San Joaquin County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



HERMAN O. KRUSCHKE.
 
        Those who have watched the career of Herman O. Kruschke 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 Co., S. D., 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, Cal.
        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 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, Cal., and so improved in health 
that he traveled throughout the state, and finally entered a bank at Orange, 
Cal., 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, S. D., 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, S. D., which proved a successful venture. In 
1917 he disposed of his interests in South Dakota and removed to California, and 
during the same year came 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. Kruschke 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, Wis., and they are the parents of three children: Thelma, 
Ardell, and Loris. In politics he is a stanch 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.
 
History of San Joaquin County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 
1923
p    1373      
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.