Axel NMN Voss

WHO WAS AXEL VOSS?

(in memory of our father ...for our children)

Ernst Frederic Voss was a first generation Dane. He was the son of Johan Christian Voss who had moved (maybe immigrated) to Faaborg, Fyn, Denmark from Uetersen, Denmark (later Germany) in the mid-1800s. The Ernst Frederic Voss family lived in a small home at 37 Valdemars Gade near the main harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark. On weekends, Ernst (Bedstefar for grandfather) would take his oldest son Axel, along the piers and wharfs of Copenhagen harbor. Together they would walk past the immortal statue of the little mermaid which overlooked the Danish port and down Langelinie (the long pier) where ships were moored. These early visits to the Danish port would prove to be the genisis of Axel Voss's love of the sea and ships which would last a lifetime and later be translated to the lives of his own children.

Axel Voss was the eldest son of Ernst (a saddle-maker or furniture upholsterer) and Adolphine Marie Woldemar of Copenhagen. Axel was born on Halloween night, October 31, 1906, as the third child in a family of six. As a young boy he was very involved in athletics and active in scouts. At twelve years of age he converted from Luthern to Catholic at the encouragement of his scout leader. In Denmark, children attend school year round and Axel finished the high school level at age 15. In the 1920s and following the "Great World War," all Scandinavian and Northern European countries were experiencing a severe economic depression. Because of the economic situation, his insatiable spirit of adventure and, at his father's encouragement, Axel signed on as a cabin boy with a German Merchant Marine Line shortly after his school completion in 1921. He would soon fulfill a childhood dream of sailing the seas.

Mother (Axel's wife) remembers that at least one of the ships he sailed on carried lumber between Germany and Scandinavian countries. But Max (Axel's youngest brother) recalls that he sailed all around the world on other German ships. In fact, Max remembers that Bestamor (grandmother)(Adolphine - Axel's mother) would show the younger children letters she and Bestafar had received from numerous South American countries like Brazil and Argentina, Egypt, many European ports and, of course, the United States. Max remembers that Bestamor saved all of these letters with pictures Axel had sent, but the whereabouts of the letters is unknown.

After serving in the German Merchant Marine for four years, Axel returned to Copenhagen in 1925. He stayed for only a short time where he informed his family that he wanted to move permanently to the United States of America. He set sail from Copenhagen in October of 1925 onboard the S.S. Frederick VIII, a passenger liner of the Scandinavian-American Line, bound for New York. Axel Voss celebrated his 19th birthday on the Frederick VIII while enroute to his new homeland.

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Axel Voss arrived in New York on November 6, 1925 (not 1924 as published in his obituary). Unlike many immigrants, he did not have to be processed at Ellis Island since his uncle, Christopher Anderson Friis (Bestamor's stepbrother) had already agreed to "sponsor" Axel in America. Uncle Chris had sponsored Axel's oldest sister, Erna years before. Erna had visited America in 1921 and returned to Copenhagen in 1923 where she met her husband Svend Flindt. In 1924 Svend and Erna returned to Natchez where they were married and remained for many years. Axel left behind in Denmark, his father, mother, and three younger siblings (Erik, Ingeborg (Gynther), and Max). An older sister Ballette had died as an infant in 1901.

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Axel's Uncle Chris (Chris Anderson) was part owner in a small motor repair garage in Natchez, Mississippi with John T. Belt. The Anderson & Belt (or A & B Motor Company) operated as a wrecker and road service, gas station, and taxi cab service. The company had two wrecking cranes which were mounted on Cadillac chasis and established and maintained "an outstanding record for prompt and efficient service."

Axel Voss lived in a small upstairs apartment next to the gas station on St. Catherine Street in Natchez for over two years. Axel could speak very little english but went straight to work pumping gas, learning auto mechanics, and driving for the A & B Taxi service. In 1928 Axel purchased the interests of Uncle Chris and John Belt and became the sole owner of A & B Motors. It was at this small gas station that a young, catholic high school girl named Delphine Hicks first met Axel in the spring of 1928. After several years of courtship Axel (Dad) and Delphine (Mother) were married in June of 1933. He had already applied for U.S. citizenship in 1932 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States on November 19, 1935 in Vicksburg, Mississippi (#3992299).

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Axel Voss rapidly gained the reputation as an extraordinary business man. Just seven years after become sole owner, he secured the Studebaker automobile franchaise and constructed a new building for sales and service in 1935. Over the next ten years A-B Motors operated the first "Checkered Cabs" in Natchez under the A-B Taxi Line. Additionally, Axel Voss "realized the potential value of recapping tires long before tire rationing made such work valuable and necessary. He installed the most modern recapping plant obtainable in 1938 ...three years ahead of rationing and did a very successful business". During the next thirty years of his life he transformed a small motor repair service to a Studebaker, Packard, Jeep and eventually a Dodge Dealership. He became very active in business and the community working closely with the Natchez Chamber of Commerce. The local newspaper noted that ..."success comes to those who pay for it through integrity, sincerity, an abundance of energy, experience and the application of good common sense usually called business judgement. Mr. Voss abounds in these virtues. His success has been in proportion to his efforts and today he is recognized as one of the best and most successful automobile men in this part of the country."

But the most significant attributes of this Danish immigrant was his devotion and service to his church, school and civic projects. He was extremely active in the Catholic Knights of Columbus serving as Grand Knight (President), the Natchez Rotary Club as President and served as the first president of the Cathedral School Athletic Association. His tireless efforts in this venue brought him continuous public and private praise. A sports editorial while he was serving as the first president of the Cathedral Athletic Association noted that ..."through it all, ...(there) has been one connecting thread standing out above the others. And that is respect. Axel Voss has the respect of his fellow man and has had it, we find from stories, since his appearance here." "He can think of more angles and approaches than any man readily recalled from our memory, and he runs each down in his mind to the end before assimilating the facts and making a move or a decision."

