Pfister, John Rudolf

John Rudolf Pfister was born at Wangen in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, on April 17, 1873, to John Pfister and Elizabeth Witschi. After completing his schooling and working in a local rope factory, he immigrated to the United States in February 1893 and arrived in Selma, Fresno County, California, the following month. He initially worked on various farms and in nearby regions before renting land in the Selma district to grow grapes and peaches.

In December 1899, John married Emma Pfister, a native of Wangen, Switzerland, who traveled to Selma to join him. After her passing during a trip back to Switzerland with their four children—Rosalie, Rudolph, Helen, and William—he returned to Fresno County, acquired a forty-acre ranch near Selma in 1911, and remarried Louise Roth, with whom he had three children: Emma, Walter Randolph, and Ernest Albert. A member of the Raisin Growers Association and the Red Men at Parlier, he built a prosperous agricultural career through modern methods and dedicated farm management.