San Francisco County
Biographies
DAVID
ZELINSKY
David Zelinsky, whose supremacy in his own business field is widely known in San Francisco and on the Pacific coast, is the president and founder of the painting and decorating firm of D. Zelinsky & Sons, Inc., headquarters being in San Francisco, with a branch office in Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Zelinsky was born in the country of Poland, March 22, 1865. When he was ten years of age, he became an apprentice in the painting trade. It was customary at that time for the young apprentice to live in the home of his employer, where he was obliged to do odd bits of work in addition to his regular employment. His only compensation was his room and board and clothing, consisting of a painter’s smock. Water colors were the sole medium used at that time for the work, enabling Mr. Zelinsky to specialize in fine interior decorating. This groundwork benefited him throughout all his subsequent operations on finer work.
In 1883, when he had acquired a comprehensive knowledge and excellent skill in his trade, he came to the United States, landing in New York. He was then eighteen years old, had little money, and could not speak the English language. However, he was fortunate in securing employment on the day after his arrival. After an interval, he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked for a short period. He had an uncle in Oakland, California, who sent him transportation funds to come to the coast. Soon after his arrival he entered into business for himself in San Francisco, in a small way, of course, but from this humble start has grown the large business which is now conducted under his name, and considered one of the leading concerns of its kind on the western coast. When building operations are normal, as many as four hundred men are employed by the company. Among the thousands of buildings painted and decorated by the firm, the following important work is worthy of note: the redecorating of the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco; the painting and decorating of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, the Pacific Union Club, the Brocklebank apartments, the Pacific National Bank building, the San Francisco city hall, the Los Angeles city hall, the Ambassador Hotel of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County General Hospital (acute unit); the plant of the Ford Motor Company at Richmond, California; the Oakland city hall; the Sacramento county courthouse; the Pasadena city hall; the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington; the El Paso Union high school in El Paso, Texas; and the Medico-Dental building in Seattle, Washington. The Los Angeles branch of the firm of D. Zelinsky & Sons, Inc., was established in 1913. During the building boom in that city, they did most of the painting and decorating work on the major buildings there. Other San Francisco painting contractors, motivated by the success of Mr. Zelinsky’s firm, also entered that field, and without exception have withdrawn due to their inability to compete there. Mr. Zelinsky keeps strictly abreast of the times in every particular.
Mr. Zelinsky was married in 1888 to Miss Celia Gilbert, who was born in Big Oak Flat, Tuolumne county, California, a descendant of an old pioneer California family. Four children were born of this union, namely: Herbert E.; Mervyn G.; Frederick G.; and Miriam Gladys, who is the wife of Milton Weingarten of San Francisco. All of the sons were trained in the painting business from an early age, and entered the business after completing their schooling. Within the past decade seven fine grandchildren have been added to the family circle, and these Mr. Zelinsky regards as the crowing glory of his life.
Although Mr. Zelinsky never attended school a single day in his life, he is now, by virtue of his own determination and natural intellect, a well educated man. When he landed in the United State he was unable to speak English, but his command of the language is now extraordinary. He has been a student all of his life, and has been especially interested in the study of political economy, on which subject he is considered an authority. He has been a leader in labor affairs, and has been a large factor in the settlement of various strikes in San Francisco. He has headed conferences of employers and employes and held membership on many important committees. Presonally he has always been eminently fair to his employes, which fact was admitted by the labor leaders. During the building trades critical labor troubles in San Francisco, in 1920, he was the principal witness called for the employers into court of arbitration, and he spent three days on the stand in this case. He has had the justified reputation of giving a square deal in whatever project or undertaking in which he is engaged. He holds the sincere esteem of his customers and his competitors as well, which may be termed the acid test of his rank in his business practices. For three years he served as president of the Master Painters & Decorators Association of San Francisco, and has done everything within his power to enhance the interests of the trade to which he is devoted and which he has followed since he was a boy.
Mr. Zelinsky is a thirty-second degree Mason, and belongs to Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds membership in the Union League Club. His principal recreation is bridge whist, in which he is most adept and regarded as an expert. In his earlier life he had another hobby, which was a racing stable. He bred and raised thoroughbred horses, which he raced on California and prominent eastern tracks with success.
The most commendable feature of Mr. Zelinsky’s career and of his life is his remarkable climb to success from a beginning entirely without those helpful aids which seem indispensable to much of the younger generation of today. As a boy his ambitions were high, and throughout his life he has directed every effort toward achieving his desires for business success, for personal betterment and education, all of which he has accomplished with everlasting credit to his indomitable will and persistent energy.
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 303-306.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S SAN
FRANCISCO BIOGRAPIES