Principal, Peter K. Schabarum, Architect, Los Angeles, CA; Architect, City Bureau of Buildings, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1923-1948;

By 1918, Peter Schabarum was an engineer and licensed architect in the State of CA.

Schabarum was born in La Dura, Sonora, Mexico and lived in Mexico from 1891-1908. His father moved to Los Angeles, CA, in 1908 bringing his son. Peter, Jr., lived primarily in the State of CA from 1908-1917 but resided in AZ for part of 1916, when he returned on business to the State of Sonora, Mexico, on 04/31/1917. On 04/28/1920, he applied to the American Consul at Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, for naturalization to the US claiming citizenship through his father; at this time, he lived in Navoja, Sonora, Mexico. (See "Department Passport Application #30482, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Record for Peter Carl [sic] Schabarum, dated 04/28/1920." Ancestry.com, Accessed 10/31/2012.) According to naturalization papers, he went back to Mexico in April 1917 because he was needed to supervise his ailing uncle's mining properties. Because he was living in Mexico, a neutral country without a draft, he was not required in 1918 to return to the US for selective military service in World War I. He returned to Los Angeles, CA, in 1920, and resided here for the rest of his life, having worked in a private architectural practice and for the City of Los Angeles. He and his wife, (the 1940 Census form called her "Helen,"), lived at 13438 Otsego Street in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, in a house they owned. It had a value of $12,000; the average price of the 10 surrounding houses sharing the same US Census page averaged $9,400. He died in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, CA, at the age of 58. In 1950, he resided at 13018 Chandler Boulevard in Van Nuys, CA.

His father was also Peter Schabarum, who had been born in Germany, and emigrated to Mexico in 1889. Peter, Sr., was naturalized on 05/21/1912 in the US District Court, Southern District of CA. The elder Schabarum was retired and living at 1927 South Union Avenue in Los Angeles in 1920. Peter, Jr., had two sisters who lived in Los Angeles, CA, at his death, Mary Louise Staley and Mrs. Edward A. Gibbs, and two brothers, Frank (who died on 05/11/1948 in Covina, CA) and Bruno, who lived in Midland, TX, in 1950. Frank had two sons, Tom, and one also named Peter Schabarum, who played football in high school and at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Republican politician from Covina, CA.

He married Henrietta Schabarum (born c. 1901 in Mexico). While her husband had finished four years of college, Henrietta completed only through grade 8. Schabarum's name and that of his wife occasionally appeared in the society pages of the Los Angeles Times. Henrietta, for example, mixed in Van Nuys society, as was noted in an article "Spanish Luncheon," in the Los Angeles Times's society page in 1939; as reported, she attended a lunch hosted by Mrs. Holgar deFine Olivarius along with 8 other guests. (See "Spanish Luncheon," Los Angeles Times, 11/13/1939, p. A7.)

In 1920, according to naturalization documents, Schabarum stood 5 feet 9 inches tall, had blue eyes, a straight nose, brown hair and a fair complexion.

• La Dura, Sonora Mexico (Architect's Birth)
  La Dura, Sonora Mexico

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