Bio of DECKERT, Oscar E., Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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O. E. DECKERT (Oscar E. Deckert) - Vol III, pg 408-411
Not content with conducting his lumber business according to the customary
methods, accepting his share in the profits and the losses in the marketing of
that highly fluctuating commodity, O. E. Deckert, a lumber merchant of
Minneapolis, has initiated a movement to stabilize the business in which he is
engaged. After years of careful study of cause and effect in the rise and fall
of the lumber market, he has worked out a plan for fair profits, called the
"Minneapolis idea," that is attracting a great deal of attention throughout the
trade circles of this country and in Canada. The purpose of the plan is to
recognize the methods of supplying the lumber market so as to give the dealers a
reasonable guarantee of a just profit and at the same time furnish the consumer
his supplies at a much lower figure than is now possible. This scheme also looks
forward to maintaining a generally equal level of prices, so that the contractor
can make accurate estimates on his bids. Anyone familiar with the wasteful
methods of marketing now in vogue in most of the industries in this country will
at once grasp the significance of Mr. Deckert's work and at the same time
understand the magnitude of the problem for which he is offering a solution.
The man who has so courageously attacked this economic riddle is the son of Adam
D. and Louise (Hahn) Deckert. His father, who died January 19, 1923, at the age
of eighty-six, was born in Alsace, the child of French parents. O. E. Deckert
was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and when he was quite young his parents moved
to Iowa, where he spent his boyhood days and acquired his education in the
public schools of Dubuque. After leaving school he learned the trade of
stairbuilding, which he followed for seven and a half years. As the result of
the thorough knowledge of woods and woodworking that he gained in following this
occupation, he was able to secure a position as a traveling salesman for a sash
and door company, which he held for five years and a half. In 1903 he moved to
Minneapolis, where he established himself in the lumber business. His offices
and yards are now located at the corner of Fifth street and Tenth avenue, North.
It was through his experience as a salesman for a lumber products firm and the
operation of his own business that he became convinced of the necessity of a
reorganization of the lumber marketing system. Into the administration of his
private business Mr. Deckert has taken the same spirit of initiative and
enterprise that he has manifested in regard to the national problems of the
trade. He is ever on the alert to better his methods in the office and in the
yard, and is regarded as one of the most progressive business men of the city.
Mr. Deckert married Miss Marguerite Matie Gasser. He is a Scottish Rite Mason,
having obtained the thirty-second degree; a member of Khurum Lodge, A. F. & A.
M.; the Minneapolis Consistory and Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and is
also affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In the club life
of the city
he is also prominent, belonging to Minneapolis Athletic, Old Colony, Automobile,
Sports­man's, Kitchen-Oden and Bowling clubs. As a business man and a resident
of Minne­apolis he has a deep interest in the development of this growing
metropolis and is a helpful member of the associations devoted to the promotion
of her civic and commercial welfare, including the Civic & Commerce Association,
the Builders' Exchange and the Minneapolis Business Association, of which he has
been the president for three years.