Gregory Pearl Peck: Rochester Chemist and La Jolla Pharmacist Who Anchored a Family Legacy

Basic Information

Early Years and the Michigan Link

Born in Rochester on August 3, 1886, Gregory Pearl Peck grew up during the transition from apprenticeships to university study in American pharmacy. The University of Michigan’s Michiganensian yearbook lists him as a pharmacy student in San Diego in 1908, indicating his ambition to move west to a city on the eve of a naval and municipal boom. The same listing shows him in athletics, which suggests grit and social skills, which are necessary for a pharmacist who spends long nights behind a counter.

The turn-of-century pharmacy curriculum fused chemistry, materia medica, and practical dispensary work. That grounding equipped Peck to step into a profession where precision met public trust. He carried that blend of rigor and empathy into a Pacific coast town that needed both.

Building a Career in San Diego and La Jolla

Peck registers as a pharmacist in 1911 and begins working at Ferris & Ferris, a San Diego staple. The all-night drugstore in the Gaslamp Quarter was a landmark for sailors, Marines, and late-shift laborers crossing the downtown grid. A 1917 draft card listed him as a druggist. The labor was unglamorous but necessary. The mortar and pestle sang and the door bell clattered like a swelling port night after night.

Peck became Ferris & Ferris partner and manager in 1930. He became a pioneering and sometimes solitary pharmacist in La Jolla. Serving night shifts means seeing life’s exigencies and tiny mercies: the midnight antibiotic, a fisherman’s hand splint, a sailor’s headache pill between watches. By 1940 census terminology, he owned a firm, indicating a steady position in a competitive retail landscape.

Family Ties, Marriages, and Home Life

Gregory, the son of Samuel Peck and Catherine Ashe, married Bernice Mae Ayres in St. Louis on June 4, 1915. Eldred Gregory Peck, their only known child, was born in La Jolla on April 5, 1916. The early 1920s divorce did not lessen the father-son relationship that would shape American movies. Harriet E. Harrington was his 1932-1933 wife. In historical records, Eldred’s half-brother was Donald Gregory Peck, a second son.

By 1935, Gregory and Harriet were settled at a Marlton Drive address in San Diego, reflected in property and civic records that track long occupancy. The home stood within easy reach of his work, a pragmatic launch point for a professional life that often began when the rest of the city slept.

Serving a Navy Town

San Diego’s Navy and Marine hub status shaped Peck’s career. Under his shop’s warmth, sailors on shore leave, Marines between missions, and needy families visited the counter. Then, an all-night pharmacy was more than a convenience. An institution. Peck combined public health with street care. His strange hours allowed others to relax while he compounded prescriptions and gave guidance. His hours fit the city’s pulse in a place with military routines.

The Eldred Branch and a Wider Family Tree

Gregory’s most famous descendant was his son, Eldred Gregory Peck, who became a towering American film actor. Through Eldred’s life came a wide circle of children and grandchildren who extended the Peck name into public service, the arts, and media. The following table sketches that branch.

This constellation of descendants illustrates how a pharmacist’s steady life can underpin a lineage that branches into public service, arts, and advocacy. The arc runs from a counter lined with apothecary bottles to sound stages, classrooms, nonprofits, and newsrooms.

Timeline of Key Dates

Work Achievements and Community Standing

Peck’s success came from reliability, not fame. Registered pharmacist by 1911, he advanced to partnership and management by 1930, demonstrating professional respect. He was a pharmacist in La Jolla when the beach hamlet had limited facilities and a longtime fixture of San Diego’s only all-night drugstore. His shops provided attention to neighborhoods from the Gaslamp Quarter to Hillcrest to La Jolla. There are no ledgers showing his income or net worth, but public documents, property notes, and occupational listings show a successful retail business. He maintained the lights on in a tide-and-timetable-shaped metropolis.

Place and Presence: La Jolla and San Diego

Gregory’s living geography resembles early modern San Diego. Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter had foot activity, late hours, and plenty of service and worker customers. Hillcrest’s residential density and hospital/clinic proximity increased. Coastal settlements in La Jolla combined town and beach life. Peck’s pharmacies and role connected these areas. Imagine the city at midnight in 1925 or 1935 with a single storefront with lighted glass bottles, a pharmacist at the scale, and the quiet clink of glass on marble as prescriptions were calculated. That was his stage.

FAQ

When and where was Gregory Pearl Peck born, and when did he die?

He was born on August 3, 1886, in Rochester, New York, and died on August 25, 1962, in La Jolla, California.

Did Gregory Pearl Peck attend the University of Michigan?

Yes, he is listed in the Michiganensian yearbook for the Class of 1908 on the pharmacy track.

What was his occupation?

He was a chemist and pharmacist who worked as a druggist, partner, and owner in San Diego and La Jolla.

Is he related to the actor Gregory Peck?

Yes, he was the father of Eldred Gregory Peck, the acclaimed film actor.

Where did he work in San Diego?

He worked at Ferris & Ferris in the Gaslamp Quarter and is associated with all-night pharmacy service that catered to Navy sailors and Marines.

Did he have more than one marriage?

Yes, he married Bernice Mae Ayres in 1915 and later married Harriet E. Harrington around 1932-1933.

Who were his children?

His widely documented child is Eldred Gregory Peck, and some records list a second son named Donald Gregory Peck.

Is there detailed information about his finances?

No, there are no reliable public records of his salary or net worth, only evidence of a long-standing retail pharmacy business.