The third generation of the Fingerle family make up the current leadership
for the local lumber firm. Shown above are Larry Fingerle, Secretary/Treasurer;
Mark Fingerle, Vice President; and John Fingerle, President.
| Fingerle Newsletter Number 3 |
| June 1995 |
The third generation of the Fingerle family make up the current leadership
for the local lumber firm. Shown above are Larry Fingerle, Secretary/Treasurer;
Mark Fingerle, Vice President; and John Fingerle, President.
The family-owned business is quickly becoming an endangered species. Some family businesses are losing their roots and selling their interest to outsiders. Others are not surviving in the modern economy.
But Fingerle Lumber continues to defy the odds after 60 years of service to the Ann Arbor community. The family-owned and managed business started small in 1931 but has since grown into a major force in the local economy.
Fingerle is a lumber and building materials distributor for carpentry, mill work, building and remodeling. It does not fit the mold of the typical, small family- owned business. 175 employees work at the lumber company located on a ten acre plot of land just north of Michigan Stadium near Fifth and Madison.
In 1931, Earle Fingerle founded the lumber company that his grandson John runs 62 years later. John is the current president of the company. His younger brother, Mark is vice-president and cousin Larry is secretary/treasurer. The latest generation of Fingerle's couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.
“I grew up around the lumber business,” Larry said. “When I was quite young, my father would take me into the lumber sheds and I would work with him. I developed an interest at a young age and I like building things.” The family pride that exists at Fingerle today developed over time.
Earle Fingerle was joined in business by his brother-in-law, Dick Hollister, in the 1930s. The pair ran the operations together into the 1960s. When Earle retired in 1966, Dick Hollister took over as president. Hollister retired in 1974 and Earle’s son Colin Fingerle, (Larry’s father) assumed control in 1974-1980.
After Colin’s retirement in 1980, his brother, Brian Fingerle, became president and led the lumber company until 1991, when his son John assumed control.
“I started working (at Fingerle Lumber) when I was 14,” John said. “I worked in the hardware department, stocking shelves. I continued to work after school. When I went to college, I worked there during the summers. After college, I began working full-time right away.”
According to conventional wisdom, running a business with other family members is a potentially disastrous situation. Personal conflicts often spill over into the professional arena and affect the performance of business.
“Generally, you hear that working with close family members is the toughest part. Fortunately, we’ve been able to get along great and we work well with each other,” John said. “We see eye-to-eye on most major decisions affecting the company.”
From a purely practical standpoint, John says that family management has a positive impact on a business.
“The ownership is right here, on the site. Decisions can be made quickly. We don’t have to wait for headquarters in some distant land to respond to problems. We can make the decisions right away.
The roots of the Fingerle Lumber Company go back before the 1930s. Earle was born in Louisiana, where his father worked in the timber industry. He died while Earle was in high school, and the family moved to the Ann Arbor area to be near relatives. Earle graduated from the University of Michigan with a journalism degree, but opted to follow his father into the lumber business. He opened Milan Lumber Company with Ivan Bidwell in the late 1920s.
Eventually, Earle decided to leave Milan and open a lumber store in the city of Ann Arbor. He saw a potential boomtown with the University of Michigan expanding rapidly.
In 1936, just five years after the store opened, Fingerle expanded into a larger, more modern building and held a “Grand Re-opening” celebration. Circus acts and magicians performed and nearly 6,000 people attended the event.
Fingerle Lumber worked hard to develop a strong client base in the early years. During the Depression, the store began to provide others services besides lumber. It delivered coal at no charge. When it sold a new type of ceiling tile, the store would loan the installation tools to the carpenters so they could use the tools before buying them.
By staying on the cutting edge of business trends, Fingerle Lumber prospered. In the late 1940s, it was one of the first lumber stores to install air conditioning. In 1946, the store began using mechanical handling equipment like forklifts. It was the second business in Michigan after Ford Motor Company to use a “Straddle Carrier,” a machine that drives over a load of steel or lumber, picks it up and carries it.
Brian Fingerle, John’s father, has witnessed the tremendous growth of the company firsthand. He worked at the store for over 50 years and retired as president in 1991.
“I started working when I was five. I would fill paint thinner bottles from the huge five gallons jugs,” Brian said. “There were only 10 or 11 employees back then. There were 150 when I became presidents in 1980.”
The company experienced solid, steady growth that ebbed and flowed with business cycles.
“The growth accelerated as the years went by,” Brian said. “During the Depression, our customers were mostly German and they always paid their bills on time, so we survived.”
Today, Fingerle Lumber is a giant in its field. But the strong, family work ethic still remains the most important ingredient to its success.
“We’ve always had a wonderful relationship,” Brian said. “My father, my uncle (Dick Hollister), my brother Colin and I always achieve consensus amicably. I see the same type of relationship between John, Mark and Larry.”
The family business conjures up images of the television show, Dallas, where family members fight for power. But for the Fingerle's in Ann Arbor, the responsibility is split and each member concentrates in a different area. John is president, Mark is head of purchasing and Larry is in charge of finance.
