100 Year Old Eugene P. Conser (Cal Ep, '31) Enters the Chapter Eternal

[PhiPsiRuss]

http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/...s.asp?ID=31163

THE DAILY BRUIN ONLINE 12/1/2004
UCLA alumnus dies at age 100
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Harold Lee
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER


Eugene Poole Conser was one of UCLA's first students and attended the university when it was still located in downtown Los Angeles.

Conser passed away Sunday in his Laguna Hills home of natural causes. He was 100.

Born January 30, 1904 in Minnesota, Conser went to the West Coast with his younger brother, Hugh, in his late teens.

But before attending UCLA, he worked in a lumber camp in Oregon to raise money to come to California.

"I believe it was just the lure of the West, the openness and the opportunity that California offered at the time," said his son Richard, of Golf, Ill.

When he attended UCLA, Conser was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and the business manager for UCLA's newspaper, known then as the California Grizzly, which involved selling advertisements for the paper.

Conser took part in changing the UCLA newspaper from a weekly publication to a daily one by attracting a larger advertiser base, in part because of his personality.

"When he spoke, people listened," Richard said. "He was just widely known and respected wherever he went."

Conser met his wife, Helen, at school, and the two married in 1930.
After his time at UCLA, Conser was appointed the managing director for the Real Estate Research Council to help stabilize the Depression-era real estate markets.

He later became an executive member of the International Real Estate Federation.

Even after retiring, Conser was heavily involved with his retirement community in Laguna Hills and Kiwanis.

Conser is also survived by his daughter, Paula Fancher, of Sausalito and four grandchildren.

A private service will be held for him.