Newman, Bernard A.

Bernard A. Newman was born in Otweclaberg, Sweden, on August 1, 1881, to Gustaf and Sophie (Adahl) Newman. After his father emigrated in 1883 and worked in Peoria, Illinois, the family settled in Fresno, California, in 1888, where Bernard attended local schools before serving a five-year plumbing apprenticeship with Donahue & Emmons Company. Beginning in 1901, he advanced his craft in Los Angeles with Howe Bros. and Thomas Haverty Company, working on notable structures such as the Angelus, Hayward, St. George, Maryland, and Raymond Hotels, as well as the Auditorium at 5th and Olive Streets. In 1907, he moved to San Francisco with the United Builders Construction Company, serving as foreman on the Butler Building while managing forty-five workers and working on the Pacific Building at Fourth and Market Streets.

Returning to Fresno, Newman worked a year for Barrett-Hicks Company before forming the partnership Newman & Johnson with Nudt Johnson, which dissolved in May 1913 when he launched his own business. As an independent contractor, he installed plumbing and heating systems for the B. F. Shepherd, W. A. Jones, and Minnewawa Vineyard residences, the John Short and Pacific Coast Grocery buildings, J. M. Ruth estate stores on J Street, the San Joaquin Bakery at San Benito and P Streets, and schools in San Joaquin and Herndon. Beyond his plumbing career, he owned a twenty-acre fruit ranch on Pierce Avenue and held key leadership roles, serving as president of the state Master Plumbers’ Association from 1918 to 1919, treasurer of the San Joaquin Valley Association of Master Plumbers, and director of the Fresno Material Dealers’ Association. He married Arizona native Kathleen Helen Lynch, with whom he raised five children—Harold E., Elleanor, Bernard A., Wesley J. A., and Lucile—while maintaining affiliations with the Knights of Pythias, D. O. K. K., Woodmen of the World, Red Men, and the Rotary Club of Fresno.