JOHN W. TORRISON

John Torrison, Specialty Board Chairman, Dies
Former President of Aluminum Firm Ill Two Months
John W. Torrison, chairman of the board of Aluminum Specialty Co., died late
Wednesday evening at home, 709 St. Clair St.
Mr. Torrison, 58, had been ill two months.
Mr. Torrison had been president of the aluminum firm from 1951, following the
death of Walter E. Spindler, then president and who had taken over control of
the industry in 1914, and was elected chairman of the board in mid-May of 1965.
He joined Specialty as assistant secretary and treasurer Aug. 1, 1940. In 1942,
he was named vice president and executive vice president in 1945.
A native of Manitowoc, he was born April 13, 1908, son of the late Aaron Torrison
and Agnes Dreng Torrison.
Worked as Teller
Mr. Torrison attended preparatory school and college at Luther College, Decorah,
Iowa, and Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. A son, John S., is the third
generation of Torrisons at Luther College. His grandfather, Aaron, also went
there.
During the depression period Mr. Torrison worked as a teller at the old State Bank
of Chicago, in the clearinghouse of the then National Bank of the Republic and in
the trust department of the old Central Trust Co.
After two years as deputy collector of internal revenue in Chicago, Torrison became
a salesman in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa for Prentice-Hall Publishing Co.
He married Mary Spindler in 1938 and the couple lived for two years at Mason City,
Iowa, before coming to Manitowoc.
Patron of Fine Arts
Mr. Torrison was a patron of fine arts. He initiated the Aluminum Specialty Annual
Purchase Award in 1962. A self-styled bibliomaniac. Mr. Torrison liked to acquire
books, sometimes more rapidly than he was able to read them, and his interest in
Sherlock Holmes led to his becoming a member of…
Turn to Page 2-M, Col. 4) Torrison Dies (Continued from Page 1)…
the Baker Street Irregulars, a club of loyal Holmes fans.
Mr. Torrison was a member of the board of regents of Luther College, of the board of
directors of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce, a director of Wisconsin Citizens Public
Expenditure Survey, the advisory board of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, Mass.,
a director of Northeast Wisconsin Industrial Assn, Lapcor Plastics Inc., and Branch
River Country Club. When he served as president of Branch River Country Club the
members built the clubhouse in 1956.
He was also a member of Manitowoc Elks Lodge No. 687 and the Manitowoc Chamber of
Commerce. He was listed in Who’s Who in Business, a national directory.
Services Saturday
Mr. Torrison is survived by his wife, two sons, John S., of Decorah and William R.,
with the U.S. Air Force at March Air Force Base, Calif., a daughter, Mrs. Ben Chaos,
of Tucson, Ariz., his mother, Mrs. Agnes Torrison, of Manitowoc, a brother, Orrin
Torrison, of Silver Bay, Minn., a sister, Mrs. Inglof Turmo, of Wauwatosa and a
grandchild.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Lutheran Church. The Rev. Vernon
Anderson will officiate and burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery.
Friends may call at Mittnacht Funeral Home from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday where Lutheran Men
of First Lutheran Church will have a memorial service at 9 p.m. The casket will be
closed.
Memorials may be made to American Cancer society, First Lutheran Church, or Memorial
Hospital.
Manitowoc Herald Times, October 27, 1966, pp. 1, 12
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[bur. on Mrs. Martha Spindler lot]