Axel Voss was a man who was "interested and active in all projects for the development and progress of Natchez and the adjoining areas in Mississippi and Louisiana and gave generously of his time and talent in all civic enterprises."

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During the thirty years between his marriage in 1933 and his first stroke in 1963, the man who had come to a new country as a young boy speaking only broken english, established himself as a respected leader in his community and church. He had worked from pumping gas for his uncle to managing an automobile franchise with enough financal savings to educate seven children through catholic elementary and high school, with either full are partial support for five children through four years of college and another through a two-year program. He bought and built a lake cabin in Louisiana for the enjoyment and recreation of his family and friends. In a letter Axel Voss wrote to his wife and children in 1958 he asked that we never sell that cabin, but retain it for the enjoyment of each other and all of our children. His financial position at the time of his death was such that his wife could be cared for over many, many years.

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Axel and Delphine visited his family in Denmark only once following their marriage. Axel's parents, Ernst and Adolphine visited the United States in the 40s and 50s (Bestafar once and Bestamor twice) but they lived in Denmark for the remainder of their lives. Bestafar (Ernst) died in December of 1947 and Bestamor (Adolphine) died in December 1957.

Erna, Axel's oldest sister, remarried Cotten Strickland and moved to Vicksburg. She had three children; Elinor, Roy and Ann who all married and have children. Elinor and Ann live in Vicksburg and Roy lives in Texas.

Axel's brother Erik remained in Denmark and married Inger Jensen. They had three children ...Bent Axel, Preben Erik and Hanna, all of which married and had children who still live in Copenhagen. Erik died in March of 1966.

Axel's sister Ingeborg also remained in Denmark, married Angelo Gynther and had one son, Frank. Frank married and had three children who all remained in Denmark. Angelo and Ingeborg visited Natchez on occasion. Ingeborg died in December of 1974.

Axel worked to sponsor his youngest brother, Max, for immigration to the United States. Max came to the U.S. in 1938 and lived with Axel and Delphine for more than a year. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and participated in the reoccupation of Northern Europe in World War II. Following the War, he returned to Natchez and married Anita Evans in 1946. They have one daughter, Anita, who married, has two children and still lives in Natchez.

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Axel and Delphine raised seven children. It is interesting to note that all of his children inherited many of their dad's traits. Freddie and Carl stayed with Axel's chosen profession of Automobile Sales and Automotive mechanics. All five sons, like their father, entered the sea-going service of their country, and one daughter Libby, although not in the Navy, still spends the majority of her life on the water, albiet a lake. Carl and Bill certainly inherited his "exceptional business ability with measured, methodical actions and a very keen and most nimble mind." With the same spirit of travel and adventure of their father, Bobby and Philip chose to make a career of the Navy and traveled worldwide (perhaps to many of the same ports he had visited a half century before). Most of his children, like their father became very involved in church, school, scouts, civic and community activities. All five sons entered the Knights of Columbus and all five were scouts ...four of which became Eagle Scouts. Axel "gave generously of his time and talent in all civic enterprises." Like his dad, Freddie remains active with the Knights of Columbus and dedicated to helping other people's children develop solid values through scouting. Carl, Bill and Philip are all involved in Rotary (Carl is past president). Del and Libby, like Dad are "ardent workers in the Parochial School Activities", and have all but dedicated their life and time to Catholic church & school functions.

During his lifetime, Axel Voss knew only three of his daughter-in-laws (Glenda, Pat and Peggy) and three of his grandchildren (Van, Mary Glenn and Page ...all three years or younger). Glenda and Pat remembered that it gave him great delight to give his new daughters some rememberance of his past like a danish spoon or trinket. Little did he know that his legacy would yield three more daughter-in-laws, a son-in-law and thirteen other grandchildren.

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Axel Voss suffered a stroke in June of 1963 after arriving to work at A & B Motor Company. A second stroke followed eight days later which caused partial paralysis and loss of speech. But he continued to work part-time with his two oldest sons, Freddie and Carl until suffering a brain spasm in Feburary of 1966 which was followed six days later by a cripling third stroke. He developed Bilateral Pneumonia in early September and died on September 21, 1966, just one month short of his 60th birthday.

Perhaps the greatest tribute to Axel Voss was in his obituary written following his death. Mother said the words were from his youngest brother Max to the local Newspaper:

Axel Voss "was primarily a 'family man' and derived his greatest pleasure when surrounded by his wife and the members of his family. He was a devout Christian and practiced in everyday life the great precepts of Christianity."

Axel Voss left his native homeland of Denmark in search of a better way of life ...for more opportunities for himself and his family. It was this family that he wanted to have a better start than he had in his own life. To Axel Voss, family was everything. Mother says that Dad use to carry a verse written by William Penn in his wallet. It was in his wallet until the time of his second stroke. She sent it to me a few years later and wrote on it ..."this was your Dad's favorite." As I reflect on it I think it truely describes our father's work on this earth.

"We expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there

be any kindness we can show or any good that we can do to

any fellow being, let us do it now and to not defer or neglect

it, .... as we shall not pass this way again."

This was our father and your "bestafar"

This was Axel Voss.

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(The information contained in this biography is based on conversations with Mother, Uncle Max, Aunt Erna, Aunt Ingeborg and Angelo, Freddie, Carl and Bill, obituaries, epitaths, newspaper articles, fact sheets compiled by Del and others. It is certainly not all inclusive. It was intended only to provide our children, and their children with an idea of who our father was, from where he came, and what he was all about. All corrections of fact, additions or other pertinent information are more than welcome). pdv