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Generations of our family have made Fresno their home, and we are extremely proud of our nearly 100-year history of serving the real estate and appraisal needs of the citizens of Central California. 1890 - Hugh Franklin Wakefield moves to Fresno from Red Bluff, California and opens the H.F. Wakefield Cash Grocery. On January 31st of 1891, Chester Kenneth Wakefield is born. He would attend local schools, eventually graduating from Fresno High School enroute to a career in the real estate and insurance field. He affiliates with the local firm of Pierce & Anderson. 1917 – William Lambert and C.K. Wakefield form the partnership of Lambert & Wakefield, having formerly been associated with Pierce & Anderson, the then largest insurance agency in interior California. The new company specializes in both insurance and real estate brokerage, operating from offices located at 1239 Broadway, on the mezzanine floor of the Hotel Fresno. Lambert & Wakefield will remain at this location for the next 22 years. 1938 - Construction starts on a new home for Lambert & Wakefield at 1025 E. Belmont Avenue, near North Van Ness Avenue. The one story stucco building is air-conditioned and is of modern design, with part of the exterior semicircular. The building represents an outlay of about $5,000, and is scheduled to be occupied about March 10, 1939. 1938 - C.K. Wakefield’s daughter, Marjorie, marries James A. Hopper. At that time, both were employed as embalmers at at Lisle Funeral Home. 1940 - William Lambert dies on October 13, 1940. C.K. Wakefield, reluctant to change the company name after Bill Lambert’s death, continues to operate Lambert & Wakefield as a sole proprietorship. 1940 - Son-in-law James A. Hopper joins the firm of Lambert & Wakefield. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. enters World War II, and Hopper, a licensed embalmer, is ”drafted” into civilian service in the funeral industry by the government. The Tinkler Mission Funeral Chapel is located just 3 blocks west of the Lambert & Wakefield office, and Hopper is “on-call” with Tinkler for the duration of the war, continuing to work in his father-in-law’s real estate and insurance business most of the time. 1945 - An October 1, 1945 advertisement appears in the Fresno Bee. Looking to the future, the ad announces the formation of a new partnership, changing the name from Lambert & Wakefield to Wakefield & Hopper. C.K. Wakefield & James A. Hopper are partners in the new company, which continues its real estate and insurance business using the slogan “Pioneer Realtors of Fresno County.” 1955 - On November 7, 1955 James A. Hopper is awarded the MAI designation (#2144) by the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers of the National Association of Realtors

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