History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1250

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

On November 25, 1903, Thanksgiving day, Mr. Maino was united in
marriage with Miss Mabel C. McLoughlin, and into their home two children have been born, namely: Emily Mabel, born in 1904; and George
Croman, born in 19I3. Mr. Maino is well educated, and speaks both
German and English fluently. Socially he is a member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks; and religiously he belongs to the Roman
Catholic Church.
Louis LEVERENZ. The F. H. Leverenz & Company, general and
carpenter contractors and manufacturers, of which Louis Leverenz is
secretary and treasurer, has only a brief history as an incorporated concern under the present title, but its impregnable position and reputation
among Detroit's building interests are the result of years of experience
and practical success on the part of its constituent members.
Louis Leverenz is a native of Detroit, born December 19, I885,
while himself a very young man but none the less expert in his line, it
was his father, Frederick H. Leverenz, who established the association
of the name with the building trades of Detroit. Frederick H. Leverenz,
who was one of Detroit's oldest and best known carpenter contractors,
and now retired, was born in Germany in 1857, came to the United
States when young, and after learning the carpenter's trade in Detroit
worked as a journeyman for a number of years, finally entered the contracting field, and his success was a matter of steady and substantial
growth, and examples of his work might be pointed out in practically
every part of the city, in buildings of every type, size and cost. In 1907
Frederick H. Leverenz organized the firm of F. H. Leverenz & Company, taking his sons Louis and Henry as partners. In I913 he retired
from active affairs, and on the basis of his enterprise the F. H. Leverenz
& Company was incorporated to continue the business with which he had
so long been identified. F. H. Leverenz married Tena Boettcher, who
was also born in Germany. Both are members of the Lutheran church.
Louis Leverenz as a boy attended the Lutheran parochial schoolq and
also the public schools of Detroit, and in I9oo, at the age of fifteen,
became a student in the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing and
spent two years with that institution. From the time he was old enough
to handle a hammer he has worked at carpentry, and under his father
served a regular apprenticeship and continued employment as a journeyman until the organization of the firm of F. H. Leverenz & Company in
I907, when his position as a partner began. On the retirement of his
father in I913 he was one of the organizers of the new firm of F. H.
Leverenz & Company, incorporated, the date of its charter being March
I9, I913. The first president was Theodore Betzolat, with Henry Leverenz as vice-president, and Louis Leverenz as secretary and treasurer.
On January i, I914, Mr. Betzolat was succeeded as president by Ernst
Sylvester, and otherwise the company officials remain the same. This is
one of the largest general carpenter contracting firms of the city, and
their capabilities for extensive service are the greater because they own
and operate their own factory for the manufacture of lumber and building supplies. Their record includes the erection of many fine buildings,
among them two public school houses, a factory, the English Lutheran
church on Mt. Elliott avenue, a fourteen-family apartment, and numerous flats and residences. The firm has membership in the Detroit Builders and Traders Exchange.
Mr. Leverenz is a member of Bethania Lutheran church. He married Flora Degener, of Detroit, daughter of August and Caroline Degener. Her father is a cigar manufacturer. To Mr. and Mrs. Leverenz
was born in I912 a daughter, Charlotte.