The lumber company continues to thrive because new blood arrives on the scene each generation and innovates the business. The latest generation has brought Fingerle's into the modern computer age.
While the Fingerle's run the company, they have welcomed workers outside the family into leadership roles to offer fresh perspectives. Bob Shroup and John Roose began working at the store in 1968 and have been officers of the company since 1980.
Brian Fingerle did not feel any pressure passing the torch onto his sons and nephew when he retired. He had extreme confidence in them and knew the company was in good hands.
“When I got out, I really got out. I retired and that was it,” Brian said. “They injected their own ideas into the business.
It is still too early to tell if the next generation of Fingerle's will pick up the business after John, Mark and Larry leave. John’s children are five and two years old and Mark has an eight month old baby.
“We’d all like for them to have the opportunity to work in the business if that is something they want to do,” John said. “For Mark, Larry and I, (working at Fingerle Lumber) was something that was available to us, but it wasn’t jammed down our throats as something we had to do.”
The family-owned business is quickly becoming an endangered species. Some family businesses are losing their roots and selling their interest to outsiders. Others are not surviving in the modern economy.
But Fingerle Lumber continues to defy the odds after 60 years of service to the Ann Arbor community. The family-owned and managed business started small in 1931 but has since grown into a major force in the local economy.
Fingerle is a lumber and building materials distributor for carpentry, mill work, building and remodeling. It does not fit the mold of the typical, small family- owned business. 175 employees work at the lumber company located on a ten acre plot of land just north of Michigan Stadium near Fifth and Madison.
In 1931, Earle Fingerle founded the lumber company that his grandson John runs 62 years later. John is the current president of the company. His younger brother, Mark is vice-president and cousin Larry is secretary/treasurer. The latest generation of Fingerle's couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.
“I grew up around the lumber business,” Larry said. “When I was quite young, my father would take me into the lumber sheds and I would work with him. I developed an interest at a young age and I like building things.” The family pride that exists at Fingerle today developed over time.
Earle Fingerle was joined in business by his brother-in-law, Dick Hollister, in the 1930s. The pair ran the operations together into the 1960s. When Earle retired in 1966, Dick Hollister took over as president. Hollister retired in 1974 and Earle’s son Colin Fingerle, (Larry’s father) assumed control in 1974-1980.
After Colin’s retirement in 1980, his brother, Brian Fingerle, became president and led the lumber company until 1991, when his son John assumed control.
“I started working (at Fingerle Lumber) when I was 14,” John said. “I worked in the hardware department, stocking shelves. I continued to work after school. When I went to college, I worked there during the summers. After college, I began working full-time right away.”
According to conventional wisdom, running a business with other family members is a potentially disastrous situation. Personal conflicts often spill over into the professional arena and affect the performance of business.
“Generally, you hear that working with close family members is the toughest part. Fortunately, we’ve been able to get along great and we work well with each other,” John said. “We see eye-to-eye on most major decisions affecting the company.”
From a purely practical standpoint, John says that family management has a positive impact on a business.
“The ownership is right here, on the site. Decisions can be made quickly. We don’t have to wait for headquarters in some distant land to respond to problems. We can make the decisions right away.
The roots of the Fingerle Lumber Company go back before the 1930s. Earle was born in Louisiana, where his father worked in the timber industry. He died while Earle was in high school, and the family moved to the Ann Arbor area to be near relatives. Earle graduated from the University of Michigan with a journalism degree, but opted to follow his father into the lumber business. He opened Milan Lumber Company with Ivan Bidwell in the late 1920s.
Eventually, Earle decided to leave Milan and open a lumber store in the city of Ann Arbor. He saw a potential boomtown with the University of Michigan expanding rapidly.
In 1936, just five years after the store opened, Fingerle expanded into a larger, more modern building and held a “Grand Re-opening” celebration. Circus acts and magicians performed and nearly 6,000 people attended the event.
Fingerle Lumber worked hard to develop a strong client base in the early years. During the Depression, the store began to provide others services besides lumber. It delivered coal at no charge. When it sold a new type of ceiling tile, the store would loan the installation tools to the carpenters so they could use the tools before buying them.
By staying on the cutting edge of business trends, Fingerle Lumber prospered. In the late 1940s, it was one of the first lumber stores to install air conditioning. In 1946, the store began using mechanical handling equipment like forklifts. It was the second business in Michigan after Ford Motor Company to use a “Straddle Carrier,” a machine that drives over a load of steel or lumber, picks it up and carries it.
Brian Fingerle, John’s father, has witnessed the tremendous growth of the company firsthand. He worked at the store for over 50 years and retired as president in 1991.
“I started working when I was five. I would fill paint thinner bottles from the huge five gallons jugs,” Brian said. “There were only 10 or 11 employees back then. There were 150 when I became presidents in 1980.”
The company experienced solid, steady growth that ebbed and flowed with business cycles.
“The growth accelerated as the years went by,” Brian said. “During the Depression, our customers were mostly German and they always paid their bills on time, so we survived.”
Today, Fingerle Lumber is a giant in its field. But the strong, family work ethic still remains the most important ingredient to its success.
