Lung, John, Jr.

John Lung, Jr. was born on June 18, 1885, in Skadofsky, Straub Colony, Samara, Russia, to John and Catherine (Kerner) Lung. Raised by a farming father alongside five siblings as the second oldest child, he received his early education in his native country. In November 1900, he immigrated to Fresno, California, with his parents, where his father pursued ranching until retirement. To assist his family, he worked on local ranches, vineyards, and in raisin packing-houses throughout the area.

In 1911, he established his own forty-acre ranch located twelve and one-half miles west of Fresno and one-half mile north of Shields Avenue. He personally improved this Barstow district property, planting thirty acres of Thompson seedless grapes and dedicating the remainder to alfalfa using ditch irrigation and an installed pumping-plant. Married in Fresno on April 26, 1904, to Marie Hergenrader of Samara, he raised seven children named William, Henry, Edward, Emma, Harry, Marie, and Elsie. The family attended the Congregational Lutheran Church of Fresno, where he served as superintendent for the Barstow branch Sunday School, supported the Republican party, and held membership in the California Associated Raisin Company.