MARTIN W. KRAEGEL SR., 92, passed away peacefully on the morning of Thursday, March 11, 2010, at Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home on Homestead Road, Fort Wayne.
Born Oct. 31, 1917, in Lansing, Ill., he received his grade school education from his father who taught for 50 years in a one-room school house affiliated with Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansing. He graduated from Thornton Fractional South High School as Valedictorian in 1935. He began his career with American Steel Foundries in 1936, joining a work/study program that allowed him to earn money and attend school at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society, recognizing his distinguished scholarship and exemplary leadership. He was also a member of Pi Tau Sigma, an international mechanical engineering honor society. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He started professionally as a draftsman at the Hammond facility of American Steel Foundries, ascended to the position of chief engineer and eventually became the plant manager there. American Steel Foundries is the country's largest producer of steel castings, and the Hammond plant at the time was heavily focused on manufacturing parts for the railroad industry. He was later promoted to vice president of manufacturing, working out of the Prudential building in Chicago. In 1950, he received a Sloan Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moving his family temporarily to Boston and receiving his Master of Science in business in 1952. He was ever active in civic affairs, particularly in Munster, Ind., where among other activities he served as school board president for 12 years. His passion for public education led him to retire early from American Steel Foundries and join the Birmingham, Michigan, school corporation as deputy superin-tendant for schools in 1974. He worked there for seven years before retiring again and moving to Fort Wayne. There he was active in SCORE, an organization whose members are retired executives offering free assistance to small business owners. "He was known for his leadership, his desire to serve others as evidenced by his active participation in numerous community and church activities; his relentless pursuit of knowledge, a passion learned at the knee of his father; his ability to listen actively; his love for his wife and family and his many struggles on the golf course."
He is survived by his beloved his devoted wife of 67 years, Bettye; son, Martin Kraegel Jr.; daughter, Pam (Frank) Houk; brothers, Wilfred of Milwaukee, Wis. and Armin of Atlantic Beach, Fla.; and grandchildren, Martin III, Christian, Justin, Sumner, Chance, and Erin (Houk) Juricak. He was preceded death by two sons, Kevin and Robert Alan.
Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Monday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 4500 Fairfield Avenue, Fort Wayne, with calling 1/2 hour prior to Mass. A memorial offering may be made to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home, 5910 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46814. Arrangements by Klaehn Fahl & Melton Funeral Home, Winchester Road, 6424 Winchester Road.
Born Oct. 31, 1917, in Lansing, Ill., he received his grade school education from his father who taught for 50 years in a one-room school house affiliated with Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansing. He graduated from Thornton Fractional South High School as Valedictorian in 1935. He began his career with American Steel Foundries in 1936, joining a work/study program that allowed him to earn money and attend school at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society, recognizing his distinguished scholarship and exemplary leadership. He was also a member of Pi Tau Sigma, an international mechanical engineering honor society. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He started professionally as a draftsman at the Hammond facility of American Steel Foundries, ascended to the position of chief engineer and eventually became the plant manager there. American Steel Foundries is the country's largest producer of steel castings, and the Hammond plant at the time was heavily focused on manufacturing parts for the railroad industry. He was later promoted to vice president of manufacturing, working out of the Prudential building in Chicago. In 1950, he received a Sloan Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moving his family temporarily to Boston and receiving his Master of Science in business in 1952. He was ever active in civic affairs, particularly in Munster, Ind., where among other activities he served as school board president for 12 years. His passion for public education led him to retire early from American Steel Foundries and join the Birmingham, Michigan, school corporation as deputy superin-tendant for schools in 1974. He worked there for seven years before retiring again and moving to Fort Wayne. There he was active in SCORE, an organization whose members are retired executives offering free assistance to small business owners. "He was known for his leadership, his desire to serve others as evidenced by his active participation in numerous community and church activities; his relentless pursuit of knowledge, a passion learned at the knee of his father; his ability to listen actively; his love for his wife and family and his many struggles on the golf course."
He is survived by his beloved his devoted wife of 67 years, Bettye; son, Martin Kraegel Jr.; daughter, Pam (Frank) Houk; brothers, Wilfred of Milwaukee, Wis. and Armin of Atlantic Beach, Fla.; and grandchildren, Martin III, Christian, Justin, Sumner, Chance, and Erin (Houk) Juricak. He was preceded death by two sons, Kevin and Robert Alan.
Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Monday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 4500 Fairfield Avenue, Fort Wayne, with calling 1/2 hour prior to Mass. A memorial offering may be made to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home, 5910 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46814. Arrangements by Klaehn Fahl & Melton Funeral Home, Winchester Road, 6424 Winchester Road.
