18 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



June 20, 1912. 



OBITUARY. 



Joseph Labo. 



Joseph Labo, a leader among the Ger- 

 man-Americans of Joliet, 111., well-to-do 

 florist, and active participant in the 

 work of St. John's German Catholic 

 churc^ and several fraternal societies, 

 died suddenly June 15, of ceretral hem- 

 orrhage. He had gone out to his green- 

 houses as usual at an early hour. When 

 he returned to the house for breakfast, 

 at 7:30, he fell and did not regain con- 

 sciousness before his death, three hours 

 later. 



Mr. Labo leaves a wife and four chil- 

 dren. Mrs. Labo was prostrated by the 

 shock. It is said by friends that the 

 tragic death a year ago of a little son 

 was a contributory cause of his death, 

 for since that time he had never been 

 entirely well. 



Mir. Labo was 43 years old last month 

 and had lived in Joliet since 1896. 

 Aside from his work as a florist, to which 

 he gave his whole enthusiasm and 

 capacity for effort, he was well known 

 throughout the city for his vocal and 

 histrionic talents. His personal popu- 

 larity made him a welcome member in 

 the fraternal orders to which he belonged. 



Joseph Labo came to this country from 

 his birthplace in Germany, in 1891, stop- 

 ping first at Eoehester, N. Y., thence 

 going to Chicago, where he was given a 

 position as gardener on the Lincoln park 

 force. A year later he was engaged as 

 one of the florists in charge of the 

 exhibits and grounds of the World's 

 Columbian Exposition. Upon the clos- 

 ing of the fair he went to Joliet as head 

 gardener of the state penitentiary. In 

 1896 he returned to his home to be mar- 

 ried and came back the same year with 

 his bride. He then went into business 

 independently, building the first of his 

 greenhouses the next year. In the fifteen 

 years that have passed since then his 

 business grew rapidly until it comprised 

 eight large greerJiouses and a downtown 

 store. ^ 



The funeral was held June 17 and was 

 largely attended, all the local florists be- 

 ing present, with several from Chicago. 

 There were many flowers. 



William Melcher. 



William Melcher, a retired florist of 

 Eockf ord. 111., died June 6 at the Hodge 

 sanitarium, in that city. Although 

 stricken with apoplexy in February, on 

 his seventy-fifth birthday, he was able 

 to be out of doors the day before hia 

 death. His death is attributed to a 

 second stroke while he was asleep. He 

 was born in Germany, February 8, 1837, 

 but had lived practically all his life 

 in America, being brought to this coun- 

 try by his parents when he was a child. 

 The home was in Chicago a short time 

 before settling at Eockford. 



Mr. Melcher was the oldest florist in 

 Eockford. He began business in the 

 900 block in Eockton avenue, then 

 moved to the corner south of Court 

 street, and later to Church street, where 

 he built greenhouses. The place is now 

 owned by J. J. Soper. Mr. Melcher 

 retired a score of years ago. He was 

 married July 4, 1864, to Ada A. Hill, 

 who died in November, 1906. There 

 are three children — Mrs. C. Albin Nel- 

 son, 1020 North Main street, Eockford; 

 L. L. Melcher, of Denver, Colo., and 

 Clyde W. Melcher, of Sioux City, la. 

 J. J. Melcher, of Sparta, Wis., is a 

 brother. 



William Boethke. 



William Eoethke, president and 

 founder of the William Eoethke Floral 

 Co., of Saginaw, Mich., and one of 

 the best known florists of the state, 

 died at his home, 1717 Gratiot avenue, 

 Saginaw, on Sunday morning, June 9. 

 His illness had been critical for only 

 a few days, though it had been sev- 

 eral weeks since a .chronic trouble 

 from which he suffered assumed an 

 aggravated form. It resulted in hem- 

 orrhages, for the relief of which sur- 

 gical treatment was resorted to. For 

 the first ten days after the operation 

 progress was favorable, but after that 

 time the vital force ebbed slowly. His 

 death was peaceful and painless. 



The passing of William Eoethke re- 

 moves from life a typical Prussian gen- 

 tleman and ends a life distinguished 

 by independence, industry, courtesy and 

 in later years financial success. Though 

 he passed his eightieth birthday last 

 February, he was never out of touch 

 with the ambitions and hopes and plans 

 of younger men. 



He was born in Muero, Province of 

 Brandenburg, Prussia, February 13, 

 1832. He was the seventh son of 

 Carl Ludwig Eoethke, a teacher in 

 Muero for more than fifty years. In 

 early life he learned the saddlers' 

 trade, serving an apprenticeship of 

 three years. He found it distasteful, 

 and served a three and one-half years' 

 apprenticeship as florist. Then he en- 

 tered the military service, in which he 

 remained four and one-half years, tak- 

 ing part in the wars of 1864 and 1866. 

