Summary: Lou Repetto was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in August, 2004. A San Francisco native, he decided to settle in this area after serving in World War I and he co-founded the Lafayette Garbage Disposal Service company. Lou discovered that becoming active in the local Lions Club was a good way to build his business […]
Oral History: Ned Robinson – October, 2005
Summary: Ned Robinson was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in October, 2005. He was the Fourth mayor of the City of Lafayette and served on the City Council for many years. His proposal for a city government that was limited to “the three P’s: good planning, police protection, and public works,” and therefore would not require […]
Oral History: Gloria Duffy – August 1st, 2009
The two Gloria Duffy’s, mother and daughter, were interviewed by Robin Fox on August 1st, 2009. Both interviewees said that libraries were very important to them as they grew up. Each of them found that from an early age libraries had helped them to learn about the world and prepare them for world travel later […]
Speaker Series: Building the Caldecott Tunnel
The Lafayette Historical Society, The Moraga Historical Society, and The Orinda Historical Society invite you to attend a program on “Building the Caldecott Tunnel” presented by Mary Solon and Mary McCosker Sunday, November 6 at 2 pm Garden Room, Orinda Community Center. Alison Burns will introduce the newly published Orinda history book. Admission […]
Oral History: Ted & Linda Murphey – November, 1976
Summary: Ted and Linda Murphey were interviewed in November, 1976. They had operated Murphey’s Valley Prescription Pharmacy on a site near the present-day Wells Fargo Bank from 1947 to 1964. Twelve years later they described for their interviewer the other principle businesses–mostly restaurants and gas stations–that existed on Mount Diablo Boulevard at that time. Oral […]
Oral History: Beverly Panfilli – October, 2004
Summary: Beverly Panfilli Littorno was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in October, 2004. Her father Adolph, who had experience working in commercial fishery, along with her mother Barbara, opened a small fish market on Old Tunnel Road in 1945. It soon became a restaurant as well, called Lafayette Seafood Grotto. This business became one of the […]
Oral History: Ken & Sue Nagel, SFO Helicopter – November, 2004
Summary: Ken Nagel and his wife Sue Nagel were interviewed by Julie Sullivan in November, 2004. Ken was an attorney, and later also a member of the Board of Directors, for SFO Helicopters. This service carried passengers from Lafayette to and from San Francisco International Airport and also six other locations around the Bay Area. […]
Oral History: Dr. Gloria Duffy — May 10th, 2021
Summary: Dr. Gloria Duffy was invited to speak at the May 10, 2021 meeting of the Lafayette Youth Services Commission. She described how she and two other high school seniors had combined their efforts to create the Youth Commission, which was at that time celebrating its 50th anniversary. While members of the founding group had […]
Oral History: Scotty Loucks — April, 2006
Summary: Scotty Loucks was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in April, 2006. Scotty was a trail breaker in her role as an independent insurance broker–she was both the first woman in the Lafayette area to own her own agency and also the first to be president of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. She came to the […]
Oral History: Stan Pedder — July, 2021
Summary: Stan Pedder was interviewed by Andree Duggan Hurst in July, 2021. He had just retired after practicing law in Lafayette for 62 years. Stan was born in 1935, 2 years before the Caldecott Tunnel opened, and he has been a close observer of developments in the life and character of the town and its […]
