San
Joaquin County
Biographies
OSCAR C. POPE
Born on a ranch near Lodi, September
20, 1885, Oscar C. Pope, coroner of San Joaquin County, has experienced the
satisfaction and rewards of one who has grown with his state. His parents, Robert and Laura (Wallace) Pope,
also were natives of California, of sturdy pioneer stock. They and their forbears had crossed the
plains behind ox teams when comforts were few and dangers many.
Oscar C. Pope obtained his
educational training in the Lodi grammar and high schools, then
added to it at the Western School of Commerce in Stockton. In 1905 he began to learn the undertaking
profession, being associated for thirteen years with one of Stockton’s pioneer
morticians, B. C. Wallace. In 1918 the
firm of Pope & Smith was organized, Mr. Pope
taking Andrew H. Smith as his partner.
Their funeral parlors are at 445 North California Street. Here, in a two-story building, every needed
feature is at hand. Modern in the
strictest sense, with two lady attendants and a beautiful chapel, it is
regarded as a most modern establishment and in less than four years’ time has
won the reputation of handling most of the mortuary business in Stockton.
Mr. Pope was persuaded in the fall
election of 1918 to become a candidate for coroner and the electorate gave its
verdict with 2,000 majority for him. He is a Republican, and his connection with
six fraternities has widened his large circle of friends. He is a member of Morning Star Lodge No. 68,
F. & A. M., the Scottish Rite Consistory and Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M.
S., Oakland; has passed through all the chairs of Odd Fellowship in Charity
Lodge No. 6, is a member of the Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E., the
Knights of Pythias, and Stockton Parlor, N. S. G. W. Mrs. Pope, to whom he was married June 6,
1912, was Miss Alma White, a native of Stockton, the daughter of William White,
pioneer Southern Pacific engineer, who saw service in the Civil War. Mrs. and Mrs. Pope have one son, Robert W.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
744-747. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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