La Verne Construction Co.: It’s Way More Than a Family Business
Just some members of the Paddock clan, from front, left: Kobe, Cameron (grandson), Kaden, Kylie; middle from left, Daniel, John, Victor, Tanner and Tyler; back from left, Chase and Leeann.
To put it plainly, La Verne’s John and Leeann Paddock, owners of La Verne Construction Co., are family-oriented people. In addition to their three biological children, Sean, who lives in Oregon, Kellie, who lives in La Verne and works for the airlines, and Chase, who just graduated from the University of La Verne, they have six adopted children and conservatorship of another young man.
With Chase still at home, that’s 10 people sitting around the dinner table at night. Well, Leeann and John don’t get to sit that much.
“It gets pretty crazy,” said John, who will join Leeann on July 29 in marking their 34th wedding anniversary.
Oddly enough, the Paddocks hadn’t planned on having such a large, extended family. It sort of just happened. Leeann has a brother, Kevin, now 41, who as an infant was diagnosed with a rare congenital disorder called Cornelia Delange syndrome. Although her parents, who owned San Dimas Plumbing, Heating and Air for many years, are approaching their 80s, they still care for Kevin in their La Verne Via de Mansion home.
“My mom and dad are both saints,” Leeann said.
While John and Leeann met in Seattle – he was working as a carpenter in King County and she was employed as a Section 8 housing specialist – they had moved back to La Verne, where John took a job in Cal Poly Pomona’s carpentry division and Leeann went to work in special education. It was at a nursing facility where she first encountered Vinnie, who had the same syndrome as her brother Kevin.
John and Leeann Paddock outside their downtown business on Bonita.
A Growing Family
She immediately adopted Vinnie in her heart, and after the okay from John, she tried to do it legally. John was actually a pushover as far as going along with the decision. His grandmother had operated a board-and-care home facility in the Seattle area, so he had an inkling about how his life was going to dramatically change.
“I grew up around it,” he recalled. “It was just part of my life growing up around developmentally delayed people.”
Getting approval from the court was a much more difficult than obtaining John’s acceptance.
“The child was not taken away from his parents,” Leeann explained. “They had voluntarily placed him there, but it was a terrible nursing home that didn’t take care of him. He was sickly. When I would go down to the hospital and visit him, no one would be there. He was just kind of there by himself.”
After two years of attorney’s fees and legal wrangling, the court agreed.
“In my heart, I believe that every child can live in a home and have a family,” Leeann said. “They should have that opportunity and not be stuck in a nursing home just because they have a developmental disability.”
Although severely handicapped, Vinnie lived to be 16, passing away about 10 years ago.
“He never really talked, but he could say, ‘mama,’” said Leeann.
Added John: “He taught us the true meaning of love. That’s what we put on his headstone.”
John volunteered his time to help build a new playground for the LeRoy Haynes Center this month.
In order to bring Vinnie to La Verne, Leeann had to become licensed by the state of California to operate a small family home.
Aware of her ability and passion to care for developmentally disabled and medically fragile children, the County of Los Angeles contacted the Paddocks about taking in a premature baby born at Martin Luther King Hospital in Los Angeles.
“They said it would be for a couple of weeks, and then we’ll find a permanent residence for him,” John said.
That permanent residence turned out to be the Paddocks’ home. “I went down and got him and brought him home, and John just fell in love with him,” Leeann said.
Good kids come in small packages
Since that homecoming, John and Leeann adopted four more of the biological mother’s 13 children, all of whom suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. “My biggest was 2 pounds, 8 ounces,” Leeann said. “One was a pound and a half.”
“The alcohol that the mother drank really did harm these kids,” John said, his voice filled more with resignation than contempt for putting her children at risk.
They met the mother just once.
“She is homeless, a prostitute, addicted to drugs,” Leeann said. “I used to Western Union her money when she was pregnant and sleeping on the streets. But her mother told me I was just giving her money for drugs.”
Besides the five siblings, ages 5 to 16, they also adopted a two-year old Korean boy with Down’s syndrome from a different mother and have conservatorship of a 24-year-old.
“It can be like a zoo around here,” John said, “but somehow we make it work.”
“I am so grateful that they are all together,” Leeann added.
La Verne Construction provided a new addition and interior remodel for the Hills, including concrete framing, dry wall, electrical, plumbing, framing, doors, finish, addition of a bathroom and walk-in closet. The front porch was also extended to accommodate the addition.
