Richard Miller “R.M.” Killion (1857-1932) was the first principal of the first school in Lankershim – today’s NoHo. Born in Indiana, Killion launched his education career in Kansas. His first wife Jennie died in 1885, mere months after their marriage; he wed his second wife, also named Jennie, the following year. After more than two decades as school superintendent and/or principal – mostly in Kansas, but with a couple of stints in Globe, Arizona – R.M. brought Jennie and their four children to Lankershim in 1908. I don’t know how he even heard about the job here, but he was reportedly never once tardy or sick and worked up until his death. The family lived on Lankershim Blvd. steps away from Killion Street, which was named in 1926. Jennie died in 1920, followed by the Killions’ only daughter Nellie. R.M. married his third and final wife Cartha (not a typo) in 1922.
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