Summary: Longtime owner and operator of Diablo Foods, as well as a prominent community leader, Ed Stokes has been Citizen of the Year and won many awards for civic involvement. In this interview, he talks about his early experiences in business and shares some of the management principles that have led him to be successful […]
Oral History: Dawn Eames — March 4th, 2014
Masaji “Harry” and Shigeko Ides were married shortly before the start of World War II. During the war they were sent to internment camps in California, Arkansas, and Texas. In the 1950s, they established a nursery at 3295 Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Dawn and her three older sisters were raised in a house on the same […]
Oral History: Theodore “Ted” Murphey — 11-29-1976
Ted Murphey opened Murphey’s Valley Prescription Pharmacy in downtown Lafayette in 1947. He and his wife Linda lived above the store. They describe their business and also many of the other businesses in the community, giving a picture of the commercial side of Lafayette in that era.
Oral History: Bob Bru — March 7th, 2014
Bob Bru was born in London, England. He was raised, and went to school in New York City. He served as a navigator on a B17 bomber during World War II. He spent the last two years of the war as a POW. After the war, he decided to relocate to the West Coast, and […]
Oral History: Barbara Franke Boyle – March 4th, 2011
Barbara Franke Boyle came to Lafayette from Oakland in 1937, when she was 10. Her family had been using the ranch in the Happy Valley area as a summer place only prior to the that. They raised pears, and Barbara’s father operated the Walnut Creek Cannery. In the years that Barbara was going to grammar […]
