Name/Title
Dr. Manuel Fernandez (Kevin Shea)Description
Dr. Manuel Lawrence Fernandez was born in 1876 to Bernardo and Carlotta Fernandez, he graduated from the University of California with a medical degree in 1900. He was a physician in San Francisco until the 1906 earthquake, at which time he returned to Pinole, where he practiced for the rest of his life. He was the physician for Hercules Powder Company from 1906 until his death in 1954. His office was upstairs in the old Downer brick building on San Pablo Avenue. In 1894, as a young man, he teamed up with Edward M. Downer Sr. to start The Pinole Weekly Times newspaper.
Dr. Fernandez was the city’s only doctor for many years. After a 1908 train wreck at what is now Pinole Shores Drive, Dr. Fernandez took a handcart from the Southern Pacific depot and pumped himself down the tracks to give medical assistance to the injured on the train. He married Bernice Burch, a pharmacist’s daughter, in 1917. They had three children, Bernardo, Carroll, and Charlotte.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society
