Memoirs of Peter Boudoures Chapter 7 Marriage

Martha Boudoures Late 1920's

It became evident that things would continue to improve and that I would be in a position to support a wife. Martha and I agreed to get married. On September 27, 1924, we invited three other couples and went to Burlingame to the home of Dr. and Mrs. Theo Pinther. Martha and I were married after having dinner and a few drinks. For our honeymoon we went to San Jose and stayed there overnight. We spent Sunday in the area and returned to San Francisco that night. The next day Martha started looking after the apartment house and I worked the store.

(Editors Note:They were a strange couple. She was several years older than him, some say as many as ten years older. Where he was outgoing and gregarious she was reserved and aloof in public. Whereas others tended to be intimidated by Boudoures's gruff manner and loud voice she was not impressed. Wherever they went she made it clear to everyone around that she was her own person and not the least impressed with Boudoures. Whereas he was consumed with his passion for Greek causes she was indifferent to say the least. She seemed to have a Nordic disdain for Mediterranean peoples, Greeks included.)

A few months after we were married vacancies started to appear in that section of town where we had their apartment due to overbuilding. The economy was sliding downward a little and something told me that I had better sell the apartment house lease before the vacancies increased to the point where it would become unprofitable. Fortunately, it being a new building with new furniture and showing a good income at the time, I was able to sell it for a good price. We kept an apartment in the same building. Martha became a housewife and I ran the grocery store downstairs.

As time went on I got tired of the grocery business. I wanted to try something else that would be easier and that would give me a better income. I knew a few friends who were in the business of selling insurance and business opportunities. Two different people told me that if I wanted to get out of the grocery business they would be delighted to have me as a partner in their business. I decided to go with Frank Lamont who was best man at my wedding and with whom we lived for a time on Pine Street. He was mild mannered, had good character and I knew that I could get along well with him. At the time he had a general insurance brokerage business as well as a contract with the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance of California, writing life insurance. He also brokered the purchase and sale of businesses. He gave me whatever information he could and I went to school for a couple of weeks, trying to learn all the details essential for the sale of life insurance.

So, I started my second career after I left the grocery and apartment house business. I started selling insurance and business opportunities.

From the time I worked in the dry goods store in Kalamata I learned to be thrifty. Necessity taught me to be prompt in paying my bills and I had learned that honesty was the best policy. As a result, during the years that I was in business from 1912 to 1924, I'd never failed to meet my obligations and I was as honest as humanly possible. So I figured that other people would act likewise, and I judged others according to my own way of thinking. This is where I was mistaken and where I was to suffer many disappointments.