MARTIN W. KRAEGEL SR., 92, passed away peacefully on the morning of Thursday, March 11, 2010, at Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home on Homestead Road, Fort Wayne.
Born Oct. 31, 1917, in Lansing, Ill., he received his grade school education from his father who taught for 50 years in a one-room school house affiliated with Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansing. He graduated from Thornton Fractional South High School as Valedictorian in 1935. He began his career with American Steel Foundries in 1936, joining a work/study program that allowed him to earn money and attend school at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society, recognizing his distinguished scholarship and exemplary leadership. He was also a member of Pi Tau Sigma, an international mechanical engineering honor society. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He started professionally as a draftsman at the Hammond facility of American Steel Foundries, ascended to the position of chief engineer and eventually became the plant manager there. American Steel Foundries is the country's largest producer of steel castings, and the Hammond plant at the time was heavily focused on manufacturing parts for the railroad industry. He was later promoted to vice president of manufacturing, working out of the Prudential building in Chicago. In 1950, he received a Sloan Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moving his family temporarily to Boston and receiving his Master of Science in business in 1952. He was ever active in civic affairs, particularly in Munster, Ind., where among other activities he served as school board president for 12 years. His passion for public education led him to retire early from American Steel Foundries and join the Birmingham, Michigan, school corporation as deputy superin-tendant for schools in 1974. He worked there for seven years before retiring again and moving to Fort Wayne. There he was active in SCORE, an organization whose members are retired executives offering free assistance to small business owners. "He was known for his leadership, his desire to serve others as evidenced by his active participation in numerous community and church activities; his relentless pursuit of knowledge, a passion learned at the knee of his father; his ability to listen actively; his love for his wife and family and his many struggles on the golf course."
He is survived by his beloved his devoted wife of 67 years, Bettye; son, Martin Kraegel Jr.; daughter, Pam (Frank) Houk; brothers, Wilfred of Milwaukee, Wis. and Armin of Atlantic Beach, Fla.; and grandchildren, Martin III, Christian, Justin, Sumner, Chance, and Erin (Houk) Juricak. He was preceded death by two sons, Kevin and Robert Alan.
Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Monday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 4500 Fairfield Avenue, Fort Wayne, with calling 1/2 hour prior to Mass. A memorial offering may be made to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home, 5910 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46814. Arrangements by Klaehn Fahl & Melton Funeral Home, Winchester Road, 6424 Winchester Road.
Born Oct. 31, 1917, in Lansing, Ill., he received his grade school education from his father who taught for 50 years in a one-room school house affiliated with Trinity Lutheran Church, Lansing. He graduated from Thornton Fractional South High School as Valedictorian in 1935. He began his career with American Steel Foundries in 1936, joining a work/study program that allowed him to earn money and attend school at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society, recognizing his distinguished scholarship and exemplary leadership. He was also a member of Pi Tau Sigma, an international mechanical engineering honor society. He graduated in 1942 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He started professionally as a draftsman at the Hammond facility of American Steel Foundries, ascended to the position of chief engineer and eventually became the plant manager there. American Steel Foundries is the country's largest producer of steel castings, and the Hammond plant at the time was heavily focused on manufacturing parts for the railroad industry. He was later promoted to vice president of manufacturing, working out of the Prudential building in Chicago. In 1950, he received a Sloan Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moving his family temporarily to Boston and receiving his Master of Science in business in 1952. He was ever active in civic affairs, particularly in Munster, Ind., where among other activities he served as school board president for 12 years. His passion for public education led him to retire early from American Steel Foundries and join the Birmingham, Michigan, school corporation as deputy superin-tendant for schools in 1974. He worked there for seven years before retiring again and moving to Fort Wayne. There he was active in SCORE, an organization whose members are retired executives offering free assistance to small business owners. "He was known for his leadership, his desire to serve others as evidenced by his active participation in numerous community and church activities; his relentless pursuit of knowledge, a passion learned at the knee of his father; his ability to listen actively; his love for his wife and family and his many struggles on the golf course."
He is survived by his beloved his devoted wife of 67 years, Bettye; son, Martin Kraegel Jr.; daughter, Pam (Frank) Houk; brothers, Wilfred of Milwaukee, Wis. and Armin of Atlantic Beach, Fla.; and grandchildren, Martin III, Christian, Justin, Sumner, Chance, and Erin (Houk) Juricak. He was preceded death by two sons, Kevin and Robert Alan.
Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Monday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 4500 Fairfield Avenue, Fort Wayne, with calling 1/2 hour prior to Mass. A memorial offering may be made to the Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home, 5910 Homestead Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46814. Arrangements by Klaehn Fahl & Melton Funeral Home, Winchester Road, 6424 Winchester Road.
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