John Henry Pfeiffer

John Henry (Jack) Pfeiiffer died peacefully on July 1 at his home on Graystone Lane in the Almaden Valley. The eldest scion of the Pfeiffer family, he was a fourth generation resident of Almaden, and a pioneer in the fruit dehydrating field. Jack’s great-grandfather, Jacob Pfeiffer was a native of Alsace Lorraine (now France) and emigrated to the United States in 1847, landing in New York. After brief residence in both New York and Chicago (where he met his wife Agatha Meier), Jacob moved to Eudora, Kansas. A master stone mason, Jacob operated a sandstone quarry in Eudora before relocating with Agatha and their seven children to the Almaden Valley in 1875.

Jack’s grandfather, John Pfeiffer, worked with Jacob in operating the Goodrich Quarry, source of the honey-colored sandstone that was used to construct many important buildings on the west coast. The quarry supplied all the stone used to construct the Old Quad and Memorial Chapel at Stanford University. Prized for it’s even color and soft enough to be easily carved, the sandstone taken from the Graystone quarries was also used in the construction of the old San Jose Post Office (now Museum of Art), and the Carson City courthouse.

John Pfeiffer married Annie Skuse, heir to a large tract of land along Graystone Lane. Their nine children grew up on the land, and operated their own farms and ranches on the property. Leo and Grace Pfeiffer, Jack’s parents, farmed 17 acres of apricots and prunes on what is now Pfeiffer Ranch Road in the Graystone subdivision. Leo built fruit dehydrators across California, Oregon and Washington in the 1930s, and also constructed a dehydrator on their property which was used to dry apricots.

Jack Pfeiffer learned the fruit dehydrating business from his father, and helped him construct dehydrators thoughout the state after graduating from Bellarmine College Prep in 1936. Jack studied engineering at Santa Clara University, but dropped out after contracting measles and influenza, which caused him to be bedridden for 6 months. His first paid job was working for Bethlehem Steel in San Francisco. Jack’s mother, Grace Pfeiffer (nee Striegel), was born in San Francisco and was 9 years old when the great San Francisco earthquake struck on April 18, 1906. She was unhurt, but remained deathly afraid of earthquakes her whole life.

In 1941, war broke out, and at that time Jack was working on the construction of a submarine pipeline to Mare Island in the East Bay. Since this work was critical to the war effort, Jack was given a deferment and not drafted into the military. Seeing all his friends and relatives called up, Jack quit his job in 1942 so he could join the Army. He was stationed at Camp Roberts near San Luis Obispo, and while on maneuvers proved his worth by instructing fellow soldiers (including his superiors) on how to drive heavy machinery through the muddy creek beds of Fort Hunter Liggett. His command of the situation and mechanical skill got him noticed, and he received a commendation which led to him being sent to Officer’s Training School. When he completed officer’s training in Washington DC and received his commission, he was stationed at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. His unit was responsible for making maps for many of the operations in the Pacific Theater. After the war, Jack was sent to Japan with a load of top-secret documents for the general—which consisted of a case of whiskey! Jack held the rank of captain when he was discharged from the army in 1946, and served in the Army Reserve until 1953.