OTTO GNERICH, TREASURER OF WESTERN, DIES Official of Cartridge Company Succumbs At Hospital Madison County, IL ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** File Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Linda Garrett USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. Unauthorized use for commercial ventures expressly prohibited. All information submitted to this project remains - to the extent the law allows - the property of the submitter who, by submitting it, agrees that it may be freely copied but NEVER sold or used in a commercial venture without the knowledge & permission of its rightful owner. 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Gnerich of 1420 Henry street, treasurer of Western Cartridge Co., and a prominent figure in the industrial and banking life of the community, died at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in St. Joseph's hospital at the age of 55 years. He had been stricken Wednesday afternoon as he drove home from the Western Cartridge co. office in East Alton, a thrombus having developed as the culmination of a heart ailment that had troubled him for two years. Thursday afternoon he had lost consciousness and his condition recognized from the start as having grave possibilities, rapidly progressed to stage where hope for his recovery had to be abandoned. An outstanding business executive, Mr. Gnerich was further recognized for unusual abilities in the field of finance. In addition to his position with Western Cartridge Co., he was vice president of the Illinois State Bank of East Alton, president of the Stoneware Pipe Co. of East Alton, and president of the Alton Germania Building & Loan Association, and had a prominent part in Boy Scout work and had been interested in the Y.M.C.A. Funeral services have been set for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. from the family residence to Grandview mausoleum in city cemetery. The Rev. J.M. Warner, pastor of first Baptist Church, will conduct the services. Native of Germany Mr. Gnerich's residence in Alton and also his connection with Western Cartridge Co. extended over a period of 30 years. A native of Germany, born May 17 at Konstanz, Baden, he had been educated with special training for commercial life in his college courses. Following graduation he spent six years in commercial life during which he had resided in Belgium, France, Switzerland, and England. During this period, he had perfected himself in French and English, which he studied in college as a part of his preparation for business life. Then in 1904, when 25 years of age, he came to this country, locating in St. Louis. It was after a year in the Missouri metropolis that he came to Alton and began his connection with Western Cartridge Co. During his residence here since 1905, he made firm friendships, and intimates and friends alike held him in high regard for an innate kindliness, unfailing courtesy, and geniality which entered into his personal relationships. His judgment in commercial and financial matters likewise came to be held in high respect, and his abilities in these fields were reflected in the organizations to which he gave his services. For may years, Mr. Gnerich had been a member of Alton lodge of elks. His chief interests centered in his business connections and in his home. Began as Clerk With Western Cartridge Co. his rise to executive activity was rapid, built on a firm foundation of early training which supplemented a keen mind for the commercial side of industrial activity. His initial connection with the cartridge company was a clerkship. By 1917 he had become treasurer of the company, the importance of his position expanding with the great growth of that company during and following the World War. Surviving Mr. Gnerich are his widow, Mrs. Helen Gnerich; a son, Ernst, who is a student in the Michigan university law school at Ann Arbor; and three daughter, Mrs. Jack Bos of Holland, Mich., Miss Margaret Gnerich, a student in MacMurray college, Jacksonville, Ill., and Miss Roberta Gnerich, a student at Alton High school. He also leaves two brothers, Walter Gnerich of San Francisco, and Richard of Milwaukee; and three sisters, Misses Anna and Johanna Gnerich of St. Louis, and Mrs. Margaret Syferth of Hamburg, Germany. The son and daughter in college had been called home by Mr. Gnerich's critical condition, but his daughter, Mrs. Frieda Bos, was unable to make the trip to Alton because she had submitted last Monday to an operation for relief from appendicitis. While she had been making good progress, members of the family here were concerned over possible effects of the shock which news of her father's death would give her. The Illinois State Bank at East Alton, of which Gnerich was vice-president, is scheduled to close at 12:30 Tuesday noon and to remain closed for the afternoon because of the funeral. Carl W. Beall, exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge, has asked members of the lodge to meet Tuesday at 2 p.m., at the lodge rooms to attend the funeral in a body. Linda Garrett