A Short History of Chism Painting

2007 marks the 25th year of Mike and Pat Chism starting their own painting business. The Chism Brothers grew up in San Diego learning the skills and techniques of painting from their father.

The Chism brother’s father, Milt Chism, began his career of painting in San Diego during the 1930’s. His first job in San Diego was painting the old radio towers over by Chollas Lake. The tallest towers were close to 600 feet tall, and Milt got the job because he was not afraid to climb to the top. After the depression fully ended, Milt joined the San Diego Police department during World War II for 10 years and then returned to painting homes! You just can’t keep those Chism’s from doing what they love and are good at. Milt was a hard-working quality painter in town and trained his sons, Mike and Pat Chism, how to do a quality paint job on every home. He also taught them how to have good character and do the right thing.

When Milt Chism’s health began to weaken, Mike and Pat were forced to continue their careers working for another painter in town named Otto Welp. Otto had an office next to Dewhurst & Associates in La Jolla and was known for being a high end painting contractor. In the early 1980’s, Otto passed away due to cancer, and Mike and Pat decided to start their own business—Chism Brothers Painting.

In the late 90’s, Mike’s oldest daughter, Emily, became the full-time office manager. She helped the company systematize the way we did things. She helped create our employee manual, organized safety and management meetings, and did many other things to maintain our professionalism.

In the summer of 2000, Mike’s son, David Chism, joined the brothers full time. Mike began to teach him the skills of estimating painting projects, and soon, David became the full-time estimator for the company. He later began to manage and oversee the business and develop the overall “corporate” image of Chism Brothers. He helped create the current logo, designs for the trucks & job signs, website, community sponsorships and customer service program.

The Chism Family is still very much a family run business. We enjoy what we do, and we hope you can experience our way of painting homes and the service we provide to our customers. We do make mistakes, but you can count on us to do the right thing! We have grown considerablely since our doors opened in 1982. We attribute our growth to God’s rich blessings, our customers’ loyalty and the great employees we have working for us.