January 20, 1921 



The Rorists^ Review 



29 



OBITUARY 



[See also paRe 31 ] 



Charles W. Crouch. 



Saturday evening, January 8, death 

 claimed Charles W. Crouch, pioneer flo- 

 rist of Knoxville, Tehn., following a 

 lingering illness. Mr. Crouch suffered 

 a stroke of paralysis seven years ago 

 and never fully recovered. He retired 

 from active business some time ago and 

 spent his declining days at his resi- 

 dence. 



Mr. Crouch was born in Manchester, 

 England, in 1852, and came to America 

 with his father at the age of 7 years. 

 The family located in New York city, 

 where his father planned the Belle 

 View garden and other parks in Gotham. 

 He was a trained landscape gardener, 

 having followed that profession in 

 Europe. He planned some of the fa- 

 mous parks in Paris before he came to 

 this country. 



The family moved west following an 

 extended stay in New York, the Crouch 

 homestead at Knoxville being the loca- 

 tion of the new home at that time. Al- 

 though it was in the country at that 

 time, tlie city 's growth brought it en- 

 tirely within the city limits and the 

 home is now within the limits of greater 

 Knoxville. 



Charles Crouch was the organizer of 

 an orchestra and also a band. He was 

 a musician of note and always en- 

 deavored to excel in all his musical un- 

 dertakings. His sons, Thomas and Wil- 

 liam, also acted as directors of the 

 musical organizations. 



Surviving are the widow and one son, 

 William Crouch, two sons having died 

 several years ago. Two sisters and 

 four grandchildren also survive. Had 

 Mr. Crouch lived until September, he 

 and Mrs. Crouch would have celebrated 

 their golden wedding anniversary. 



Mr. Crouch succeeded in the operation 

 of a retail store. Following his failure 

 in health, he retired from active busi- 

 ness, as well as from the regular at- 

 tendance of the services at St. John's 

 Episcopal church, of which church he 

 was a member. His son, William Crouch, 

 now conducts the business started by 

 his father. 



Funeral services were held Monday 

 afternoon, January 10. 



denry F. C. Sander. 



The death of Henry F. C. Sander, 

 senior member and founder of the firm, 

 Sand(M- & Sons, of St. Albans, Englan-d, 

 jind Bruges, Belgium, occurred December 

 2.'!, at Bruges. The career of this indom- 

 itable man in the world of horticulture 

 lias been a remarkable one. In 1867 he 

 entered the service of James Carter & 

 Co., and while there he met Benedict 

 Roezl, the famous explorer and plant col- 

 lector. Both were enthusiasts with re- 

 gard to plants, and they decided to com- 

 bine forces, Hoezl to collect, Sander to 

 receive and dispose of the collections. 

 Mr. Sander commenced business in a 

 modest way on George street, St. Albans, 

 principally as a seedsman, but Roezl's 

 consignments of orchids and other rare 

 plants became so important and so exten- 

 sive that in 1873 Mr. Sander built his 

 first greenhouse, almost entirely with his 

 own hands. This accommodation soon 

 proved too small, and in 1881 the present 



large nursery was established just out- 

 side the town of St. Albans. The busi- 

 ness aptitude of the man is shown in the 

 fact that at one time he employed no 

 fewer than twenty-three collectors, who 

 were busy in different parts of the 

 world. His importations became so large 

 that for several years he had orchid sales 

 in London on four days in the week. By 

 his introduction in quantity of Cattleya 

 labiata, Dendrobium Phalscnopsis, Cat- 

 tleya Schroederse and other orchids, Mr. 

 Sander did more than any other man to 

 popularize orchids and bring them within 

 the reach of those with modest means. 

 During the eighties he established an or- 

 chid nursery in the United States, at 

 Summit, N. J., and placed Mr. Forster- 

 man in charge. Later A. Dimmock be- 

 came manager, but as the nursery was so 

 far from the home center it was even- 

 tually disposed of to Lager & Hurrell, 

 who still conduct it as an orchid estab- 

 lishment. In 1894, Mr. Sander started a 

 new venture by establishing a nursery at 



Charles W .Crouch. 