 He might have advanced to military 

 preferment, and his record as a sol- 

 dier was without a single mar, but he 

 returned to his work as florist and 

 for some years was forester on the 

 estate of the Count of Arnim. The 

 Countess of Arnim was Malvina Von 

 Bismarck, sister of the chancellor. 



It was while in this employ that he 

 married Bertha Tabbert. The wedding 

 was solemnized on the estate, October 

 20, 1861. The day was made a holiday 

 and the bride was the recipient of 

 many wedding gifts, some of which 

 still remain m the Eoethke family. 

 The family Bible, whose records were 

 consulted to get some of the dates 

 quoted, was the wedding gift of Mal- 

 vina Von Bismarck. 



After the marriage some years of 

 reasonable prosperity were enjoyed and 

 then financial reverses stripped Mr. 

 Eoethke of his accumulation, and in 

 1873 he and his family came to Amer- 

 ica and directly to Saginaw. Within 

 six months after arriving there he es- 

 tablished in a primitive way the busi- 

 ness that has developed into the busi- 

 ness of the William Eoethke Floral 

 Co., which is today one of the largest 

 in its line in the state. Mrs. Eoethke 

 shared in the hardships and the toil 

 of developing the business and lived to 

 see it reach large proportions. She 

 died May 7, 1909. Some ten years ago 

 Mr. and Mrs. Eoethke visited Germany 

 and on their return Mr. Eoethke was 

 more enthusiastic than ever over the 

 freedom and independence that Ameri- 

 can citizenship afforded. His sympa- 

 thies were with American ideas. He 

 became estranged from the Lutheran 

 church because of his love of the pub- 

 lic school system. His life was spent 

 with his family and his business. He 

 belonged to no societies. In politics 

 he was a Eepublican, but he never 

 sought office. . 



He is survived by three sons and 

 two daughters, Emil Eoethke, Charles 

 L. Eoethke and Otto Eoethke, Mrs. 

 Henry Beisterfield and Mrs. Gustave 

 Granse, all of Saginaw. His eldest 

 brother, the late Carl Eoethke, died in 

 Eichland a little more than a year ago 

 at the age of 96. One brother in Ger- 

 many ia supposed to be liviag, althougi, 

 Mr. Eoethke had not heard from hiju 

 in a long time. 



James J. Harrison. 



In the death of James J. Harrison 

 president of the Storrs & Harrison 

 Co., Painesville, O., which occurred at 

 his winter home at Eustis, Fla., Tuesday 

 morning, June 11, the trade has lost one 

 of its most widely known and most re- 

 spected members. 



Mr. Harrison was born August 20 

 1829, in Kent county, England, and was 

 therefore approaching his eighty-third 

 year. At the age of 2 years he came 

 to Painesville with his parents and, 

 after having the usual schooling in his 

 home town, he was graduated from a 

 Cleveland business college and later 

 from Hiram. His association with the 

 nursery business began when he made 

 frequent grafting trips to Georgia and 

 Arkansas during the early fifties. Later 

 he was engaged in the fruit business in 

 Milwaukee, Wis., and in 1856 he started 

 a nursery in a small way on the present 

 Carroll place, on Mentor avenue, Paines- 

 ville, known years afterward as the 

 Jayne & Cole nurseries. 



In 1858 he entered partnership with 

 Jesse Storrs, of the South Eidge, who 

 at that time had only four or five acres 

 devoted to the business which has since 

 grown to huge proportions under the 

 management of the Storrs & Harrison 

 Co., with over 1,000 acres under culti- 

 vation. 



Mr. Harrison was the first president 

 of the Storrs & Harrison Co., and held 

 the office at the time of his death. Up 

 to last June he had charge of the ad- 

 vertising of the company and only gave 

 up active identification with this branch 

 of the business when failing health 

 compelled him to relinquish the reins 

 to his subordinates. It was in 1890 

 that he really retired from active serv- 

 ice. At this time he suffered from a 

 nervous breakdown and rheumatism. In 

 search of health he visited after that 

 time sixteen springs and sanitariums. 



Mr. Harrison was a charter member 

 of the American Association of Nurs- 

 erymen. He was a member of the exec- 

 utive committee of the association in 

 1876, the year of its organization, and 

 was first vice-president the following 

 year. He was one of the recognized 

 authorities in the nursery business in 

 the United States and his influence 

 reached to foreign countries. For the 

 last nine years he had spent six months 

 of the year in his winter home, where 

 he died, with his two surviving children, 

 Miss Alice A., and Willard C. Harrison, 

 at his bedside. Mrs. Harrison passed 

 away August 17, 1899. Only two chil- 

 dren remain, of six born to the couple- 

 George Kuehn. 



George Kuehn, for fourteen years 

 head of the wire work department of 

 the Holton & Hunkel Co., Milwaukee, 

 died suddenly early Thursday morning) 

 June 13. Although he had been a suf- 

 ferer from rheumatism and heart trou- 

 ble for some time, he was active up t" 



