Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JOSEPH FRANCIS SARTORI
Joseph Francis Sartori, president of
the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa,
December 25, 1858, son of Joseph and Theresa (Wangler)
Sartori. His
father was a native of Dorlinbach, Baden, Germany,
where the family had resided for a number of generations, though it was
probably of Italian origin. The mother
was also a native of Dorlinbach, and her marriage to
Mr. Sartori occurred in the United States of America, whither the latter had
come several years previously. They
established their home and lived for many years at Cedar Falls, Iowa, where
they prospered in material matters and took an active part in affairs affecting
the welfare of their city. The mother
was greatly interested in the sick and suffering, to whom she ministered and
gave material assistance, and she and her husband commanded the highest measure
of respect throughout their community.
One of the leading public institutions of Cedar Falls today is a fine
free hospital, which Joseph F. Sartori erected as a memorial to his parents and
to which he later added the gift of a nurses’ home.
Joseph F. Sartori received his early
education in the public schools of Cedar Falls, after which he attended Cornell
College at Mount Vernon, Iowa. His
course in that institution was interrupted by a year spent at the University of
Freiburg in Baden, Germany, after which he completed his work at Cornell,
graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1879. He then entered the law school of the
University of Michigan, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Laws
in 1881. He began the practice of law at
Le Mars, Iowa, remaining five years, practicing in the office of Leslie M.
Shaw, who was later secretary of the treasury of the United States, and he was
also associated during a part of this period with former Congressman I. S. Struble. In 1886 he
made a trip to the Pacific coast, with which he was favorably impress, though
not until the following year did he decide to locate here, his decision being
hastened
by
the reports of the great development of southern California. In March, 1887, he settled in Monrovia, which
had been founded in the previous year, and on the 20th of the following
June he and several associates organized the First National Bank of Monrovia
with a capitalization of fifty thousand dollars. Of this institution Mr. Sartori was made
cashier, in which capacity he served until 1889. He was then elected vice president, serving as
such until April 26, 1924, when this bank and the Monrovia Savings Bank became
branches of the Security Trust & Savings Bank of Los Angeles.
In 1889 Mr. Sartori removed to Los
Angeles and became one of the organizers of the Security Savings Bank &
Trust Company, which had a paid-in capital of twenty-nine thousand
dollars. It required unlimited faith in
the future business prosperity of Los Angeles to enter upon this undertaking,
for the great land boom had just collapsed and financial and commercial
conditions were far from reassuring.
However, in this Mr. Sartori gave evidence of the business vision which
has characterized his entire banking career and subsequent events abundantly
vindicated his judgment. He served as
cashier, teller and bookkeeper of the new bank, and six years after its
organization became its president, which position he has retained to the
present time. The title of the bank was
later changed to that of Security Trust & Savings Bank, and on March 30,
1929, this bank and the Los Angeles First National Trust and Savings Bank were
consolidated under the name of the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles,
with capital assets of fifty million dollars.
Of the reorganized institution Mr. Sartori was elected president and
chairman of the executive committee.
In banking circles, aside from his
own institution, Mr. Sartori has long been prominent and active. He was for many years a member and for two
terms was chairman of the legislative committee of the California Bankers
Association and to him is given a large part of the credit for the drafting of
the California Bank Act, which passed in 1909 and subsequently amended as
occasion has required, has given this state one of the
soundest banking systems in the country.
In 1913-14 he served as president of the savings bank division of the
American Bankers Association, and for many years he was a member of the
currency commission of that organization.
During the World War he was a member of the capital issues committee for
the twelfth Federal Reserve district and for several years was a director of
the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of the twelfth
district. At the present time Mr.
Sartori is a director of the Automobile Club of Southern California. During the years 1915 and 1916 and again from
1925 to 1928 he was president of the Los Angeles Clearing House
Association. He was closely identified
with the organization and successful outcome of a number of important building
projects, including the Biltmore Hotel, the Los Angeles Subway Terminal
Building and the Los Angeles Country Club, of which he has been president for
over twenty years.
In June, 1886, at Le Mars, Iowa, Mr.
Sartori was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Rishel,
a daughter of Peter S. and Jeanette L. (Thomas) Rishel. In the social, civic and club life of Los
Angeles, Mrs. Sartori has long been prominent.
She is of gracious and tactful manner, possessing the essential
attributes of leadership, and has been a forceful factor in many movements of
importance in the development of the economic and cultural life of the city and
county. She has served as president of
the Friday Morning Club and is a member of the board of regents of the
University of California.
We quote from Spalding’s History of
Los Angeles County, published in 1931:
“Mr. Sartori probably would have attained great success in the law had
he been permitted to devote his life to that profession, for he possesses a
logical and analytical mind and great determination in the pursuit of any
subject to which he gives his attention; but the call seemed to be in another
direction, as he could hardly have served his fellowmen more effectively than
he has during the past forty years in the role of a banker. He has honored his city by his life and
labors and in turn has realized not only material wealth but also that which is
of greater value—the universal respect and confidence of his fellowmen. The annals of the banking institutions of Los
Angeles County contain no personal record more interesting or of more vital
relation to the financial history of Los Angeles than that of Joseph F.
Sartori, president of the Security-First National Bank. For more than thirty-five years Mr. Sartori
has been at the head of this great bank or its predecessors and through his
judgment and thorough comprehension of intricate financial problems he has been
able to guide these institutions along lines which have been immeasurably
beneficial to the community which they have served. The Security-First National is numbered among
the first ten banks of the United States and it is a distinctive honor to stand
at the head of such an institution.”
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 803-806,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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BIOGRAPHIES