Heritage Snapshot: Part 156

In 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer W. Beasley of Pomona, a self-sacrificing couple who had “stood by the College of Medical Evangelists for many years,” decided to support the “right arm of the Work” by donating the fruits of their hard labor to CME at an opportune time. After Josie I. Phillips’ wealthy husband, Louis Phillips died (He was a member of the original Phillips family of Pomona), she married her chauffeur, Spencer W. Beasley and renamed her property “Beasley Farms.” A strong businesswoman, Mrs. Beasley—a niece of the breakfast cereal magnate W. K. Kellogg—ran the farm herself. On Jan. 1, 1944, the Beasleys donated 940 acres of land and two Caterpillar tractors to the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists. The gift motivated the founding on May 1, 1944 of the Loma Linda Foundation, that part of the institution which handles commercial properties, gifts, and annuities for the University. The Farms, adjoining the W.K. Kellogg Arabian horse ranch, consisted of 285 acres of the best farm land available, with an abundance of water and 400 acres of walnut, peach, and persimmon trees. It also included two large wells, a 1.25 million-gallon reservoir, and cement pipes to convey the water to every part of the land. The year before, 1943, the $1,031,585.51 Farms earned $73,360.71. The Farm’s profits played an important role in financing CME and its 800 students, who at that time paid tuition worth about one-fifth of the cost of their education. According to CME Treasurer Otis A. Hudson, Beasley Farms played “an important role in preparing these men and women for their places in the medical profession.” In a resolution of gratitude, the CME Board of Trustees acknowledged that the gift had come at an opportune time, and that buildings on the campus of the White Memorial Hospital never would have been there had it not been for this significant gift. Within two years, Pomona Homes, a $25 million residential development, bought 475 acres adjoining the town’s western city limits. CME then sold 71 acres to Fruehauf Trailer Company, the world’s largest manufacturers of truck-trailers. By 1950 CME had sold all but 80 acres. According to Comptroller John C. Shull, Administration allocated $150,000 of the proceeds to the Loma Linda Sanitarium to help build the east wing, and $270,000 to the Los Angeles Division. Ongoing support for CME came from leased-back walnut orchards and a huge chicken ranch, consisting of 44 buildings just for baby chicks. In 1948 the farm hatched almost 200,000 chicks. Its brooder house hatched chicks year ‘round. Beasley Farm’s 90,000 laying hens ate 140 tons of feed each month and produced 5,317,525 eggs in 1948. Its walnut groves produced 175 tons of walnuts in 1950. A mechanical shaker released most of the nuts from the trees, followed by hand shaking. Thirty employees then sacked the nuts by hand and hauled them to the walnut shed where they hulled, dehydrated, and resacked them to be delivered to packing houses. The Farm, a large operation under the management of Mr. E. Ray Mitchell, housed its employees in 22 homes. Crops included grain, hay, black-eyed peas, corn for silage, baby lima beans for Birds Eye Frozen Foods, and more than 1,000 tons of sugar beets. The remaining property increased in value over the years until 1955, when CME sold it for nearly $900,000. President Godfrey T. Anderson lauded the Beasley’s and acknowledged their gift: “It comes at a time when the current $6,000,000 expansion program on the College of Medical Evangelists campuses can be best used. The gift exemplifies the willingness of private citizens to identify themselves with the need of education to the extent of giving. The fact that Mr. and Mrs. Beasley gave this property to the cause of education is a tribute to their minds and hearts.”