Culver City,
California
x
Wayne Ratkovich Oral History
Date Made: April 26, 2016
Country: United States
Materials: digital files; paper
Mr. Wayne Ratkovich was born May 29th, 1941 - living the majority of his life under the Cold War. He was the sixth child of Serbian immigrants, and upon his arrival the family relocated from South Gate, California to a larger residence on South Fourth Street in Alhambra, California. Tom Ratkovich, Wayne’s father, was in the grocery business most of his life, working as a store manager at Shopping Bag- an early supermarket in the San Gabriel Valley. The family resided in Alhambra for ten years, before his father retied for health reasons. At that time, the family moved to North Whittier Heights- now Hacienda Heights- where they operated a chicken ranch and farmed lemons and avocados. Mr Ratkovich attended La Puente High School, where he played football and received an athletic scholarship to the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, Wayne received his Bachelor of Arts in political science and became interested in real estate development. Upon graduating in 1964, Mr Ratkovich joined a real estate brokerage firm of Coldwell Banker, where he became an industrial real estate salesman. He joined the U.S. Army Reserves- serving in the psychological warfare, artillery and army intelligence units. During his time with the U.S. Army Reserves, Mr. Ratkovich was selected for Officer Candidate School and was transferred to the National Guard post at the Culver City Armory for one year in order to complete Officer Candidate School in 1966. In 1967, Mr. Ratkovich married his wife JoAnn Calkins, and they would have three children. In 1977, Mr. Ratkovich formed his own company- The Ratkovich Company- purchasing the Oviatt Building in downtown Los Angeles as his first project in the urban market and historic preservation area. The company has received many awards from the City of Los Angeles, BOMA, the Los Angeles Conservancy, USC, SCLA and a number of civic organizations. Mr Ratkovich served as a trustee from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) for 21 years, serving on eleven ULI committees, chairing 10 ULI panels and in 2011 he was named a life trustee of the ULI. He is also an Emeritus Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Accession Number: 2016.041.006
Credit Line: Ratkovich, Wayne (April 26, 2016). Interview by Tawnie Fotter. Cold War Culver City Oral History Project, Claremont Graduate University and The Wende Museum, Culver City.
Collection/Series: Cold War Culver City Oral Histories
Access Restrictions: none