Inducted at PCBC : Five Southlanders Among 10 in Hall of Fame
The names of 10 “movers and shakers”--five of them from the Southland--were added to the California Building Industry Foundation’s Hall of Fame at a fund-raising dinner during the 30th annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference.
The black-tie induction ceremony and program--in its fourth year--provides funds for nearly 100 scholarships at 37 California colleges and universities for students seeking careers in various industry related fields. The foundation is the educational and research arm of the California Building Industry Assn.
Hall of Fame chairman George Gentry of San Diego said the 10 men “have contributed to the advancement and professionalism of our industry in the past and present. This year’s inductees are the movers and shakers of our industry and will continue to be among “the state industry’s pathfinders.”
The honorees were DeVere Anderson, DeVere Anderson Enterprises, Encino; James Beam, Beam & Associates, Orange; M. Corky McMillin, McMillin Development Inc., San Diego; James C. Schmidt, Great American First Savings Bank, San Diego; Raymond Watson, Irvine Co., Newport Beach; George P. Dunmore, Dunmore Development, Fair Oaks; Anthony D. Giannetta, Hallmark Homes, Fresno; Dean Morrison, Morrison Homes, Pleasant Hill; Earl W. Smith, Earlco Sales Co., Pittsburg, and a posthumous induction of Paul Opp, a Sacramento builder.
Anderson, immediate past president of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, is an industry activist, a director of the California Building Industry Assn., and is vice chairman of that group’s legislative committee. He was named the Los Angeles region “Builder of the Year” in 1984 by the BIA.
Beam, a former city council member and mayor of Orange, served as 1986 president of the PCBC. He has been active in community and Orange county groups, including the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the President’s Council of Chapman College and the county’s Transportation Commission and is a former executive officer of the Orange County Region of the BIA.
McMillin, a second generation builder, is a car racing enthusiast, past president of the BIA of San Diego County, recipient of the Professional Builder magazine’s “Professional Achievement Award,” the City of Hope’s “Spirit of Life” honor and the 1986 “Builder of the Year Award” from the San Diego Press Club.
Schmidt is vice chairman and managing officer of Great American First Savings Bank which is a building industry lender. He has been involved with San Diego’s Holiday Bowl since its inception 10 years ago and served as 1987 game chairman.
Watson, an architect who joined the Irvine Co. in 1960 as manager for planning and later served as president, is now its vice chairman. He is also board chairman and president of Ray Watson Inc., and presently serves as executive committee chairman of Walt Disney Productions. He was named Professional Builder magazine’s “Builder of the Year” for 1973 and served as a University of California Regent’s professor in 1985-86.
Dunmore, a career Air Force officer--retired as a lieutenant colonel and holder of two Silver Stars for heroic action in World War II--began remodeling and building homes while living off base during his military career. His firm has built more than 8,000 homes and 3,000 apartments of the “affordable quality” variety in Northern California over a 34-year span.
Gianetta began as a carpenter in Fresno 40 years ago and has built more than 4,500 homes in the San Joaquin Valley. He has served as president of the BIA of the valley area three times and actively supports industry education and helped establish student chapters of the National Assn. of Home Builders and the BIA at Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno.
Morrison’s family began building homes in Seattle in 1905. He and his brother Hunter moved the business to San Francisco in 1947. When Morrison retired in 1981, his firm had built and sold more than 9,000 homes. He was a trustee of the NAHB Institute, past president of the BIA of Northern California and vice president of the Stanford Alumni Assn.
Smith, another second generation builder, earned the nickname of “Flat Top” after he designed and built thousands of flat-roofed homes on concrete slabs in the post-World War II era. He was inducted into the NAHB’s Housing Hall of Fame in 1978, was the CBIA’s fourth president and was a founding member and later president of what is now the BIA of Northern California.
Opp had built his first home in Sacramento in 1939 and became an industry leader in that area. He served as president of the BIA of Superior California (Sacramento) and was instrumental in establishing that group’s Women’s Auxiliary. He served two terms as president of the PCBC, was a life director of the conference, the CBIA and the NAHB. He died in 1983.
