*H^'fW.W|i^-.»iPfl-^"-^,iP*'-iJtf^«n^v^^.T^T''" 'J^ ;T^t"^^,'^'^^"^ ■* J*Ti-., '^ -• T-" .■^' ' ■'■•-•'■%-"" vi-B".-;«;"7:'rF.T''-.''' 



May 16, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



33 



OBITUARY. 



J. F. WUcox. 



After a determined fight of ten days, 

 during the greater part of which time 

 his life hung in the balance, John 

 Franklin Wilcox, head of J, F. Wil- 

 cox & Sons, Council Bluffs, la., died of 

 pneumonia at 3:40 p. m. Mafy 10. Al- 

 most to the end the inimitable courage 

 of the man was in eviiiAnce, and he was 

 sustained to a great degree by his 

 strong vitality. May 1 Mr. Wilcox spent 

 a portion of the day at his new plant 

 near Manawa, where his company is 

 erecting the two largest greenhouses 

 west of Philadelphia, and in his usual 

 energetic manner directed the work 

 and helped here and there himself. Still 

 perspiring from his efforts, Mr. Wilcox 

 drove to his home in his automobile 

 and on the trip contracted a severe cold. 

 In spite of the physicians' efforts, pneu- 

 monia set in. 



Mr. Wilcox was 48 years, 3 months 

 and 8 days of age. Energetic to a great 

 degree, extremely optimistic and far- 

 seeing in business affairs, Mr. Wilcox 

 was the typical self-made man. Start- 

 ing as a poor boy, with nothing but 

 energy and ambition as his stock in 

 trade, he became one of the foremost 

 men in his line in America, and his 

 estate is estimated at a half million 

 dollars. 



John Franklin Wilcox was born in 

 Grant county, Wisconsin, February 3, 

 1864, and at an early age removed to 

 Wahoo, Neb., with his parents. He re- 

 moved to Council Bluffs in 1880 and 

 secured employment with L. A. Casper, 

 who was then operating the florists' 

 business which later was taken over by 

 Mr. Wilcox. At the start his wages 

 were only $16 per month, but Mr. Cas- 

 -per was pleased with him from the 

 start and he was made foreman before 

 he reached the age of 21. About that 

 time Mr. Casper bought another green- 

 house plant and Mr. Wilcox was taken 

 in as a partner. At that time he had 

 managed to save $200, the balance of 

 his earnings going regularly to his par- 

 ents. Shortly thereafter, August 20, 

 1885, he married Miss Young, who was 

 a niece of Mrs. Casper. 



In the course of four years Mr. Wil- 

 cox had paid his half of the No. 2 plant, 

 which was valued at $24,000. He then 

 bought the other half from Mr. Gaiper, 

 paying $9,000 on it in two years. Next 

 he bought the home place of Mr. Casper, 

 on East Pierce street, which is now the 

 main greenhouse of the company. This 

 cost him $32,000. It was a small place 

 at the time, compared with its extent 

 today, and his notes were taken for the 

 amount of the purchase price without 

 security. From that time Mr. Wilcox 

 added steadily to his business until it 

 attained its present proportions, the 

 largest west of Chicago. 



Mr. Wilcox was a member of the 

 S. A. F., the Carnation Society, the 

 Omaha Florists ' Club and several other 

 trade organizations. He also was a 

 member of the Council Bluffs Commer- 

 cial Club, the Elks, the Eagles, and was 

 a Mason. 



He is survived by his widow and five 

 sons. The oldest son, Eoy, is married, 

 the others residing at home. The sons 

 are Roy Franklin Wilcox, aged 25; 

 Blaine Casper Wilcox, aged 20; Glen 

 Max Wilcox, aged 16; John Franklin 

 Wilcox, Jr., aged 9, and Donald Howard 

 Wilcox, aged 6. His daughter, Ina, 



John F. Vilcoz. 



died in May, 1902. Two sons are dead. 



The funeral, held May 12, was the 

 largest ever seen in Council Bluffs; 5,000 

 people in sorrow viewed the remains 

 and 1,500 accompanied them to the cem- 

 etery. The Omaha florists were present 

 in a body and there were many from 

 other points. The display of flowers 

 was an evidence of the high esteem in 

 which he was held. The following pieces 

 were noted from those in the trade: 



Large cross of Richmond roses with 

 base of Easter lilies and chain of lily 

 of the valley, from the employees of 

 J. F. Wilcox & Sons; wreath of Mexi- 

 can ivy and spray of lilies, from C. M. 

 Dickinson and employees of E. H. Hunt, 

 Chicago; wreath of magnolia and lilies 

 from Miss Bennison, of Sioux City, la.; 

 wreath of rhododendrons from Ernst 

 Wienhoeber, daughter and William, Chi- 

 cago; spray of lilies from T. E. Waters, 

 Chicago; wreath of Mrs. Ward roses 

 from J. B. Deamud, Chicago; spray of 

 white roses from J. C. Vaughan and C. 

 Cropp, Chicago; wreath of valley and 

 orchids from Mrs. L. J. Stuppy and sons, 

 St. Joseph, Mo.; crescent wreath of gla- 

 dioli and assorted flowers from Miss 

 H. B. Whitted and Mr. and Mrs. J. G. 

 Taylor, Minneapolis; large spray of Bul- 

 garie roses from Poehlmann Bros. Co., 

 Chicago; large spray of Beauties from 

 Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Washburn and 

 Charles L. Washburn, Chicago. A great 

 number of designs came from the dif- 

 ferent florists of Omaha, and a standing 

 wreath of carnations from the Omaha 

 norists' Club; wreath of sweet peas 

 and magnolia from Mr. and Mrs. tfohn 

 Bath; wreath of gladioli from Mr. and 

 Mrs. J. J. Hess and Mr. and Mrs. Swo- 

 boda; spray of Beauties from Mr. and 

 Mrs. George Suris, and another spray 

 of Beauties from Mr. and Mrs. L. M. 

 Hovatazas; large spray of lilacs from 

 Miss Beba McNamara. 



David Freudenthal. 



David Freudenthal, 67 years old, the 

 florist at 1100 Grand avenue, Kansas 

 City, Mo., died May 8 at St. Mary 's hos- 

 pital, where he was taken a week before. 

 He lived with his daughter, Mrs. Fan- 

 nie Loesch, but had one son, Charles. 

 Mr. Freudenthal was born in Germany. 

 He came to Kansas City twenty-seven 

 years ago and had spent his entire life- 

 time in the florists^ business. 



William F. Wagner. 



William F. Wagner, a florist of 

 Cooperstown, N. Y., died early Monday 

 morning, April 29, after an illness of 

 several months. The funeral was con- 

 ducted by the local lodge, F. and A. M., 

 from his home on Main street. He 

 was 57 years of age, was born in the 

 city of Utica, and was twice married. 

 About fifteen years ago he removed to 

 Cooperstown, where he had since con- 

 ducted greenhouses. 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



There are few growers or retailers 

 who can complain of the business done 

 of late. The continued cool and cloudy 

 weather has somewhat restricted the 

 output, and clearances at the wholesale 

 markets each day have been quite satis- 

 factory. Mothers' day was more kept 

 here than ever before, and growers we.re 

 heard to remark that they wished such 

 days would come more frequently. Car- 

 nations, particularly white, enjoyed a 

 veritable boom, making $6 to $8 per 

 hundred. Colored, however, did not 

 reach more than half these prices. Other 

 flowers did not participate in the ad- 

 vance in prices. The call for pink roses 

 was better than for white. Both car- 

 nations and roses continue of good qnal- 



