Name George Auch | ||
George W. Auch (1868-1937) was a builder, educator, and politician from Detroit, Michigan. He was the president of the Detroit school board and served as a city alderman.
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Early life
George W. Auch was born in 1868 in Sebewaing, Michigan, the son of Sebewaing founder J.J.F. Auch. In 1890, George Auch began his studies at Addison College, a Lutheran teacher's college in Addison, Illinois. He graduated in 1893 and began teaching at Bethany Lutheran School on Detroit's east side.
By 1908, Auch and his wife Sofia had nine children, and Auch decided that his teacher's salary wasn't enough to provide for his family. Quitting his teaching job, Auch started a construction business with Herman Winkler. The firm of Winkler and Auch began by working on small residential construction projects. However, by 1912, the firm was constructing schools, churches, and larger commercial buildings.
Politics and public service
In 1913, Auch was elected school inspector, an office he held until 1917. He was elected president of the Detroit School Board twice during that time, and served as an officer of the National Education Association. Auch served as alderman of the city of Detroit from 1916-1918, running as a Republican.
George W. Auch Company
During the World War I years, the construction business was slow; at some point during that time, Auch and Winkler parted ways and the George W. Auch Company emerged. During the 1920s, Auch built homes in Detroit's Boston-Edison and Indian Village districts, as well as homes in Grosse Pointe and Grosse Pointe Park.
During the 1930s, Auch's business suffered due to the Great Depression, but his firm did win the carpentry contracts for the Historic Trinity Lutheran Church and the United States Marine Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
Auch, however, did not live to see his company emerge from the recession. George W. Auch died in 1937 due to lingering complications from an automobile accident.
The leadership of the George W. Auch Company passed to his son Fred, who held it until the 1960s. Subsequent presidents included Hank Auch, George W. (Bill) Auch III, Fred J. Auch Jr, David Hamilton and Vincent DeLeonardis. The company has grown significantly over the years, averaging over $150 million in annual revenue between 1998 and 2008. As of 2016, the George W. Auch Company, now called Auch Construction, is still in business as a leading contracting firm in Southeastern Michigan.