HISTORY

Ellen Gasser

On February 7, 2020, Ellen Gasser, loving mother, wife, and friend to many, passed away from breast cancer at the age of 74. Ellen was born December 23, 1945, in Oakland, California, to mother, Eileen Elizabeth (Murphy) Lasher and father, Alfred W. Lasher, Jr. Ellen grew up in Berkeley, California; she attended grammar school at the School of the Madeleine and went on to graduate from St. Joseph’s High School in 1963. She married John Gasser on June 28, 1981, in Oakland. Ellen began working for her father’s family business, Al Lasher’s Electronics, in 1968. It was only supposed to be temporary until she found her perfect job but Ellen took to the business quickly and found a real enjoyment for interacting with the customers. Ellen and her brother, Robert Lasher, would later take over business operations and Ellen would work there until her retirement in 2017. Ellen was a strong advocate for local business and a member of the University Avenue Merchants Association, where she served as Vice President at the time of her passing. Ellen had a passion for gardening and reading, even installing a free library in the front yard of her home. Ellen is preceded by her mother Eileen Elizabeth Lasher and father, Alfred W. Lasher, Jr. She is survived by husband, John Gasser, daughter Megan Gasser, brothers Jim and Robert Lasher, and nieces Ashley and Melissa Lasher, along with many other loving family members and friends.

 

Al Lasher’s Electronics was founded in 1960 by Alfred Lasher. Al had previously worked for Pacific Radio Supply, calling on T.V. and radio dealers, stocking their shelves right out of the back of his station wagon. As Pacific Radio began moving into HiFi, Al decided to open a radio shop of his own, in Berkeley, as a branch of a friendly competitor, Styles and Engleman. Six months later, because the store wasn’t doing as well as he had hoped, Al purchased the stock and reopened as Al Lasher’s Dealer Electronics .

As we strive to preserve the legacy of the late Al Lasher, we continue to operate as a family run business, with customer service as our #1 priority. We hope you can experience a taste of that from this site or savor the full flavor when you visit our shop. Not only do we stock the latest in electronic parts, we also carry many unique items, since we tend not to throw things away. So if you need that tube for your grandmother’s Philco radio, or a cmos battery to keep the bios in your Pentium computer, give us a call. We’ll definitely give it the Lasher Family best!

 

What was here before we were?

Our building’s history

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Sources:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19350821&id=BAcyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c-MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7007%2c4630977
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%221740%20university%22%20fbi%20berkeley&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http://vault.fbi.gov/jessica-mitford/jessica-mitford-part-3-of-8/at_download/file&ei=-mTZT7CHNqae6QHcpsDLAg&usg=AFQjCNGkQ7az6fLBP1oA4B9IYMir1DPjDA