.

Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES: BETTS, DAVIS, SCHNEIDER, LONGMIRE,
Concentration of his energies to any particular enterprise which he has on hand doubtless is one of the paramount secrets of the success that has attended the business undertakings of Frank A. Le Suer. Identified for the past nine years with the theatrical business, he is well qualified for the work in which he is engaged, and the magnitude of the business is due to his constructive work.

He was born on November 27, 1859, in Lawton, Mich., near Kalamazoo. His father, Henry Le Suer, was a native of New York, born near Jamestown; and his mother was born at Ann Arbor, Mich., both parents coming from old Virginia stock. His father was engaged in the mercantile business most of his life and lived to be seventy-eight years old; his mother passed away when our subject was seventeen years old. They were the parents of three children, two daughters and one son; Hattie V., Mrs. I. G. Betts, resides in Los Angeles; Frank A. of this sketch; and Jennie is Mrs. Davis of Los Angeles.

Frank A. was educated in the grammar and high schools, graduating from the Charlotte high school with the class of 1883. Immediately following his graduation, he entered the First National Bank as clerk, and by hard work and his usual determination to succeed he rose to be teller, and when he resigned his position in 1911, he was cashier of the bank. For ten years he was employed by Daniel Scott & Company. a wholesale tobacco company of Detroit, Mich.,as their traveling salesman for the northern portion of Michigan. After ten years on the road he went back to Charlotte, Mich., and was solicited to enter the employ of the First National Bank again, and he accepted and was made cashier, J. M. C. Smith being the president of that institution. Mr. Smith now represents that district of Michigan in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives.

The marriage of Mr. Le Suer occurred in Erie, Pa, in 1886 and united him with Miss Nellie C. Schneider, and they are the parents of one daughter, Dorothy, the wife of William Longmire, a graduate of Stanford University; he is an oil geologist with the Pierce Oil Company, and they reside in Lawton, Oklahoma. Having for some time a desire to locate on the Pacific Coast, Mr. Le Suer resigned his position with the First National Bank of Charlotte, Mich., during September, 1911, and located in Palo Alto. He took a rest from active business cares for six months, then in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Mr. Betts, plans for a new building were drawn and negotiations were opened with Mr. Wetzel, a capitalist of Kings City to erect the building known as the Varsity Theater, which furnished excellent amusement in the way of moving pictures. In 1921, Mr. Betts sold his interest in the Varsity to Mr. Le Suer and a partnership was formed with E. J. Arkhus, the proprietor of the Stanford Theater, and the two theaters were incorporated under the name of the Palo Alto Theater Company, with a capitalization of $50,000. Mr. Le Suer is the capable and genial manager of the Varsity, while Edward Lowry is the manager of the Stanford. Fraternally, Mr. Le Suer is a Knights Templar Mason. A man of fine presence, excellent judgment and executive force, he has brought to his business experience and ability, and spares neither time nor money in securing the best pictures to present to Palo Alto's theatergoers.

from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1473

 RETURN TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAMILY CHRONICLES

SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight