San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HERMAN O. KRUSCHKE
Those who have watched the career of
Herman O. Krushke have noted the steady progress that
he has made through the years of his life, which has brought him, deserved
success. He was born at Canastota,
McCook County, South Dakota, on March 26, 1891 a son of Julius H. and Anna (Zofft) Kruschke, both natives of
Germany, the father coming to America when about eleven years of age, and the
mother when merely a little girl. Both
families pioneered in South Dakota. The
father, a successful farmer, passed away at Canastota from influenza in 1919,
while the mother now resides in Tracy, California.
The education of Mr. Kruschke began
in the public schools of his native city, and in 1908 he was graduated from
high school; then entered the University of South Dakota and in the law
department, planning to take up corporation law and its attendant
branches. During summer vacations, he
found employment as a clerk and in the summer of 1910 he was made assistant
cashier of the Canastota Bank. During
the winter of that same year, while attending college, he was taken seriously
ill and suffered from ill health many months.
Seeking a milder climate in search of health, he came to Porterville,
California, and so improved in health that he traveled throughout the state,
and finally entered a bank at Orange, California, where he remained for three
years. He then returned to South Dakota
and decided to go into business rather than finish his college course, and
purchased the First National Bank at Springfield, South Dakota, becoming the
cashier. Later he disposed of this interest,
and organized the National Bank at Wentworth, but owing to the delay in
granting the charter, he concluded to dispose of his interests. This he did and entered the grain and stock
business five miles southeast of the city of Redfield, South Dakota, which
proved a successful venture. In 1917 he
disposed of his interests in South Dakota and removed to California, and during
the same year to Tracy, where he entered the Pioneer Bank as assistant cashier,
remaining in that position until late in 1919, when he left to go into business
for himself. It was with reluctance that
the president of this institution released Mr. Kurschke
from his staff, as he had become a valuable asset to the bank. He then established a real estate and
insurance business, besides loaning money for building purposes, and success
has come to him through his upright methods of dealing with his customers.
On September 14, 1914 Mr. Kruschke
was married to Miss Hildegard Breihan, a graduate
registered nurse, and daughter of Rev. and Mrs. A. F. Breihan
of Almond, Wisconsin, and they are the parents of three children: Thelma, Ardell and
Loris. In politics he is a staunch
Republican. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kruschke
are active members of the Tracy Lutheran Church, and it was through the
persistent efforts of Mr. Kruschke that the church was organized. Mr. Kruschke is vice-president of the local
Chamber of Commerce; he owns forty acres of rich land now being planted to
alfalfa; also owns his residence and several desirable pieces of property in
Tracy.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1373-1374. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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