Glendale, California Biographies

Steven C. Packer

Steven C. Packer was born at Bloomington, Illinois, November 8, 1866. His father, Joseph D. Packer, was a prominent farmer and livestock dealer at Bloomington for many years, and his mother’s maiden name was Laura Drum. He attended the public schools, and at the age of seventeen went to northern Michigan, where he was employed in the lumber and logging camps for twenty-two years, filling positions of trust and responsibility. He went to Aberdeen, Washington, and became identified with Grays Harbor Logging Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer for five years. He then came to Glendale and bought a tract of land on Riverdale Drive, on which he built a residence, and devoted his time to contracting and building until 1916. During this time he built the Central Building, on East Broadway, in partnership with Howard W. Walker and the Lynch Brothers. He took over the agency of the Studebaker line of automobiles and has since been the distributor of “Studebakers” for the entire San Fernando Valley, doing business under the name of the Packer Auto Company.

Mr. Packer was one of the organizers, a charter member and Past Exalted Ruler of Glendale Lodge, No. 1289, B.P.O.E. He is a Master Mason, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has been a director, and is a member of the advisory board of the Brand Boulevard Branch of the Pacific-Southwest Trust and Savings Bank.

At Escanaba, Michigan, on October 25, 1892, Mr. Packer married Etta E. Hardy, a native of Michigan. They have two children, Don H. and Doris Packer. Don is a graduate of Glendale Union High School and of the University of California, at Berkeley, where he took a college of commerce course. He is a member of the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega. On May 8, 1917, he enlisted as a private in the Heavy Artillery and before sailing for France on October 8, 1918, he had been stationed at Ft. MacArthur, Ft. Scott and Mt. Monroe. In France he was sent to the Heavy Artillery School at Augers, and joined the Fifty-third R. R. Artillery. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Ft. Monroe and was mustered out of the service at San Francisco, May 19, 1919, after which he returned to Berkeley and graduated with the class of 1920. He is now associated with his father in the automobile business. He is a member of the American Legion. At San Francisco on June 18, 1920, he married Fern Cook, a Glendale girl. She is a graduate of Glendale Union High School, having graduated with the class of 1922. Mrs. Packer is a member of the Tuesday Afternoon Club. The family residence is at 362 Riverdale Drive.

From History of Glendale and Vicinity by John Calvin Sherer. The Glendale Publishing Company, c. 1922 F. M. Broadbooks and J. C. Sherer. p. 451-452.