Los Angeles
County
Biographies
KENNETH M. PIKE
Because
it was the only blue building on Valley Boulevard and because it featured
bargains — that was the way the Blue Bargain Furniture Store got its name back
in 1939 when it was established by A. B. Pike, the father of its present owner
Kenneth M. Pike, whose son David, also works at the store, making three
generations of the Pike family to earn their livelihood at the big furniture
store at 9142 East Valley Blvd., Rosemead.
With a one hundred fifty foot frontage on the boulevard, Blue Bargain is
the largest and oldest furniture store in Rosemead, carrying a complete line of
home furnishings, new, used, and unfinished; maple, modern, and traditional; a
piece or a houseful, delivered in the San Gabriel Valley area. Kenneth Pike took over the store in 1946 with
his brother-in-law, and has been its sole owner since 1956.
Born
in El Paso, Texas, on August 27, 1918, Kenneth Pike grew up in Carlsbad, New
Mexico, attended elementary and high school there, graduating in 1937. He was married there too, on June 11, 1941,
to the former Mildred Haggard of Carlsbad.
Mr. Pike’s father, A. B. Pike, is from St. Joseph, Michigan, started the
Blue Bargain Store and is still living in Youngtown, Arizona; his mother,
Marion (Millis) Pike, of Pueblo, Colorado, passed away in 1947. She was active in the Rosemead Women’s Club.
After
completing his schooling Kenneth Pike was engaged in farming and defense work
until 1944, when he entered the United States Army for two years, attaining the
rank of technical sergeant and seeing action in the South Pacific. After his discharge from the service he came
to California, to Rosemead, where he has since operated his furniture store in
which Mrs. Pike has taken an active part.
Mr.
Pike is presently a director of the Rosemead Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Rosemead Kiwanis Club,
belongs to Post Number 425 of the American Legion in Rosemead, and was formerly
active with the Boy Scouts.
Mr.
and Mrs. Pike are the parents of two sons who are both members of De Molay;
David Kenneth, born in Carlsbad, a graduate of Rosemead High School who works
at his father’s store, and Coy Dean Pike, born in Rosemead and a student at
Rosemead High School. Mr. Pike had two
sisters, one is worthy matron of Rosemead Order of Eastern Star, and his other
sister lived in Prescott, Arizona.
Hunting,
fishing, and bowling fill Mr. Pike’s leisure time. He is vice president of the Leather Craft
Guild of Los Angeles in which Mrs. Pike also works.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 791-792, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES