FG Athearn was a bit like Forrest Gump: a man who seemed to be in the right place at the right time to meet lots of interesting people and do lots of interesting things. Orphaned at the age of seven, he ran away from his foster home the day following his father's funeral, and later ran away from an orphanage, living in a box in San Francisco and selling newspapers. Educated for just a few months at the orphanage, augmented by some night school as a teenager, Fred's destiny was changed at the age of 20 when his boss insisted that he needed to go to college, and helped make it happen.
Fred attended Pomona College for four years, two years being at the preparatory academy for students like him who lacked the proper education to begin college work, and then transferred to the University of California. He was a member of the 1898 and 1899 "Wonder Team" which shut out Stanford two years in a row, earning the Tilden football players statue for Cal, which is still on the Berkeley campus.
After graduation, Fred became the first principal of Anaheim High School, created club houses for the employees of the Harriman Railway Lines, and then turned his attention to practicing law. He was also California Corporations Commissioner in the late 1920s. As president of the Commonwealth Club, he had the honor of introducing Presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to one of FDR's most famous speeches.
Fred attended Pomona College for four years, two years being at the preparatory academy for students like him who lacked the proper education to begin college work, and then transferred to the University of California. He was a member of the 1898 and 1899 "Wonder Team" which shut out Stanford two years in a row, earning the Tilden football players statue for Cal, which is still on the Berkeley campus.
After graduation, Fred became the first principal of Anaheim High School, created club houses for the employees of the Harriman Railway Lines, and then turned his attention to practicing law. He was also California Corporations Commissioner in the late 1920s. As president of the Commonwealth Club, he had the honor of introducing Presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to one of FDR's most famous speeches.
FG Athearn was a bit like Forrest Gump: a man who seemed to be in the right place at the right time to meet lots of interesting people and do lots of interesting things. Orphaned at the age of seven, he ran away from his foster home the day following his father's funeral, and later ran away from an orphanage, living in a box in San Francisco and selling newspapers. Educated for just a few months at the orphanage, augmented by some night school as a teenager, Fred's destiny was changed at the age of 20 when his boss insisted that he needed to go to college, and helped make it happen.
Fred attended Pomona College for four years, two years being at the preparatory academy for students like him who lacked the proper education to begin college work, and then transferred to the University of California. He was a member of the 1898 and 1899 "Wonder Team" which shut out Stanford two years in a row, earning the Tilden football players statue for Cal, which is still on the Berkeley campus.
After graduation, Fred became the first principal of Anaheim High School, created club houses for the employees of the Harriman Railway Lines, and then turned his attention to practicing law. He was also California Corporations Commissioner in the late 1920s. As president of the Commonwealth Club, he had the honor of introducing Presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to one of FDR's most famous speeches.
Fred attended Pomona College for four years, two years being at the preparatory academy for students like him who lacked the proper education to begin college work, and then transferred to the University of California. He was a member of the 1898 and 1899 "Wonder Team" which shut out Stanford two years in a row, earning the Tilden football players statue for Cal, which is still on the Berkeley campus.
After graduation, Fred became the first principal of Anaheim High School, created club houses for the employees of the Harriman Railway Lines, and then turned his attention to practicing law. He was also California Corporations Commissioner in the late 1920s. As president of the Commonwealth Club, he had the honor of introducing Presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to one of FDR's most famous speeches.
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