San Francisco County
Biographies
BYRON C.
BLACHLEY
Byron C. Blachley, widely known in the automotive trades of San Francisco, is president of the firm of Du-Trak, Incorporated, at 5 Van Ness avenue, which is one of the largest automobile servicing plants in the world.
Mr. Blachley was born in the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, November 20, 1895, and is a son of the late Oliver B. Blachley and his wife, Christina (Duffack) Blachley. The father, who was a jeweler by vocation, died in 1902. Byron C. Blachley received his education in the public schools of Iowa and California, in Dubuque College in Iowa, and in the University of California, where he pursued a business course. The schools he attended were thus separated through the frequent visits he and his mother made to California, the last trip having been made in 1912. Mr. Blachley worked during his vacations, and his first employment in San Francisco was with the Judson Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained for one and a half years. He then became associated with the National Paper Company as office manager, and was later advanced to the position of general manager of the plant. He was with this firm for seven-years, and subsequently was with the real estate and mortgage company of Leonard & Holt for two years. Mr. Blachley next organized the Medico-Dental Finance Corporation, and was its president for one-year, on the expiration of which period he sold his interests. During the succeeding two years, he was engaged in the security investment banking business. His present business, the Du-Trak, Incorporated, was organized March 1, 1929, and Mr. Blachley has been president since the beginning. All kinds of automobile servicing are done by this company, including washing, greasing and polishing. The equipment used by the company is of the most modern type, with the capacity of handling one car per minute. The method of washing a car enables the car itself to keep moving, each individual operation being performed by a different worker. The company has an investment of close to a quarter million dollars in its business and about sixty people are employed.
On July 22, 1917, Mr. Blachley was married to Miss Mona Gray, who was born in San Francisco, and they have become the parents of the following children: John Byron, Colombe, and William.
Mr. Blachley’s politics are republican. His greatest enjoyment in life has been the environment of his own home and the companionship of his family. He is devoted to outdoor life as a diversion. He holds the reputation of being a representative citizen of the progressive ranks, and has readily lent his assistance to whatever civic matters have appealed to him as beneficial to the community.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 3 Pages 67-68.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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