“We’ve always had a wonderful relationship,” Brian said. “My father, my uncle (Dick Hollister), my brother Colin and I always achieve consensus amicably. I see the same type of relationship between John, Mark and Larry.”
The family business conjures up images of the television show, Dallas, where family members fight for power. But for the Fingerle's in Ann Arbor, the responsibility is split and each member concentrates in a different area. John is president, Mark is head of purchasing and Larry is in charge of finance.
The lumber company continues to thrive because new blood arrives on the scene each generation and innovates the business. The latest generation has brought Fingerle's into the modern computer age.
While the Fingerle's run the company, they have welcomed workers outside the family into leadership roles to offer fresh perspectives. Bob Shroup and John Roose began working at the store in 1968 and have been officers of the company since 1980.
Brian Fingerle did not feel any pressure passing the torch onto his sons and nephew when he retired. He had extreme confidence in them and knew the company was in good hands.
“When I got out, I really got out. I retired and that was it,” Brian said. “They injected their own ideas into the business.
It is still too early to tell if the next generation of Fingerle's will pick up the business after John, Mark and Larry leave. John’s children are five and two years old and Mark has an eight month old baby.
“We’d all like for them to have the opportunity to work in the business if
that is something they want to do,” John said. “For Mark, Larry and I, (working at
Fingerle Lumber) was something that was available to us, but it wasn’t jammed
down our throats as something we had to do.”
30th March, 1995
Dear Art,
My name is Sandra Hemminger and I'm
Irene Hemminger's grandchild. I'm 12
years old and I'm looking for a pen-friend
in America. It should be a girl, between
12 and 15 years. So I think, I write to you,
because I don't know anyone in America.
I hope, you know a girl, that want to have
a pen-friend in Germany.
My hobbys are to listen to the cassette/CD,
to read books, rollerskating and of course
to learn English.
I go to a grammerschool here in Germany.
There I learn English.
I hope, you know someone, who wants to
write to me.
Love
Sandra
PS: My address:
Sandra Hemminger
Spitalwaldweg 10
D-73733 Esslingen
Germany
On several occasions over the last few months I have made trips to the bay area and Modesto, CA. On the bay area trips I stopped in on Ruth Carroll in San Francisco, then down to Fremont and said a quick hello to Robert Fingerle and his family. Then down to Sunnyvale and had a long talk with Forest Fingerle and his wife.
I tried to call a Pearl Fingerle who was listed in the Modesto phone book, I had known of this number for several years. The phone rang and an answering machine picked up. It was for a lady named Diane. I thought the number may have been changed. I left a message anyway stating that I was looking for Pearl Fingerle. I got a call back from Diane, she is Pearl’s grand daughter. Pearl had passed away about two years ago. Pearl’s daughter, Diane’s mother, was still in town also. Marian Bates, along with her husband run a wholesale nursery. I got a chance to run down to Modesto and dropped in to see Marian. We talked for a while and I brought in the photos I have in an album. She had an appointment, so I left and headed into the main part of town to a cemetery where I heard there was a Fingerle buried.
Colin Fingerle from Ann Arbor, MI. sent me some letters from a Vera Fingerle in Texas. These letters were ten years old and went over some of Colin's family history. One of the names was an August C. Fingerle from Michigan. (Colin's grand father) It said that August had been a tailor and moved to Modesto, CA. about 1910. It also listed the cemetery he was buried in. I found the cemetery and the ground keeper. He went to look up August’s name. When he returned he said that there were three Fingerle’s buried in this cemetery. August C. Fingerle who died in 1928, his wife (2nd) Sarah L. Fingerle who died in 1940, and an Allan Forest Fingerle an infant who died in 1948. (Allan’s father is Forest Fingerle in Sunnyvale). When I talked to Forest he said he remembered a Fingerle in Modesto named Gus. This was the name August C. used.
I then made a trip to the local Library. This branch had a good County History section and I found the city directory for Modesto. In 1911 -1928 it listed:
August C. Fingerle Merchant Tailor 4 First National Bank Building home 107 Hackberry
The house that sits at 107 Hickory in
Modesto, California
I have also found a book called One Hundred Years of Modesto. In this book I have found several picture of the First National Bank Building. I was told to check back with the county history section and see if they have any other pictures.
The lady in the County History section took down the names of August, Sarah, and Allan, She later sent me copies of the obituaries from the local newspapers.
I also found a David Fingerle listed in the directory for Modesto. This turn out to be Pearl Fingerle’s husband.
I do need to get back down to Modesto to check around some more.
At this time I am working on 5 lines of Fingerle’s.
1. My side goes back to a Hans Fingerle about (1550).
2. The Fingerle Lumber Co. line which goes back to John Fingerle (1827-1890).
3. Kermit Fingerle & Sue Taunton go back to Christian Fingerle (1833-1917).
4. Michael, Mark, Jessie, and Paul Fingerle side goes back to Abraham Leo Fingerle (1868- 1941).
5. Julius B. Fingerle side goes back to Gottlieb Fingerle (? - ?)
If you know of any more branches of the Fingerle’s please let me know.
As of June 1996 I have linked Abraham Leo Fingerle to the Fingerle's from Esslingen and my family.
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