Retallick, Richard G.

Richard Godfrey Retallick, born at Battle Lake, Minnesota, on November 3, 1889, was raised by his grandfather, Dr. T. G. Virian. After making numerous trips to California as a boy, he moved to San Francisco in 1899 at ten years of age to make his permanent home. He attended public schools in the city, studied engineering at Cogswell Polytechnic School, and later worked as a newspaper reporter. He also completed a course at the Polytechnic Business College in Oakland and worked for the United States Government as a timekeeper and foreman on fortifications north of San Francisco Bay. Turning his attention to the legal profession, he studied law in the office of George E. de Golia and was admitted to the bar in 1911.

He practiced law for one year in King City, Monterey County, before moving to Fresno in April 1913, where he spent three years associated with Everts and Ewing. He then partnered with Penn Cummings to form the firm Retallick and Cummings in the Rowell Building. His career advanced further with his appointment as United States Commissioner in February 1917 and as deputy district attorney in September 1917. In his personal life, he married Catherine McCoy, a native of Santa Barbara, and together they had three children named Richard Godfrey, Jr., Ruth R., and William J. As a member of the Commercial Club, he became known as one of the rising young attorneys in the state.