The Kitzman family has played an active role in the East County community for nearly 95 years. It all started in 1915, when the Kitzman family moved from San Diego to La Mesa to begin construction on a series of residential homes. Later, in 1944, J. Andrew Kitzman and his wife, Hazel Lloyd, began operating Kitzman Plumbing and Heating out of their La Mesa home. Due to Mrs. Kitzman’s administrative oversight and Mr. Kitzman’s innovations, such as prefabricated plumbing parts, the business grew rapidly, eventually expanding into national operations and government contracts.
In 1958 they purchased property at 70th and Highway 8 for warehouse use and fleet maintenance. Shortly thereafter, more offices were built on the site. Kitzman Plumbing and Heating’s La Mesa Headquarters had grown to over 3 acres in size, and housed more than 55 trucks and all related equipment.
Andrew Kitzman
The business continued to prosper, and as with many corporations they expanded into national operations in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, and Puerto Rico. During peak times, as many as 300 employees and 7 estimators were active. Mrs. K, as she was fondly known around the office, helped run the administrative side of the plumbing company. She over saw all bookkeeping and secretarial duties when the corporation expanded into each new state.
Over the years, the Kitzmans have continued to work on projects close to home, including La Mesa’s original Grossmont Hospital, the Hotel Del Coronado, and homes throughout San Diego County. They have also developed mobile home parks in South Bay, Santee and Ramona.
His first out of state job was a 900 unit residential development in Waukegan, Illinois. This project, combined with his work in California, opened the doors for one of Kitzman Plumbing and Heating’s largest projects in Elk Grove Village, north-west of Chicago. The 10,000 home development took 15 years to complete, and would later become a large suburban community complete with an airport.
Kitzman Plumbing and Heating was a certified U.S. Government contractor, and laid plumbing infrastructure for Camp Polk in Louisiana, Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.
Kitzman Headquarters
Mr. Kitzman’s ability to complete so many concurrent projects with such an exceptional crew was due in part to many of his innovations in the field. One of his first inventions was a complex set of pre-fabricated parts for plumbing projects. Instead of sending bulk raw materials and all required tools into the field, he preferred to pre-fabricate all plumbing materials at his headquarters, where tools and labor were plentiful. The pre-fabricated parts would then be shipped to staging areas nationwide, where they were quickly and easily put into production use. Such innovations drastically reduced costs and the amount of time required to complete projects. It’s been noted that in a day’s time, his crews could complete ten times as much work as any other crew.
Mr. Kitzman says the secret to his success is supervision. “Supervision is the mainstay of business”, he said. It insures steady progress from the initial estimate to the finished job. His mantra was responsible, in his opinion, for their growth because it brought together planning and delivery schedules, faster and more careful installations, and in many cases customer recommendation to prospective customers or work in new areas.
During the latter years of the business, Mr. Kitzman became involved in designing and developing Mobile Home Parks. The first one was located in South Bay, San Diego. The second one, Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park in Santee, was their first deluxe development which featured 395 spaces. Both have been sold. The third, Ramona Terrace Mobile Estates in Ramona, CA, features 218 spaces. It remains a family owned business today.
Contact
5165 Baltimore Drive
La Mesa, CA 91942
P: 619.308.4033
F: 619.308.4034 info@ParkStationLaMesa.com
