Robert R. Conklin; Local Home Builder

Longtime Camarillo resident Robert R. Conklin, a well-known local home builder, died Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 85.

Conklin was born May 3, 1913, in Durango, Colo. He graduated from Durango High School in 1931 and went to work as a supply sergeant for the Colorado Conservation Corps, where he was honored as a model employee, his family said.

In 1934, Conklin moved to the Army’s Camp Roberts near San Luis Obispo, where he built barracks for several years. In 1940, Conklin returned to Colorado and married. He was a rancher for several years before moving with his wife to Louisiana.

In 1953, Conklin moved his family from Louisiana to Sherman Oaks, where he started Robert R. Conklin Construction. In 1959, Conklin moved into a house he had built in Northridge, his family said. He retired to Camarillo with his wife in 1977.

“At his busiest in construction, he had 65 men working for him and they all loved him a lot and respected him. He also had a lot of friends throughout the industry,” said Conklin’s daughter, Barbara Jo Harrell of Thousand Oaks.

In his lifetime, Conklin was said to have built 21,000 houses in and outside Ventura County, his daughter said.

Conklin enjoyed traveling across the country in a motor home, woodworking and spending time with his lifelong best friend, Dick Stephenson, also of Camarillo. Conklin was a member of Conejo Valley Rotary.

Conklin’s wife, Marguerite, died last year.

In addition to his daughter, Conklin is survived by two grandsons and several nieces and nephews.

There will be a visitation at 10 a.m. Monday at Pierce Bros. Griffin Mortuary in Thousand Oaks with a service also at the mortuary at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village.