Sacramento County
Biographies
FRANK C. CROKE
Indications of the commercial insight possessed by Mr. Croke are furnished abundantly by the position which,
unaided by extraneous circumstances or advantageous environment, he has won for
himself at the very outset of his business career. Perhaps the most
favorable circumstance in his early life of preparation and training was the
fact that his father, Thomas Croke, had engaged in
the furniture business for a considerable period and taught him not only to
detect the most minute differences in qualities of lumber, but also trained him
in the art of salesmanship and the foundation principles of the calling.
Thus he started out in the employ of others, fortified with an excellent
vocational training, a thorough high-school education and a course at the
University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Supplementing
these important elements in business progress with personal tact, sagacity and
energy, he has been able to engage in his chosen calling with an ever growing
success.
The childhood memories of Mr. Croke cluster around the home of his parents, Thomas and
Margaret Croke, in the city of Denver, Colo., where he was born May 25, 1884, and where he early learned
the lessons of honor and integrity that formed the basis of later business
connections. After he had graduated from the high school in 1899 he
assisted his father in the furniture business as a salesman, remaining in that
position until 1905, when he started out for himself. Going to Seattle, Wash., he engaged with the Century Furniture Company as a
salesman. At the expiration of two years he resigned his position and
made a trip of exploration through Alaska, where he spent one year, principally engaged in
mining. Upon his return to the United States he settled in San Francisco and became salesman with the Harry J. Moore Furniture
Company. From that city in 1908 he came to Sacramento as manager of the Campbell Furniture Company and for about
three years he continued in the same position, but during September of 1911 he
acquired the business, incorporating it as Frank C. Croke
Furniture Co., of which he is president and manager. Since then he has
devoted his attention to the building up and maintenance of a complete stock of
house furnishings, being located at No. 413 K street, besides having three large warehouses for surplus stock
and duplicate goods. The business has grown from the nucleus established
in 1850 by John Campbell. Business enterprises interest Mr. Croke more deeply and appeal to him more strongly than
political affairs and he therefore has given preference to the former, taking
no part indeed in partisan matters and voting independently at general
elections. By his marriage he became united with Miss Katharine
McLaughlin, of Denver, Colo., September 27, 1905, and they have won a large circle of friends in the
society of Sacramento since they came to this city to make their home.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento
County, California, Pages 683-684. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.