Elmer Henry Maytag

Elmer Henry "E. H." Maytag

Elmer Henry Maytag was born in Newton. He attended the Newton schools and spent two years at the University of Illinois. He became treasurer of the company in 1909 and in 1920 was elected secretary and treasurer. He married Ora Kennedy in 1909, and they had four children: Frederick Louis "Fred II," Mary Louise (McCahill), Robert E. Sr., and Elizabeth (Revuyk).

In addition to guiding the Maytag Company very successfully through expansion and building a sound financial base that enabled the company to weather the difficult years of the Great Depression, E. H. quietly devoted considerable time and energy to bettering the lives of his employees and fellow towns people. The Jasper County Savings Bank, of which he was president, provided credit to business and professional people and to area farmer E. H. instructed bank employees to give the borrowers every opportunity to keep their property and dignity. There is no record of anyone being thrown off a farm or out of a home if they made a sincere effort to meet their responsibilities. At one point, when the factory was closed because of a lack of orders, E. H. opened the factory and paid wages out of his own pocket so that the families of employees would have a happier Christmas. During the Depression, he anonymously paid for thousands of dollars worth of groceries and other necessities for townspeople who were in need.

E. H. studied carefully before beginning any new project. The Maytag Dairy Farm developed from one dairy cow that, in 1919, provided milk for his children, to a large Holstein-Friesiandairy herd that won many awards, to a 4,200-acre farming enterprise, to the actual dairy operation that now produces the world-renowned Maytag Blue Cheese. The farming and dairy enterprises were as close as E. H. got to having a hobby.

E. H. died in 1940 at the age of 56 at "Ceylon Court," his summer home at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. His 29-year-old son, Frederick Louis Maytag II, became president of the Maytag Company and assumed his father's positions in his other enterprises. Fred II was a graduate of Culver Military Academy and the University of Wisconsin. Married in 1934, he and his wife, the former Ellen Pray, were the parents of four children: Ellen (Egger), Frederick III "Fritz," Martha (Peterson), and Kenneth.

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Birth: Sep. 18, 1883

Death: Jul. 20, 1940 Lake Geneva Walworth County Wisconsin, USA

Thursday July 25, 1940 (Arlington Citizen) [Texas newspaper]

Maytag Manufacturer Passes Away Sunday

The Maytag Southwestern Co., with offices in Dallas, Wednesday at one o'clock observed a period of silence as a tribute to Mr. E. H. Maytag, president of the washing machine manufacturing firm, who died at his summer home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on Sunday night.

This tribute was announced in a bulletin to Mr. L. M. Patterson, Arlington Maytag dealer Wednesday.

Mr. Maytag died at the age of 56, of a severe heart attack from which he was unable to rally.

Funeral services for the maker of the world's most famous washing machine were held at Newton, Iowa, Wednesday afternoon with burial in the Union Cemetery there.

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Here is some information on E. Maytag from the Newton Union Cemetery registery.

Maytag Elmer Henry

Born: Sep 18, 1883.

Died: Saturday, July 20, 1940

Age 56

Buried in Section 6, Lot 83, Block 8.

Son of Frederick & Conradena (Bergman) Maytag.

Husband of Ora Blanche (Kennedy)Maytag.

Family links:

Spouse:

*Ora Blanche Kennedy Maytag (1883 - 1963)*

Burial: Newton Union Cemetery Newton Jasper County Iowa, USA