Equally amazing is how John and Leeann keep track of everyone when the kids are not clustered under one roof. On the day LaVerneOnline.com visited, two were at their La Verne Construction office in downtown La Verne next to the Chamber of Commerce office. Another two were at the Fairplex Child Development Center. Still two more were in summer school, one at Bonita, the other at La Verne Lutheran.
Victor, their oldest, over whom they have conservatorship, was at the First Street Art Gallery in Claremont, Calif.
“It’s an amazing gallery for people who are developmentally delayed,” Leeann said. “One of the artists just had something put into the Smithsonian. I didn’t want Victor to go sit in somebody’s hard table and chairs and sort out coat hangers or spoons just because he is developmentally disabled.”
John nods, adding, “We thought we’d be done raising kids; we’re really just starting over.”
Constructing a business
Professionally, John also started over. After 25 years working for Cal Poly Pomona, specializing in mold and asbestos abatement, and before that as a carpenter for King County, he knew he wasn’t quite ready for a full-time babysitting career, so he launched La Verne Construction a few years ago.
Reflecting the company’s slogan, “No job too big or small, we do it all,” La Verne Construction has since grown to perform a staggering array of services, from building new homes and room additions to installing hot water tanks and broken pipes. Whether you have a carpentry, electrical, plumbing, wall, flooring, countertop, painting or patio need, La Verne Construction can fix it or replace it in a timely, professional manner.
Because of his versatility and flexibility, John’s contact information is also good for local residents to keep next to the 911 and their other emergency contact numbers. He and his team are experts in fire, smoke, water and mold remediation.
Soon neighbors won't recognize the home now being renovated and remodeled by La Verne Construction.
John pays his licensed employees’ medical, liability and workers compensation insurance, yet he is still able to bid his jobs at a fair price. Currently, he has several projects under way in town. Most have come by word of mouth.
“We’re going to jump through every hoop to make sure our clients are satisfied,” John said. “We live in this town. We work in this town. We see our clients all the time. When you live in a small town like this, you want to look people straight in the eye and know you did a good job for them.”
La Verne Construction has also become greener over the years. Along with his mold remediation work, he is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency to test and remove lead from homes. The company is equally committed to completing projects that are eco-friendly.
“Our goal is to educate our customers on the numerous energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly building options available today,” John said. “We’ll help you make informed decisions about what will work best for your project.”
Satisfied customers
Last year, La Verne Construction completed a remodel for Scott and Mary Hill on Third Street in La Verne. Actually, the Hills had hired another “nightmare” contractor first before they found John.
“John really rescued us from a horrible situation,” Scott said. “Up until John got us out from under that nightmare, it had been a huge fiasco. We had huge holes in the side of the house, and nothing was getting done. John completely turned around the situation and did a phenomenal job.
“I have a wife and kids, and they were very comfortable with his crew,” Scott added. “Also, a number of safety issues came up that couldn’t have been known until they started tearing out the wall, and they addressed every one of them. They made my home a safer place. They also came in with a ballpark bid that I thought was fair, and they beat that original estimate.
“Quality guy, quality work, I can’t say enough about that guy, and he’s a family man, too.”
La Verne Construction Co. is rapidly becoming the contractor of choice for any size construction job, large or small.
Ralph Hoeger, director of construction for Guided Discoveries, which operates Astro Camp in Idyllwild and Camp Fox and the Catalina Marine Institute on Catalina, echoed the Hills’ praise.
“John did a mold remediation project for us about five years ago, and we just sort of hit it off. Most people don’t want to come out to the island, but John did. Right now, he is building an enclosed maintenance shop with roll-up doors for us. He’s proven himself over and over again. I’ve been very happy with the quality of his work.”
In many ways, John is that old school perfectionist you don’t find anymore. His design and build firm bids jobs alongside much larger firms, but he’s just as satisfied removing wallpaper or changing out a light fixture for a client.
He’s is also able to hold his prices down because he is a one-stop shop that can pretty much do everything. While many contractors are charging $200 to $225 per square foot, he’s in the $133 to $150 a square foot range.
“We try to do everything in-house,” John said, explaining his pricing and bidding niche.
As far as that other house John comes home to at the end of each, John’s eyes light up. His Fifth Street home, where his wife Leeann and his children await, is his favorite ongoing project.
“No job too big or too small,” John said, shrugging his shoulders.
And then some!
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