Harris Newmark; Member of Pioneer L.A. Family

Harris Newmark, 89, scion of Los Angeles pioneering family. A native Angeleno, Newmark was the grandson of the first Harris Newmark, who came to Los Angeles in 1853 and became a wholesale merchant of groceries and hides. Also a real estate developer, the grandfather developed Montebello and was a major landowner in Santa Ana. The elder Newmark helped organize the Los Angeles Public Library in 1872 and helped bring the Southern Pacific railroad to the city. The 19th-century Newmark wrote an important historical reference book, “Sixty Years in Southern California,” covering development from 1853 to 1913. His grandson studied economics at Stanford and was a Los Angeles businessman and stockbroker for six decades. A philanthropist, he was a supporter of such groups as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Braille Institute, the United Way and the United Jewish Fund. He also helped finance a third edition of his grandfather’s book and a 1988 PBS program on his grandfather. On Feb. 28 in West Los Angeles of prostate cancer.