In Memoriam – E. Alan Comstock, MAI

Ironic that a man about whom so much could be said chose the least instead. Longtime San Diego appraiser E. Alan Comstock, MAI, in failing health, had dictated most of the notice that was published in the San Diego Union in late November.

COMSTOCK, E. ALAN E. Alan Comstock passed away peacefully on November 1, 2009, at his home in San Diego. He was born on April 6, 1928, in Lincoln, Illinois. During the Korean War, from October 1950 to November 1953, he served in the United States Air Force. He relocated to San Diego in 1953 and worked as a real estate appraiser and consultant until his retirement in 1993. Alan married Frances Elizabeth (Betty) Taylor on August 11, 1955, in Riverside, California. She preceded him in death in August 2003. He is survived by his son, James Alan Comstock, James’s wife Michelle, and two grandsons, Timothy Alan and Aidan James, all of Eugene, Oregon. He was a member of the San Diego Rotary Club, Lincoln Lodge A.F. & A.M. #210, San Diego Scottish Rite Bodies and the Al Bahr Shrine.

Short, perfunctory, emotionless, even clinical, the notice said Mr. Comstock had requested there be no formal service. It concluded by directing donations to the San Diego Zoological Society or Shriners Hospitals for Children. Karlene Perry, who had worked for Mr. Comstock in the early 1980s, took the dictation and asked him if they shouldn’t elaborate a bit. He firmly declined. He stated that he did not want it to be “all flowery.” Pete Robertson, whose father was a friend of Mr. Comstock’s and who was with the senior appraiser at the end, said “he didn’t want it monkeyed with.”

That was the all-business side of Alan Comstock. He eschewed his first name, Edgar. Everyone knew him as Alan, and those who knew him well remember him as a man of many interests, talents, and impacts on others.

Mr. Comstock was one of only two people who served as president of both the Society of Real Estate Appraisers Chapter 33 (1969) and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers Chapter 42 (1976). He came out of L. Bruce Stallard’s shop.

Mr. Comstock was a generalist and would appraise anything that didn’t move. But he was particularly tuned in to Downtown San Diego. Clients included estates, governments, attorneys, and the occasional lender.

Gene Erzinger, who started with Mr. Comstock just out of college in the early 1980s, “found him to be a demanding but fair boss who was dedicated to the real estate appraisal profession.” Jim Recht remembers Mr. Comstock as being representative of appraisers in his era: more intuitive and less mechanical or arithmetic in his valuation approach than would be typical today. But his skill was unquestioned. Tom Roberts paid him the highest compliment, saying, “If I had to have my property appraised, I’d ask for Alan.”

Mr. Comstock taught appraisal at City College and in early-morning public-service broadcasts on Channel 10. He freely shared his knowledge at chapter meetings and with anyone who was interested. Ms. Perry remembers him saying, “Boy, if I charged for every minute…” he spent on the phone with a fellow appraiser. But it was a poor façade of resentment.

Bill Lipman remembers Mr. Comstock as a “professional and cooperative MAI.” Jim Recht said Mr. Comstock “used his experience to help me with my new practice even though we were competitors.”

Mr. Comstock’s giving nature found its way into other endeavors as well. Were you to check the Journal of San Diego History, Winter 1974 issue, and read “Rancho Guajome, A California Legend Preserved,” you would find an acknowledgment from the authors to Mr. Comstock “for generously giving his time, research materials, and personal photographs concerning Rancho Guajome.” Mr. Comstock had appraised the 360-acre ranch for a court case. The appraisal was in the public record, but Mr. Comstock cared about history so much that he assisted the authors without fee or complaint. An appraiser can work a lifetime without creating anything worth remembering. Too many appraisal reports are read by one or two people, filed, and forgotten. The fact that Mr. Comstock had an impact on the preservation of San Diego history suggests that he was not the ordinary appraiser.

Mr. Comstock’s interest in history was not limited to San Diego. He was a Civil War buff and had a collection of guns dating back to that time. He furnished his house with antiques that he meticulously restored. Even his office was an old, converted home on Third Avenue.

Jim Recht remembers going to that Banker’s Hill office. It was directly under the flight path. He and Mr. Comstock would be talking valuation and a plane would fly over. “Just from the sound of it, he would tell me what kind of plane it was,” said Recht. Mr. Comstock loved flying. He owned a Cessna and would use any appraisal-related excuse to go up and take pictures of property. He enjoyed many lunches at the 94^th Aero Squadron, watching planes land at Montgomery Field.

Another of Mr. Comstock’s passions was woodworking. Three people interviewed for this story received hand-built oak rocking horses for newborn children. He also built furniture, the quality of which displayed the same perfectionist streak that marked his other endeavors.

Mr. Comstock and his wife Betty enjoyed gardening. They did it on a small scale at their home on Upas Street, and in a big way by managing three farms in Indiana. As with everything else he touched, Mr. Comstock threw himself into the subject when his wife inherited one of the farms. He read about crop production, monitored grain prices, and stayed in constant contact with the farms’ on-site management. At his request, his and his wife’s ashes will be spread at one of the farms on April 6, Mr. Comstock’s birthday. Don’t mention it to anybody. He wouldn’t want it to be a big deal.