Sacramento County
Biographies
LEONARD F.
STARKS
LEONARD F. STARKS--Art and life are one in their relation to the creative impulse, and it was this desire for self-expression that impelled Leonard F. Starks to take up the study of architecture. He has made rapid progress in his chosen vocation and ranks with the leading representatives of his profession in Sacramento and this section of the state. He represents the third generation of the family in California and was born in San Francisco, December 8, 1890, a son of Abner and Ella (Ackerman) Starks. The father was a native of Healdsburg, Cal., and his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. The paternal grandfather came to the Golden State in 1849 and was one of its earliest pioneers.
The grammar and high schools of San Francisco afforded Leonard F. Starks his early educational privileges, and his first knowledge of architecture was gained in the Landsburg office. Later he attended the Beaux Arts School and afterward studied for seven years under Arthur Brown. During 1911-1912 he worked under J. J. Donovan, school architect for Oakland, and he then became architectural designer for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, being thus employed from 1913 until 1915. In the latter part of 1915 he entered the office of John Reed, Jr., city architect of San Francisco, with whom he remained until 1917, and during 1918-1919 was with the construction division of the United States Army, being stationed at Washington, D. C. After the armistice was declared he went to New York to take charge of the office of Thomas W. Lamb, a leading architect of that city, and in June 1921, was made Mr. Lamb’s representative on the Pacific Coast, with headquarters in Sacramento. He also practices his profession independently and his success has been founded upon thorough preparatory study and later practical experience. He designed the Fresno Bee Building in Fresno for the owners of the Sacramento Bee, the Paramount Theater Building, the new home for W. I. Elliott, and many other examples of his skill are to be found in the city.
Mr. Starks was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Whalen, of Boston, Mass., and they are well-known in social circles of Sacramento. Mr. Starks is a member of Golden Gate Lodge No. 30, of San Francisco, and exemplifies in his life the beneficent teachings of the order. He enjoys tennis and is also fond of walking, spending much of his leisure in the open. He is a young man of marked ability and enterprise, and the progressive spirit of the West finds embodiment in his career. His work represents a high standard of excellence and is a most important feature in Sacramento’s upbuilding and improvement.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Page 936.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.