Background
Of Armenian descent, Alex Pilibos was born in Kharpert, Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire in 1888. Alex Pilibos was asked by his father to buy land in the San Joaquin Valley.
Businessman founder philanthropist
Of Armenian descent, Alex Pilibos was born in Kharpert, Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire in 1888. Alex Pilibos was asked by his father to buy land in the San Joaquin Valley.
After buying land and starting a farm, Pilibos studied engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Los Angeles He also attended law school at University of Southern California, where his roommate was William Saroyan"s uncle Aram Saroyan.
He was believed to be one of the largest producers of cantaloupe in California. In 1905 Pilibos settled in Fresno, California. His farm was located near El Centro, California and was 400 acres.
The brothers introduced new varieties of melons from seeds they brought from Syria.
They developed new packaging for melons and made improvements in both melon varieties and the packaging to meet market demands. Stephen Pilibos, developed grading and sorting machinery to improve the packing process.
An avid deep sea fisherman and power boat enthusiast, he maintained a house on Lido Isle, in Newport Beach, California He died in Fresno, California in 1966.
Alex Pilibos was a philanthropist who established the Armenian Educational Foundation and also supported the California Armenian Home and Armenian orphanages in Syria, Cyprus and Greece.
He was a committee member of the Western Growers Association.