Adolph Gasser

Adolph Gasser - 1912 - 2006 Prominent SF businessman and pioneer in the photographic industry whose impact and influence on the photographic community were felt for more than half a century, died March 23, 2006 at age 94. He remained active in the business, working every day until earlier this year. Mr. Gasser will be remembered for generously sharing his time and technical expertise with aspiring young photographers and filmmakers and for encouraging those he thought had potential to realize their dreams. Born in SF Jan. 7, 1912 to Swiss and German immigrants, Adolph and Marie Gasser, he was raised in the Richmond Dist. Graduating from high school at the onset of the Depression, he began his career as a camera repairman, developing his skills on wooden view cameras and press cameras and altering and customizing photo equipment for his customers. By 1936 he started his own business, General Camera Repair, designing custom parts for special order cameras and accessories and working with optics and optical alignment in still and motion picture equipment. His reputation quickly spread as an expert technician throughout the elite photographic industry and he became closely associated with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and other noted West Coast photographers. In 1943 Adolph Gasser enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a camera technician and was eventually assigned to the Photo Division of the 509th Composite Group at Wendover, UT, the air base that housed the atomic bomb unit known as Silverplate. While stationed on Tinian Island, with the unit, he loaded and maintained the aerial cameras used on B29 bombers. After the war he returned to General Camera Repair, where his remarkable ability in design and engineering took him to Japan as a technical consultant for the emerging "Nikon" camera. He was the first to import the new Nikon system to the US. He held patent rights for the "Sync Systems." In 1950 he ventured into retail with a new business called the Hobby Center, the forerunner of the company now known as Adolph Gasser, Inc., which has attained a worldwide reputation, incorporating sales of photographic equipment for still, industrial, professional motion picture, video and digital. In 1975 Mr. Gasser expanded from Geary St. to downtown SF at 181 2nd St, where the company is today. Throughout the years he maintained his technical interest and know-how, designing the Big Eye Sports Camera for the SF Newspaper, a special enlarger for Ansel Adams and a strobe unit for use in an unopened Egyptian pyramid. Married to Rose Schori in 1936, he was a dedicated father to their two children, and personally built his family a summer home in Woodacre, CA, in 1949. He enjoyed going on outings and picnics with his family, cooking Sunday breakfasts, and spending long hours in the garage fixing cars with his son. In his later years he met Marion Canfield, who became his second wife. In 1965 the two were married in Carmel at the home of Ansel Adams, his best man. For their honeymoon, they drove through Europe in a VW. Much of their life was devoted to the family business, but they also took time for extensive int'l travel during their 40 years of marriage. Many of his customers remember the pictures of their African Safari displayed in his office. The support of Marion and his son, John, enriched Adolph's life enormously. He was a man who overcame challenges and adversity with remarkable energy and resourcefulness. From a daring midnight walk over towers of the Golden Gate Bridge during construction, to a successful emergency water landing on his first solo flight, he faced life with courage and vigor. He was a man of great generosity toward family members, friends, professional associates, customers and employees. He cared for his mother until her death at age 81. He also cared for his father and stepmother and eventually for his wife Marion until her death from Alzheimer's last year. For over 50 years Mr. Gasser was a life member of the Park-Presidio Lion's Club and a past president. He was also active in the Royal Photographic Soc. and other professional organizations, and contributed to YMCA youth programs designed to foster a new generation of photographers. He is survived by son, John Gasser and wife, Ellen of Oakland; daughter, Dorothy Cox and husband, Dave, of Soap Lake, WA; grandchildren, Sarah, Martha, Andrew and Megan; great-grandchildren, Amaris, Jonathan and Maciel; and great-great-grandchildren, Terence and Kenneth; two nephews, a niece, grandniece, grandnephew, two great-grandnephews. Funeral services will be private. Friends are invited to attend a Memorial Celebration at Fort Mason Conference Center, Sun, April 30, 2pm. (415) 495-3852.