Résumé

Surveyor, Los Angeles, CA, 1930-1936. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1930, accessed 01/27/2026 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1936, accessed 01/27/2026.)

Civil Engineer, Los Angeles, CA, 1938. (See Los Angeles Directory Company's Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1938, p. 172.)

Rodman, Los Angeles County Forestry and Fire Warden Department, Los Angeles, CA, 1939. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1939, p. 682.)

Surveyor, Los Angeles County Forestry and Fire Warden Department, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1941-1944 (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1941, p. 730 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1944, accessed 01/27/2026.) He likely worked as a surveyor for Los Angeles County first, before opening his own office.

Principal, William H. Fair. Jr., Surveyor, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1948- . In t948, Fair had an office at 124 West 4th Street in Los Angeles. (See Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company Los Angeles, Exchange Telephone Directory, Central Section of the Los Angeles Extended Area, 1948, p. 329.)

Relocation

Born in Portland, OR, on 04/30/1904, William H. Fair, Jr., lived here for less than six years. Before William. Jr., was born, his parents--Isabel and William, Sr., an engineer, lived at 106 Knott Street in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Portland Ward 10, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: 1350; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0079, accessed 01/22/2026.) Both William and Isabel had been born in CA, and they decided, during the 1900s, to return to the rapidly expanding southern part of the state.

By 1910, his family had relocated to Ballona, CA, (an area near Ballona Creek, now part of the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA,) where they lived at 1322 Electric Avenue. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Ballona, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_79; Page: 4b; Enumeration District: 0008; FHL microfilm: 1374092, accessed 01/22/2026.)

William, Jr., lived with his parents and brother Yale in a rented apartment at 30 Hyperion Avenue in 1920. This was the first instance of him living apart from his parents, although this was brief. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Venice, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_120; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 626, accessed 01/22/2026.) Williams parents lived at 1322 Electric Avenue during part of 1930. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Venice, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_120; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 626, accessed 01/22/2026.)

For a short time also in 1930-1931, he and his wife Jeanette resided on their own at 928 Amoroso Place in the Venice neighborhood. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1930, accessed 01/27/2026. and Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1930-1931, p. 204.)

He and his wife moved back to 1322 Electric Avenue likely by 1932, at the Depression's nadir. William, Jr., continued living in the family house after his father's death in 1935 and remained here until the early 1940s. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1934, accessed 01/27/2026.) In total, Fair, Jr., dwelled in the Venice neighborhood between at least 1910 until 1941. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1941, p. 730.)

Between 1944 and 1954, at least, Fair and his family lived at 3615 Wasatch Street in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, nearby to Venice. The 1950 US Census located Fair living with his wife and son at this address. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 3888; Page: 80; Enumeration District: 66-939, accessed 01/22/2026 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1954, accessed 01/27/2026.)

In 1963, Fair resided at 5545 Rock Castle Dirve in La Cañada, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Delayed Certificate of Birth, Source Citation Oregon State Archives; Salem, OR, USA; Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1924, accessed 01/22/2026.) The unincorporated areas of La Cañada and Flintridge merged in 12/1976.

Parents

His father William H. Fair, Sr., ((born 01/19/1861 in Dutch Flat, CA-d. 05/30/1935 in Santa Monica, CA) was born in the gold mining town of Dutch Flat, CA, about three months before the outbreak of the Civil War. The US Census of 1900 listed William, Sr., as living in Portland, OR, with his wife and four children and working as a railroad engineer. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Portland Ward 10, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: 1350; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0079, accessed 01/22/2026.) In 1918, William H. Fair, Sr., was the superintendent of septic tanks in Venice, CA. (See Santa Monica, California, City Directory, 1918, p. 106.) In 1920, the US Census indicated that William H. Fair, Sr., worked as a gas engineer for a local electric utility. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Venice, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_120; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 626, accessed 01/22/2026.)

William, Sr., wed Isabel Blanche Emerson (born 07/18/1864 in Oakland, CA-d. 08/22/1951 in Los Angeles County, CA) in Alameda County, CA, on 01/16/1883. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1850-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 01/22/2026.)

William. Sr., and Isabel Emerson had eight offspring, including the following: Blanche E. Fair Hamilton (born 08/30/1884 in Oakland, CA), Fred Buel Fair (born 01/10/1885 in Los Angeles, CA-d. 1972), Ralph Emerson Fair (born 06/29/1890 in Cottonwood, CA-d. 09/04/1969 in San Antonio, TX), Yale Waldo Fair (born 02/08/1895 in Oakland, CA-d. 08/30/1980 in Aransas Pass, TX) and William H. Fair, Jr. Two children had died by 1900, according the US Census and the 1910 US Census listed Isabel as having eight children in total, five of whom survived. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Portland Ward 10, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: 1350; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0079, accessed 01/22/2026 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Venice, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_120; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 626, accessed 01/22/2026.)

His brother Ralph became a well-traveled engineer and oil industry executive.

Spouse

He wed Jeanette Celia Cleaveland (born 09/15/1904 in Salt Lake County, UT-d. 04/22/1992 in CA) on 06/05/1926 in Los Angeles, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 01/22/2026.) In 1950, Jeanette worked as a secretary in her husband's surveying office. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 3888; Page: 80; Enumeration District: 66-939, accessed 01/22/2026.)

Children

He and Jeanette had the following children: Barbara Ann Fair Toth (born 05/20/1927 in Santa Monica, CA-d. 10/16/1992 in Ventura County, CA) and William Henry Fair III (born 11/12/1933 in CA-d. 02/15/2009 in New Smyrna Beach, FL).

Biographical Notes

William Fair, Jr., voted as a Republican in the elections of 1930 and 1934, but, subsequently, switched to the Democratic party in the years of 1936, 1938, 1944, 1948, 1950, 1952 and 1954. He voted Republican while he lived in the house of his parents (1322 Electric Avenue), who voted Republican. After his father's death in 1935, his voting affiliation publicly changed. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1930, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1934, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1936, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1938, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1944, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1948, accessed 01/27/2026; Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1950, accessed 01/27/2026, Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1952, accessed 01/27/2026; and Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1954, accessed 01/27/2026.)