COMPANY HISTORY

The Benedict name has been associated with the plumbing trade in the San Gabriel Valley area for over one hundred years, and it's antecedcent companies can be traced back to the 19^th century.

Aaron Ray Benedict (1885-1974) was born in Pleasantville, near Titusville, Pennsylvania on October 9, 1885 to Herbert Leslie Benedict, a painter, and his wife Kate (Nicholas) Benedict. The senior Mr. Benedict died when Aaron was just two years old, leaving the family in financial straits. Looking to better her situation, Mrs. Benedict moved, with Aaron and his sister Bertha, to Monte Vista, Colorado where, in 1889, she became the wife of James Marshall Gingrich. In January 1894 they relocated to Pasadena (according to family lore, by covered wagon) and established a laundry and cleaning business.

Aaron Benedict attended the local public schools, but left Pasadena High School at the age of sixteen to learn the plumbing trade. In 1901, he was hired as a $5-per-week apprentice by the pioneer plumbing firm known as Munger & Griffith located at 21 West Colorado in what is now Old Pasadena.

Founded by Austin Munger (1845-1921), a native of Michigan, and Eugene C. Griffith around 1888, Munger & Griffith had started out as a hardware store. Recognizing the need for reliable plumbing services by the fast-growing city, they soon phased out their retail hardware concern and instead heavily advertised their plumbing, heating, ventilation, and tinning services. Around 1903, Munger and Griffith appear to have parted company, with Austin Munger going into business with his son Roy in a firm known as Munger & Munger which was to remain a profitible enterprise at 174 East Union Street until the mid-1960s.

Mr. Griffith transformed his side of the former Munger & Griffith business into the Crown Hardware & Plumbing Company. Although he stayed on as treasurer, new owners were brought in: J. W. Brower (Aaron Benedict's brother-in-law) and his brother Lewis Brower. For health reasons, J. W. Brower left the management of the firm to Aaron Benedict around 1914. Later that year, Mr. Benedict formed a partnership with his half-brother James D. Gingrich, known as Benedict & Gingrich. When both Brower brothers died in 1917, Mr. Benedict took over ownership of Crown Hardware and apparently merged it into his own company. Like his predecessors, he phased out the hardware business in order to concentrate on the plumbing trade.

James Donald Gingrich was a native of Monte Vista, Colorado, born on November 3, 1891. About three years old when the family moved to Pasadena, he attended the public schools and, like his half-brother Aaron Benedict, apprenticed in the plumbing trade, becoming a journeyman.

In 1922, Benedict & Gingrich left their longtime Old Pasadena location and moved way out east to 1422 East Colorado Boulevard (then Street), opposite the campus of what would become Pasadena City College. The new two-story brick building, which the Benedict firm would occupy for sixty years, represented a total investment of $132,000-a very sizeable sum in 1922. Space was provided for a shop, offices, storage areas, and residential apartments.

The firm remained prosperous, due to the partners' hard work and "honorable and efficient business transactions." The company specialized in plumbing and heating installations for high-grade residences and their work took them all over the Los Angeles area, to such wealthy communities as Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Flintridge, San Marino, and of course Pasadena. Their clients included a number of entertainement celebrities; famed motion picture director King Vidor; Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City; director Fred Niblo; and William R. Staats, a significant Pasadena real estate man who developed the prestigious Oak Knoll neighborhood. Benedict & Gingrich also laid all the irrigation pipes for Pasadena's famed Busch Gardens. As well as specializing in installations, the firm also sold appliances.

In 1945, Aaron Benedict bought out the interests of his old partner James Gingrich and went into association with his son Walter L. Benedict (1908-2000), the firm's name being changed to Benedict & Benedict. Together, they took the company to new heights, as it became one of the largest businesses of its type in Southern California. In just one five-year period they were credited with having plumbed over 3,500 housing units.

In September of 1981, after over sixty yeras of the family ownership, Walter Benedict sold Benedict & Benedict. It was a complicated sale as the business had to be broken up into three units. Gene Barkley, an employee, bought the appliance portion and operated it under the name of Benedict & Benedict appliances. That portion of the business was closed down in the fall of 2002 upon Mr. Barkley's retirement. The heating and air-conditioning division was sold to O. A. Poindexter. It is known as Benedict & Benedict Heating and Air Conditioning Company. They are now located in Arcadia. Finally, the plumbing division was sold to two former employees, Victor Hebert (1932-2002) and Steve Tietz. Benedict & Benedict Plumbing Company is now located at 2667 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Upon Victor Hebert's retirement in 1992, his son Raymond Hebert became co-owner of the firm. Today the firm continues to serve its customers in the tradition of its founding fathers.