San Francisco County
Biographies
BERNARD
FAYMONVILLE
FAYMONVILLE, BERNARD,
Vice President of the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company of San Francisco,
California, was born on March 24, 1860, at Bowmanville, Cook County,
Illinois (now a part of Chicago). His ancestors came from the Ardennes
and the Rhine Provinces, where for many generations they were prominent in the
iron mining and smelting industry. His grandfather, Joseph Faymonville, settled in the country which subsequently
became Cook County, Illinois, in 1837, when Chicago was still known as Fort
Dearborn. He is the son of Tillman J. Faymonville,
eldest son of Joseph Faymonville, above referred to,
and of Katherine (Fisher) Faymonville.
Mr. Faymonville was married at San Jose,
California, on April 19, 1881,
to Miss Dora Belle Ries, a descendant of an old
Holland Dutch family of Northern
New York. Their three
children are LeRoy B. (Now deceased), Philip R. And Bernard Faymonville, Jr. The
family has resided in San
Francisco since
March, 1882. During 1865 to 1873 he attended the public schools of his
native town, then took a two years’ course in the preparatory school of Professor
J. P. Lauth in Chicago.
He entered the employ
of a real estate and brokerage firm in the same city in 1875, and for the two
following years applied himself to mastering the varied duties and work usual
to such offices located in a growing and pushing community.
Broader opportunities
and the lure of California drew him to this State in September, 1877. Settling
first at Fresno, then a newly established county seat, he secured
employment in an abstract and real estate office, and soon acquired on his own
account a number of insurance agencies. After several years, by means of
perseverance and consolidation, he had built up one of the largest local
insurance agencies in Central
California, consisting of
forty-three companies.
During this period he
was also actively interested in promoting the colonization of Fresno
County.
The fire insurance
profession appealed to him strongly, and realizing that progress and success
depended on broader opportunities and a larger field, he accepted on March 1, 1882, the position of Special Agent for the whole Pacific
Coast for the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company.
Since that date he
has been continuously in the employ of that distinguished corporation, sharing
its successes, as well as the reverses which overtook it during the trying
times following the great San
Francisco
disaster. From this it emerged stronger and more powerful than ever, and
in a manner that will always reflect the greatest credit on the State of California.
In 1887 Mr. Faymonville was elected Assistant Secretary of the company,
and three years later he became its Secretary.
In 1893 he was
elected Second Vice President and First Vice President in 1900. This
position he now holds. He is Vice President of the Executive Committee of
the Board of Underwriters of the Pacific, President of the Underwriters’ Fire
Patrol, and President of the Underwriters’ Inspection Bureau.
He has served as
Supervisor and as President of the Board of Fire Commissioners of the City of San Francisco.
Mr. Faymonville has contributed various articles on insurance
to papers and periodicals devoted to that subject, and also to associations.
He is much interested
in club life, being a member of the Pacific Union Club, the Bohemian Club, the
Olympic Club, and of the San Francisco Golf and Country Club, and the Presidio
Golf Club.
He is also a member
of the Country Club of Bear Valley, in Marin
County.
Transcribed 11-18-06 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press Reference Library, Western
Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 123, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2006 Marilyn R. Pankey.
California
Biography Project
San
Francisco County
California
Statewide
Golden
Nugget Library