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

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1403

partnership and organized the Schroeder Paint & Glass Company, wholesale and retail, with Mr. Schroeder as president, an office he continued
to hold, directing and building up a splendid business, until the day of
his death.
Mr. Schroeder was a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce,
and very prominent in Detroit business circles. His genial disposition
and sterling character won him a wide circle of friends, and once his
friend always his friend. He was active and prominent in city affairs,
and served as a member of the city board of water commissioners from
I902 to I907. In fraternal circles he had a varied relationship. He was
a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a charter member of that organization in Detroit, was one of the oldest members of
the Harmonie Society, and also belonged to St. Joseph's Society, to
Westphalia Society, the Detroit Lodge of Elks, the Catholic Mutual
Benefit Association, the Detroit Athletic Club, and the Detroit Paint.
Oil & Varnish Club.
On June 3, 1884, Mr. Schroeder married Mary Antoinette Lebens,
who died July 3, 1908, leaving the following children: Antoinette A.,
who married Fred Schaemig, of Detroit; Edwin A., who married Amy
Diedrich, of Detroit; William G.; Marie F.; Frances J.; and Viola A.
Mr. Schroeder on September 27, I9II, married Mary M. Peters. Mrs.
Schroeder, a native of Detroit, is a daughter of Richard and Bridget
Peters. Her parents were born in Detroit, and her grandfather was
Antoin Peters, a pioneer French settler in the Grosse Pointe neighborhood.
ALFRED BROCKE, M. D. A well known physician and specialist of
Muskegon, where he has practiced since 1904, Dr. Brocke is a product of
the German university and medical centers, having come to America after
his graduation in medicine, and after some years of practice in the city
of Chicago located in Muskegon. Here he enjoys a large practice, and
stands high among the local fraternity.
Alfred Brocke was born in Germany, July 9, I869, a son of Karl and
Minna (Lerche) Brocke. The grandfather was Carl Broche, and the
maternal grandfather was John Lerche, the latter a large land owner, and
prosperous citizen of his section of Germany. Carl Broche, the father of
the doctor, was born in 1839, and died in the old country in I904. His
wife was born in 1849 and died in I904. The father spent nearly all his
active life as chief state forester in Germany. Of their three children the
doctor was the oldest and Max Brocke is now living in Germany, where
he is in the manufacturing business, and Marie is married and also lives
in Germany. The parents subscribed to no church and were really freethinkers. Fraternally the father was a Mason.
Dr. Alfred Brocke was educated in the local schools and Gymnasia of
the German fatherland, and his university career was at Jena, where he
was graduated in medicine in I893. After several years of practice in his
native land, he moved to Chicago in 1898, and then in 1904 established his
practice in Muskegon. Dr. Brocke, while attenting to a large general
practice makes a study of stomach and intestinal diseases. Besides his
private practice he serves on the staff of the Hackley Hospital and also
the Mercy Hospital of Muskegon. His professional membership includes
the County and State Medical Societies, and the American Medical
Association.
In 1895 Dr. Brocke married Clara Sanger, in Germany. They are the
parents of one child, Lucile, now the wife of Erich Lissner of Chicago.
Fraternally the doctor is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, and has taken degrees in both branches of