Allen Brooks Gresham's Obituary
ALLEN B. GRESHAM
Allen was a great example of the Horatio Alger story of success. Born in 1931 in the small town of Moorcroft, Wyoming (population 1009), in the depth of the Great Depression, Allen was the second son of Olin and Edith Gresham. Olin was a schoolteacher from Missouri, who after teaching 5 years in Moorcroft, in these troubled times, went from town to town, each year, seeking employment. Eventually, the family's travels brought them to El Centro, California, in the Imperial Valley, where Olin was finally able to put down roots and ultimately advance to the position of school superintendent.
Allen graduated from high school in 1949, the same year that his father was Master of his local Masonic Lodge. In high school, he was both an athlete and a scholar, which enabled him to be admitted to the small, but prestigious, Occidental College in Los Angeles. Graduating with a B.A. in 1953, Allen had served as Student Body President, but still found time to achieve sufficient academic honors to enable him to enter Stanford Law School.
In 1954, his first year at Stanford, he married Clara Thompson, whom he met while at Occidental.
Allen graduated from Stanford Law School in 1956, at a time when the military draft was after almost every able-bodied young man. So, off went Allen into the Army as a Private, quickly advancing to the rank of Corporal, where he spent the majority of his service at the predecessor location to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado, dealing with Top Secret documents.
Upon being honorably discharged, Allen studied for, and passed, the California Bar Exam, being admitted in June 1959.
He checked with Stanford to see if any law firms were hiring, and found that Don Jordan, a Stanford grad practicing in San Bernardino, was looking for a new, young, lawyer to join the law firm of Lonergan and Jordan, which then consisted of three attorneys.
Allen interviewed with Don and his partner, John Lonergan, and immediately hit it off with both of them, accepting their offer of employment, commencing July 1, 1959.
Allen was a go-getter right from the start, and in 1962, just three short years later, he was made a partner.
Allen’s law practice dealt with civil litigation with a particular emphasis in eminent domain, where he represented not only large corporations, but also people whose property was being acquired for public purposes.
During law school, Allen had become a Mason, being raised in his father’s lodge, El Centro Lodge #384, in 1956. With his move to San Bernardino, he joined San Bernardino Lodge, and became its Master in 1967.
Seemingly someone with boundless energy and enthusiasm, Allen did not confine himself to Masonry, but also became active in Kiwanis, where he not only served as local club president, but later, as Lieutenant Governor. He served as President of the County Bar Association in 1970, and also headed up the YMCA, the local United Way, and the Symphony Association.
Allen said you should never join an organization unless you were willing to serve as its President, and his life was a faithful portrayal of that Motto, because he headed every organization he ever joined.
For several years, he was also a member of the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority, the agency of the State of California that operates the Palm Springs Tram.
Allen was publicly elected to the San Bernardino Valley College Board of Trustees, where he served for over 35 years, having the second longest service of any public college trustee in the state. In fact, the College named a building in his honor.
Allen also served, for many years, on the Occidental Board of Trustees, and through his and Clara’s generosity, had a dining hall named for them.
Inland Action, an influential business organization, was another group that Allen once headed. He also was on the Boards of two hospitals: Saint Bernardine Medical Center and Shrine Hospital for Children.
Allen and Clara were members of the Presbyterian Church in San Bernardino and were part of that Church’s Mariners Group.
Allen spent most of his active career in law as the managing partner of what, today, is a 55 attorney firm, having offices not only in San Bernardino, but also in Riverside, San Diego, and Los Angeles, and which still bears his name: Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden.
Allen was an extraordinarily bright and able trial attorney, but he always conducted himself as a complete gentleman, never resorting to trickery or underhandedness.
Allen stayed with that same law firm for, an almost unheard of, 44 years, ultimately retiring at the end of 2003, at the age of 72.
At about that same time, he received the prestigious John B. Surr Award from the San Bernardino County Bar Association for his outstanding career accomplishments as an attorney.
Allen started his service to the Masonic Grand Lodge of California in 1965, even before he became Master of his lodge, and served, without interruption, until 1996, when he was elected Grand Master of Masons in California from 1996 ~ 1997, heading an organization then having over 100,000 members.
He achieved the 33° in the Scottish Rite, and served for several years as the head of its San Bernardino Valley.
On the personal and family side, Allen and Clara have two boys, Bruce and Brooks, who have blessed them with 5 grandchildren: 4 boys and 1 girl.
Allen was one-of-a-kind, excelling in everything he did, and serving as an example for all of us to follow as best we can.
Allen is survived by Clara, his wife of 60 years, son Bruce (Valerie), their son Zachery Gresham and son Brooks.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation be made to the San Bernardino Symphony
198 N. Arrowhead San Bernardino, CA 92404, or a charity of your choice.
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