St. Andre, just outside the gates of the 

 ancient city of Bruges. This rapidly 

 developed into a huge undertaking, with 

 over 100 greenhouses, some thirty of 

 which are devoted to orchids. Azaleas 

 and bay trees are grown in enormous 

 quantities at Bruges, as well as palms, 

 liliums and begonias. This establish- 

 ment passed into the hands of the enemy 

 during the war and was a constant 

 source of anxiety to its owner, who, 

 however, lived to see it freed again, and 

 to learn that his manager, M. Mellstrom, 

 was safe. During recent years Mr. 

 Sander, with his three sons, Fearnley, 

 Fred and Louis, whom he took into part- 

 nership in 1902, devoted much attention 

 to the raising of hybrid orchids, which 

 now forms the main feature of the firm 's 

 activities. 



Mr. Sander had been ill for the last 

 few years, following the first of a series 

 of operations which were performed to 

 extend his life. He had been of robust 

 health during the greater part of his life, 

 and even toward the end did he rallv 



and improve in health so much that 

 those in attendance thought he was on 

 the road to recovery. A sudden relapse, 

 from which he never rallied, brought the 

 end. His body was taken to England 

 and was buried at St. Albans, December 

 30. 



Robert M. Kemp. 



Every member of the Florists' Club of 

 Baltimore mourns the death of one of its 

 oldest and at one time most active mem- 

 bers, Robert M. Kemp. A peculiar coin- 

 cidence was that Mr. Kemp met his un- 

 timely death January 10, the night of the 

 club meeting, at which his absence was 

 noted, for, although infirm and quite 

 deaf, he had never missed a meeting. 

 It was his custom to sit as close to the 

 president's chair as possible and read 

 The Review all evening. Mr. Kemp was 

 74 years of age and was the last member 

 of his family, his only brother having 

 died shortly before Christmas. It was 

 to his brotiier that his club benefit cer- 

 tificate was made out, and he had ex- 

 pressed his intention to have it changed 

 at the last meeting. A gas stove in his 

 room had in some manner become discon- 

 nected, and when he was found, owing to 

 his weakened condition, he was uncon- 

 scious, and died on the way to the hos- 

 pital. 



About thirty years ago the Kemp 

 family were among the most prominent 

 florists in Baltimore. There is no mem- 

 l)er of the club that could be more sin- 

 cerely missed from his accustomed place 

 than "Uncle Bob." His funeral took 

 ])lace from the home of his niece, Mrs. 

 Deems, on North Bond street. The pall- 

 bearers, all members of the club, were 

 President Robert L. Graham, Jr., Will- 

 iam F. Ekas, John J. Perry, C. M. Wag- 

 ner, Edward Kress and James Glass. 

 There was a large attendance of florists 

 and many handsome funeral offerings 

 were sent. Tate. 



Mrs. R. Mauff. 



Mrs. R. Mauff, formerly widely 

 known as a pioneer florist of Denver, 

 Colo., died at Los .Vngeles, Cal., Tues- 

 day, January 11. Fifty years ago Mrs. 

 Mauff opened a greenhouse at 1225 

 Logan street, Denver, and remained in 

 charge of it until 1916, when she re- 

 moved to California. 



Mrs. Mauff was active in church and 

 civil affairs during her long residence 

 in Denver. Surviving her are four 

 daughters and one son, Albert Mauff, 

 well known florist of Denver. Relatives 

 at the latter place left January 11 for 

 Los Angeles, where the burial took 

 place. R. E. H. 



Frank R. Steinbach. 



Frank R. Steinbach died suddenly at 

 his home in Henrico county, near Rich- 

 mond, Va., Wednesday, January 12, at 

 7:00 a. m. Death was due to heart 

 failure. Mr. Steinbach was well known 

 to the trade generally, being a frequent 

 attendant at the conventions of the 

 Society of American Florists, and was 

 for one term vice-president for the 

 state of Virginia. 



Mr. Steinbach was 42 years of age 

 and is survived by liis wife and sister. 

 The funeral services were held Sunday 

 afternoon, January 16, and were at- 

 tended by numbers of friends and 

 members of the trade. There were 

 many beautiful floral offerings. His 

 sunny disposition and hospitable man- 

 ner will be missed by many friends in 

 the trade at large. 



