Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 5 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 10

A notable career of successful achievement is that of William Ferdinand Luick, who is today at the head of the Luick Ice Cream Company, known throughout the country as one of the most extensive manufacturers of ice cream in the United States. The business has been developed through the enterprise and energy of Mr. Luick, in whose vocabulary there is no such word as fail. Obstacles and difficulties in his path seemed to serve but as an impetus for renewed effort on his part and his entire course has been characterized by constructive methods that have not only upbuilded his own fortunes but have constituted a very substantial source of Milwaukee's business greatness and prosperity. Mr. Luick was born in this city December 7, 1869, and is a son of John and Monica (Adler) Luick. the former a native of Niagara Falls, New York. The mother passed away in 1876. The father married again and he and his wife make their home in Milwaukee, where they have many friends.

William F. Luick obtained his early education in St. Mary's parochial schools, from which he was graduated at the age of twelve years and later he attended Marquette College. When a youth of fourteen he initiated his business career by entering the employ of a plumber as clerk and office helper, there remaining for two years. On the expiration of that period he accepted employment in his father's confectionery establishment at No. 433 Milwaukee street. There he learned the business with which he acquainted himself in principle and detail, remaining as assistant to his father for several years. At the age of nineteen he went to New York city, where he remained for a year and gained further business knowledge and experience in the eastern metropolis. He next returned to Milwaukee and once more entered his father's establishment but afterward went to Chicago, where he was employed by one of the leading confectioners of the city. When he again came to Milwaukee he resumed business associations with his father and on the 1st of April, 1897, established the Luick Ice Cream manufacturing plant. He first rented a place on Sixth and Grand streets, in the rear of a building and established business with a cash capital of but seven hundred dollars. A few months later he bought a place on Jackson and Ogden streets, arranging the terms of payment on the property which necessarily had to be bought on credit. There he conducted his ice cream and confectionery manufacturing establishment and the business grew with great rapidity, so that at the end of about five years he disposed of his retail and manufacturing confectionery interest in order to concentrate his entire time and attention upon the ice cream business. He established an exclusive ice cream manufacturing plant and has since bent every energy toward the development and upbuilding of the trade, so that in the year 1920 his business reached nearly two million dollars, representing an output of over one million five hundred thousand gallons of ice cream. His is one of the largest and best equipped ice cream manufacturing plants in the United States and was the first in the country to manufacture brick ice cream by machinery. In fact, this factory has the only machinery of the kind in America. The company produces more gallons of brick ice cream than any factory in the United States and its success is due to quality and reliable business methods. The most sanitary conditions prevail in every branch of the factory and it has a complete laboratory under the direction of a registered chemist. The highest standards are thus maintained in making the firm's products and its progressive sales methods have brought most substantial results to the upbuilding and expansion of the trade.

On the 10th of May, 1893, in St. Gall's church in Milwaukee, Mr. Luick was united in marriage to Miss Clara B. Bangs, a daughter of Jesse Austin and Matilda Jane ( Eckert ) Bangs. Her father is a descendant of Edward Bangs, the Pilgrim, the ancestral line thus being traced back to 1591. The first of the family in America crossed the Atlantic to Plymouth. Massachusetts, in 1623. Mr. and Mrs. Luick became parents of two daughters: Edna, now deceased: and Marguerite E., who is the wife of Roman A. Brodesser and they have one child, Nancy Clare. Mr. Brodesser is associated in business with Mr. Luick.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Luick belongs to the Knights of Columbus and is likewise a member of all leading clubs of the city. He served two terms as national president of the Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers. He is a life member of the City Club and of the Athletic Club and has always given his political support to the republican party. While he has never sought nor desired political preferment he has stood loyally in support of the principles in which he believes, yet has allowed nothing to interfere with the capable conduct of his business interests. He has never feared to venture where favoring opportunity has led the way. possessing character and ability, and these qualities have carried him into most important commercial relations.