> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ysidro Reyes: A reflection of SM’s past - URL: https://www.smdp.com/ysidro-reyes-a-reflection-of-sms-past/ - Published: 2005-08-01T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:32:18.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: local, Pacific Palisades, #archive-import, Homeless *COMMUNITY PROFILES* *By WINTER JOHNSON Special to the Daily Press* Ysidro Reyes IV is a child of Santa Monica, and not only because he was born here. Born in 1911 on 11th Street and Wilshire Boulevard when “there were only three houses on the block,” 93-year-old Reyes is a direct descendant of Spanish soldier Ysidro Reyes, one of Santa Monica’s original Spanish land-grant owners. The Reyes family made an architectural mark on early Los Angeles, with his great-great-grandfather building the first home in Encino in 1796, called the “Reyes Adobe.” His great-grandfather built the first house in the Pacific Palisades in 1838. The Reyes Adobe still stands today, labeled as a landmark. The family later sold its land to Colonel Robert S. Baker, one of two men credited with the founding of Santa Monica. The Santa Monica that Reyes describes differs from the current and growing population of more than 84,000\. According to Reyes, the land of his childhood was full of haystacks and sycamore trees, scattered homes and the lowing of cattle. Contrary to today’s fashions, men in those days had such large mustaches that their teacups had small porcelain barriers to prevent facial hair from dunking in their beverages; Reyes has such an antique in his home, property of his great-grandfather. Transitioning from his boyhood days, Reyes has, since his graduation from University High School, built his career as a mortician, an occupation he still practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy in Santa Monica. Reyes met his wife after the war, and they were married in 1948 at St. Monica Catholic Church. Now boasting two daughters and six grandchildren, the couple still resides in Santa Monica today. A World War II navy veteran and an advocate of the free press, Reyes has served on many community organizations during his lifetime, including the Santa Monica branch of the American Cancer Society and the Santa Monica-Brentwood Kiwanis Club. The Daily Press caught up with Reyes to discuss his values and opinions about Santa Monica. Do you feel you’ve seen Santa Monica change for the better or for the worse? “Both. Three things that Santa Monica has: a good private police department, a good fire department and a good bus department. As for public works, they don’t pay attention, and for the other departments, you can forget it. I never get into politics because they don’t tell you the truth anyway. On the bad side, we used to have three governments: the mayor, the commissioner of finance and the commissioner of public works. Now you’ve got these people in public office with stuff between their ears. Some of these people run for ego. Herman Michael was the last good mayor, who was president of the Edgemar Milk Company. City government is a business today, and popularity is not the answer. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen such a mess in this city. Clean out the monkeys that are running the city now.” What do you think Santa Monica needs? “It’s got a great future, but the problem with Santa Monica is that we don’t have a good newspaper. The daily paper that comes out is trying to get in to do something, and I hope that they have the background and the support of this community so that they can bring these things to the people’s attention. Sure, I don’t agree with everything they say, but the press is fundamental to the independence of this country. You gotta have someone to find out what’s going on. These people down in City Hall are going to run down the gauntlet.” What do you think about the homeless situation in Santa Monica? “I think it’s a problem that has to be dealt with by the city government, not me. It’s too bad that we have them. You can go down as far as Hermosa Beach, and they don’t have them because we have them all here, due to the parks here. Something has to be done. I feel sorry for those people, but some of them could get a job if they wanted. I admire some of these guys who go up and down the alleys picking up bottles trying to make a living. But they’re just bums in my book. We harbor them here, and it’s not my responsibility. It’s their responsibility.” What is your favorite place in Santa Monica? “The parks, especially Palisades Park. There’s no place in California that has the parks like we have here.” What’s your philosophy on life? “Treat people right. Respect people. Don’t try to bully me and try to push me out of the way, because I will just ignore you. Without people you get nowhere. You’re nobody individually. People make you. It takes all types of people to make a community. Progress is all about education. Without that, forget it. There ought to be more money in education than anything else. There used to be an old saying, ‘The world owes me a living,’ but the world doesn’t owe you anything, you have to make it. There’s no big shots in this world. They all contain the same amount of iron and blood. If someone says, ‘I’m better than you are,’ that’s a lot of malarkey.” What piece of advice would you give the next generation? “The advice I would give is for them to educate themselves. Education is a fundamental thing for anybody. If you don’t know anything, you will be guessing, and there are no more guessing games today. You have to have a foundation, and that is education. The pen is mightier than the sword. I think if a person is not able to take care of their own children, they should not have any more children. Stop playing around.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080105-04_01.jpg) Will Rogers State Historic Park, once the working ranch of the late humorist, held its Western Ranch Jubilee on Saturday. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 1, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)