Los Angeles
County
Biographies
ANTONE KUETTEL
The
owner of the Alhambra Shade and Linoleum Company since 1945, Antone Kuettel was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and came to this country with his
parents at the age of nine. He was born
on July 25, 1900, the son of Oscar D. and Josephine M. (Kalin)
Kuettel. His
father, a railroader, was from a long line of Swiss Alp climbers. “Tony” Kuettel
received his early education at Schubelbach,
Switzerland, and then attended grade schools in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After arriving in the United States, the Kuettel family lived on a farm near Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
until 1915, and then moved to Ladysmith in the same state. Mr. Kuettel joined
the United States Navy at the age of seventeen during World War I, serving as a
fireman from June, 1918, to October, 1919.
As
a young man Mr. Kuettel worked in pulp and paper
mills in Wisconsin for ten years; he then became a salesman for the Singer
Sewing Machine Company from 1928 to 1934, living in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where
he remained until moving to California.
In 1934 Mr. Kuettel joined the staff of agents
for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York, and was the top
salesman on the staff for ten years.
However, in 1945 California beckoned, and Mr. Kuettel
came west and purchased the Alhambra Shade and Linoleum Company which had been
established in 1925 by Bert Hammond.
In
La Crosse, Wisconsin, Mr. Kuettel was the chancellor
commander of the Knights of Pythias, and belonged to the American Legion and
the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce. He
was a charter member from 1938 to 1944 of the International Union of Life
Insurance Agents, of which he is also a past president. Since coming to Alhambra, Mr. Kuettel has become a member of the Alhambra Chamber of
Commerce, the Elks Lodge Number 1328, and the Lions Club of Alhambra. His religious affiliation is with the First
Methodist Church of Alhambra. Mr. Kuettel has been a life-long member of the Republican
Party.
On
September 28, 1922, Antone Kuettel
and the former Miss Frances W. Stanger were married in Algona, Iowa. Mrs. Kuettel has
assisted her husband in their business since its beginning; she is also a
talented artist and musician. The Kuettel’s have a large Hammond organ at their home which
Mrs. Kuettel plays for their own enjoyment; she has
studied music with Orville Foster, and Hildegard Sill of Chicago. Studying painting for the past ten years with
such leading artists in the area as Sam Hyde Harris and Marian Zimmerman, Mrs. Kuettel prefers to do oils of landscapes and still
life. A member of the South Pasadena
Women’s Club, Mrs. Kuettel has won state awards for
her paintings, including first prize in 1958. Her prize-winning painting
captured the California Federation of Women’s Clubs sweepstakes award for the
furtherance of art for the South Pasadena Women’s Club. Mrs. Kuettel is
also interested in ceramics and has done some work in that field.
Mr.
and Mrs. Kuettel are the parents of twin sons, Warren
Lee Kuettel, who resides in Beverly Hills, is married
to the former Geraldine Anthony Lee, a direct descendant of Susan B.
Anthony. They are the parents of a
daughter, Maiya Hazel, who was born on October 23,
1957. Dr. Wayne Kuettel
is an optometrist in Covina and is married to the former Nadine Hagerty of
Minneapolis. He is the father of three
sons, Kevin Dean, who was born on December 24, 1957; Steven Wayne, born on
November 27, 1951; and David Lee, whose birth date is October 27, 1950.
Antone Kuettel is an avid reader
and also enjoys deep sea fishing and golfing for diversion.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 626-627, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES