San Francisco County
Biographies
FRED A. LION
Fred A. Lion, who is the executive director of the American Registered Pharmacists Association, with offices at 230 Pacific building in San Francisco, has held many important positions in the pharmaceutical field during the course of his career, and is a recognized authority in his profession. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, May 27, 1882, a son of Fred L. V. and Sarah (Thompson) Lion. The father, a native of Kolding, Denmark, born in 1848, emigrated to the United States in the late ‘60s. He first settled in Evanston, Illinois, where he received his citizenship papers. As a youth he had learned the printing trade, but instead of adopting this work as a career he took up the study of ophthalmology at the Chicago Ophthalmic College, from which he graduated. The treatment of diseases of the eye, together with his interests as a jeweler, claimed his attention until his retirement from active life. In the year 1898 he removed with his family from Evanston, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, where he resided until his death, which occurred August 21, 1930. In Evanston, he served at one time as a town trustee, and was an active member of the First Methodist Church. Mrs. Sarah (Thompson) Lion, the widow of Fred L. V. Lion, was born in Norway, June 18, 1851, and accompanied her parents on their emigration to the United States in the early ‘60s. She still makes her home in Los Angeles. By her marriage she became the mother of six children of whom four sons survive.
Fred A. Lion, the third in order of birth in the family attended the public schools of Evanston, Chicago and Danville, Illinois; the Northwestern Academy in Evanston; and the College of Pharmacy of Northwestern University in Chicago. In December, 1896, he made his way westward to Bakersfield, California, where he was associated with an older brother, Julius A., the latter being in the drug business there until 1898. The two brothers next purchased a drug store in Salinas, California, which they conducted until 1906. In 1904, Fred A. Lion had opened a store at Eleventh and Mission streets in San Francisco, and in 1906, after the disastrous fire of that year, he established a store at Market street and Van Ness avenue. After disposing of the latter, he started another drug store at Post and Gough streets, which he also sold at the end of five years. Mr. Lion’s next step was to become associated with the Owl Drug Company as a pharmacist, later as assistant manager, and lastly as manager of the Oakland stores operated by the company. His connection with the Owl Drug Company covered a period of ten years. He was an inspector for the California State Board of Pharmacy in 1920-21 and thereafter acted as manager of the Jackson drug stores of Oakland until 1928. Dr. Jackson sold his business to the Federal Drug Company, and Mr. Lion retained his managership with the new owners until July, 1929, at which date he became executive director of the American Registered Pharmacists Association, which is his present position. The Association had its inception in San Francisco in 1900. Mr. Lion is also the editor of the American Pharmacist, “The Druggist’s Magazine,” an independent national drug journal published monthly and dedicated to the cause of American pharmacy. It is the officially designed organ of the American Registered Pharmacists Association and of its various state divisions, and has a circulation of over one thousand in the principal cities of the United States. Mr. Lion’s editorials gave made him a figure of national reputation in the world of American and particularly West Coast pharmacy.
In 1925, at the Los Angeles convention, Fred A. Lion was elected president of the American Registered Pharmacists Association, succeeding George H. Frates. Two years later, in 1927, he received reelection to the presidency at the San Francisco convention, and he again headed the Association from 1928 to 1929. We quote from the September, 1930, issue of the American Pharmacist: “Mr. Lion joined the American Registered Pharmacists Association at San Francisco in the year 1904 when he passed the California state board examinations. For twenty-six years he has labored in the interests of the Association and employee pharmacists in the state of California. He has for several terms been the president of the Association. For almost fifteen years he has been the editor of the Journal. He served for one year as an inspector on the state board of pharmacy; he has owned his own store. For years he was employed by the Owl Drug Company as a prescription man, assistant manager, and finally manager. Before accepting the invitation of the board of governors to become the executive director of the Association in July, 1929, he was a manager of one of the Federal Drug Company stores in Oakland, California. He has addressed the interfraternity banquet of the fraternities of the California College of Pharmacy as a guest speaker and appeared before many other pharmaceutical bodies as the Association’s representative.
In San Francisco, March 19, 1905, Mr. Lion was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Hirshfeld, a native of Bakersfield, California, and a daughter of the late Herman and Valentine Hirshfeld, members of pioneer families of Bakersfield. Mr. and Mrs. Lion are the parents of two children, namely: Annette, who was born January 25, 1906, on Octavia street, San Francisco; and Fred A., Jr., born in Oakland, February 28, 1916. The family residence is at 1060 Bayview avenue in the city of Oakland. In political affairs Mr. Lion has given his support to the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, belonging to Sequoia Lodge, No. 349, F. & A. M., of Oakland. Aside from his business and social activities, he has found diverting pleasure in hunting and fishing.
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 290-293.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S SAN
FRANCISCO BIOGRAPIES