyed a big expansion under the
presidency of Dr. Stuart Maude. Mr.
McCaffree has also been a member of the Rosemead Planning Commission since its
inception, is currently the first president of the Rosemead Optimist Club, and
in 1959, 1960 and 1961 until June 1st was vice president of the
Rosemead Lions Club. He is Rosemead’s
representative in the Home Service Department of the American Red Cross.
Named
after the town in which he was born on December 13, 1897, Rolfe, Iowa, Mr.
McCaffree is the son of Floyd J. and Rachel E. (Stratton) McCaffree. His father was a native of Bremer County,
Iowa, and was a Methodist minister in Iowa and Nebraska; his mother was from
New York State. Rolfe McCaffree attended
elementary school in Mitchell, Nebraska, graduated from high school in Scotts
Bluff, Nebraska, and studied at Scotts Bluff Business College.
Mr.
McCaffree came to Pasadena, California, in 1922 to Compton in 1927, and in 1939
to Gardena where he remained until coming to Rosemead. For years Mr. McCaffree was in the real
estate and insurance business, then became shop
foreman with Signal Oil Company for twenty-two years, also spending a year in
the home office, retiring in 1957. In
1946 he formed the McCaffree Honey Company and the firm of R. K. McCaffree
& Sons which operate apiaries in southern California. For three years he was secretary-treasurer of
the California State Beekeepers Association and is past president, in 1959, of
the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association.
In Rosemead, Rolfe McCaffree owns a twenty-four unit apartment house.
He
is a member of the congregation and on the official board of Rosemead Community
Methodist Church, is in his third year as president of the Methodist Men’s
Club, and is a lay delegate to the annual conference.
Three
years before he came to California, Rolfe McCaffree was married to the former
Madge L. Lusk of Greeley, Colorado, on April 10, 1920, in Greeley,
Colorado. Mrs. McCaffree was born in
Manchester, Iowa, in 1900 and belongs to the Rosemead Women’s Club, is active
in the Methodist Church, the Women’s Society of Christian Service, and is a
former secretary-treasurer of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the California
Beekeepers Association. The McCaffree’s have two sons and two daughters: Barbara Jane, a draftsman, graduate of
Compton schools, and the mother of three children, Kenneth Michael Garst, Steven Winford Garst, and Carl Heard; Joe Everett McCaffree is a printer
and lives in Hollywood with his wife Hope.
Mary Marguerite, the wife of William Scott who is in the gem and rock
business, lives in Beaumont, and is the mother of three children, William
Scott, Robert Scott, and Cindy Scott; Rolfe K. McCaffree, Jr., married and
living in Compton, is the father of three children, Pat, Pamela and Janice.
Rolfe
McCaffree, Sr., makes a hobby of photography and is a leisure-time fisherman.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 819-820, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES