California Biographies Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919) History By Paul E. Vandor Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919 Notes: Missing+page1185-1186 Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm JOHN F. BROMARK. � A fresco artist who has no equal in Fresno County, and a gentleman of Swedish birth who has become one of the most j ublic-spirited of American citizens and put his loyalty as well as his service- ability to the test by repeatedly accepting public office and discharging the onerous duties of a public trust, is John F. Bromark, the well-known con- tracting painter and city trustee at Kingsburg, a man of long and varied experience and of exceptionally broad views, and with particular interest in the cause of popular education. He was born at Dannemora, Sweden, on January 2, 1859, the son of Andrew Bromark, who was a carpenter and builder. The latter was married in Sweden to Anna Linquist, a native of that country, and all three of their children were born at Dannemora. The subject of our sketch is the oldest; the next is Hildah, the wife of Carl Tegelberg, a well-to-do and retired farmer of Swea City, Iowa; while the youngest is Anna, the wife of C. J. Lenander, a banker and real estate opera- tor, as well as a farmer, at Bancroft, Iowa, who owns a ranch of 900 acres, on which is a herd of buffalo, and is both wealthy and influential. After profiting from the advantages of a common school education in his native land, John F. in 1870 came with his parents and the rest of the family to America, and settled in Florida near Quincy, where they engaged in farming for a couple of years. Then they moved to Chicago, arriving there two years after the fire, and there John learned how to stripe wagons and carriages, becoming in the end a fine carriage-painter. But the young man was more ambitious, and so, at the first opportunity, he took a regular course as a portrait painter at the Chicago Art Institute, and soon became proficient. He made crayon portraits of Leander McCor- mick and other members of that well-known family, and painted portraits of other noted Chicago men ; and for a time it looked as though portraiture would be his natural and chief occupation. He had to learn, however, what has given disappointment to so many, that art had to wait for a fair hearing in a land busy with other and tremendous problems, and that portraits were not regarded by most people as an every-day necessity. Mr. Bromark found, in fact, that there was more money in fresco-painting and high-class decorating, because it was in greater demand and so few were capable of doing it ; and in Chicago alone he worked as a fresco-painter for about fifteen years. There he was associated with Chicago's leading painter and decorator, Milligan, and so participated in much of the work which, in that period, made the residences and public buildings of the western metrop- olis of such note. In the meantime Andrew Bromark had moved out to Iowa and bought a farm of eighty acres, and in time John followed and purchased eighty acres adjoining that of his father. When he sold his farm, he became a con- tract painter at Swea City, Iowa, and here he was active and successful for another ten years. The year 1903 became eventful in Mr. Bromark's life, for he then moved to California. He came almost immediately to the central part of the state, and he was not long in discovering the superior advantages of Kingsburg, where he bought twenty acres of unimproved land. He planted vines and set out peach and apricot trees, and some five years ago he sold the property for $8,500, after which, in 1913, he built his beautiful residence, which reflects his artistic sensibility. This architectural triumph reminds one of some of Mr. Bromark's mas- terpieces in the realm of art. Among his most famous paintings are the "Gypsy Girl" and the "Colonial Dame," and he is also widely known for a number of California and Iowa landscapes, in which grouping and perspec- tive, as well as the appreciation of color values, are very noticeable. His art work shows rare discernment and the most refined feeling. Besides being a prominent member of the Swedish Baptist Church at Kingsburg, where he serves as a deacon, Mr. Bromark is a city father, and one honored for his conscientious discharge of the affairs of his office. He was first appointed to fill a vacancy, and then elected, in 1917, to the same office. He is also a member of the Grammar School Board, and advocates schools of the highest efficiency. While in Chicago, Mr. Bromark was married to Miss Svea Swallander, a native of that city. They had five children : Lillian, Violet, La Rose, Rupert and Carl, all of whom are bright and interesting, and some of whom share his home-life. The good mother, however, died in 1912, beloved and highly respected by all who knew her.