Los Angeles Paving Company.

The Los Angeles Paving Company, owned and managed by the Werdin family, was an important business enterprise in 20th century Southern California. Ernest R. Werdin was born in 1869 in Minnesota and moved to Los Angeles in 1886. In 1902, he was elected Superintendent of Streets of the City of Los Angeles, which probably gave him opportunities to establish extensive connections for his future paving business. In 1912, he started the Los Angeles Paving Company. After his death in 1932, his son E. Russell Werdin inherited and continued the business. Over the decades, the Los Angeles Company expanded and it accomplished paving tasks for many families, businesses, and governmental agencies in the region. The company paved many of the streets in Southern California, including Los Angeles' famous Sunset Boulevard. Both Ernest R. Werdin and E. Russell Werdin joined several business-related and non-business-related club and associations. Both were life members of Al Malaikah Temple. Ernest R. Werdin was a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. E. Russell Werdin was president of both the Vernon and Carson Chambers of Commerce, and he was active in the Rotary Club for 63 years before his death in 1997. He also graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Commerce in 1932, and later became one of the university's trustees and served as president of the USC Alumni Association in 1960 to 1961.