San Francisco County
Biographies
RICHARD E.
DOYLE
Richard E. Doyle, successful investment banker of San Francisco, is a member of the firm of Wardell, Doyle & Company, with office at 2800 Russ building. He was born in San Francisco, California, November 12, 1886, his parents being Thomas Francis and Ellen (Corcoran) Doyle, the former also a native of this city. The paternal grandfather, Richard Doyle, arrived in California in 1849 and became actively identified with the contracting business, in which he was later associated with his son, Thomas F., under the firm name of Richard Doyle & Son, erecting many of San Francisco’s early business blocks, churches, schools and other structures. Thomas F. Doyle continued the business alone after the death of the senior member of the firm and was a substantial and honored resident of this city until he passed away in 1941. It was in San Francisco that he married Miss Ellen Corcoran, a native of Wisconsin who had come to the Pacific coast as a girl and who still resides here. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom survive.
Richard E. Doyle attended Sacred Heart College for three years and then entered St. Patrick Seminary at Menlo Park with the intention of preparing for the priesthood but later determined that he was not destined therefor. He next spent two years in the United States internal revenue service, afterward studied mechanical engineering and became an employee of the Southern Pacific Company. He specialized in the study of the chemistry of combustion and was made assistant fuel supervisor, which position he filled for ten years, resigning in 1920. When the Alice Phelan Corporation was formed, Mr. Doyle became a director thereof and has since devoted much of his time to the interests of the corporation. During the period of the world conflict he served on the war board, supervising the shipping of flotation oil to the copper smelters of Arizona and Texas.
In early manhood Mr. Doyle was united in marriage to Miss Gladys Sullivan, a niece of the late Senator Phelon. They are the parents of eight children, namely: Richard, Cyril, Dorothy Ann, Alice, Brenda, Sheila, Peter and Rosaleen. During the summer months Mr. Doyle spends his time with his family at their beautiful home in Santa Cruz, where he indulges his love of horseback riding and has also provided ponies for his children. He belongs to the Olympic Club of San Francisco and is a Fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a communicant of the Catholic Church. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and his influence is ever exerted in behalf of civic advancement and progress.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 191-192.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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