From the early 1930s to his death in 1942 my San Francisco-born great grandfather Frederick Tillmann Jr. (1860-1942) — now simply Fred Tillman, 70-something widower — resided at 79 Rock Lane, Berkeley. At that time my grandmother Agnes van Eck (nee Tillmann) and her brother Fred supported their father financially and made arrangements for him to move from San Francisco to the East Bay.

Fred Tillman Jr., Casa de Lauredal, Berkeley, about 1932. Tillmann Family Archives

The residence was built in 1929 by Berkeley pioneer Bill Schmidt, who died in 1933. It’s likely Tillman moved in shortly thereafter, leasing the residence from inheritors.

The following images are pasted in a family photo album devoted to Rock Lane. Images follow the order pasted in album. Appended at the end of this page are newspaper clippings about the history of 79 Rock Lane. Unless otherwise noted, all images are from Tillmann Family Archives.