Hongola, John

Born in Finland in 1863, John Hongola was raised and educated in his native land before immigrating to the United States around 1882. After spending three decades following various occupations in Pennsylvania, he moved westward to Fresno County, California, in 1912. In 1915, Hongola purchased a 55-acre ranch near Parlier, where he built a fine residence and developed the property into a highly cultivated producer of Muscat grapes, peaches, and alfalfa.

Hongola married Sofia Kolpanen in 1889, and together they raised a large family of twelve children before her death in July 1918. Their family was notably patriotic, with three sons serving during the World War era: John Ivar in the Army’s Fortieth and Twenty-seventh Divisions overseas, Matt aboard the U.S.S. Defiance in the Navy, and Jack on the torpedo boat Ericsson. Highly regarded for his progressive farming methods and civic mind, Hongola established himself as a respected and enterprising rancher in Fresno County.