The next oldest child in the Leinenkugel family was Theresia “Rosa” Leinenkugel. She was born July 18th, 1867 (Passport Application). She was the oldest girl in the family and went on to attend school at the Notre Dame school. On April 18th, 1894, she married Henry Alois Casper of Chippewa Falls (Chippewa County Past and Present). She had two children with Henry, by the names of Irene and William Casper. Rose was a prominent member of the Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, and because of this, she donated the high altar to the church with Susan Mayer (Church History). Rose, sadly, passed away between 1951 and 1952 (City Directories).
Henry Casper was born on July 15th, 1861 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents were Alois and Barbara Casper (Births and Christening Index). He attended St. Mary’s parochial school in Milwaukee, as well as St. Gall’s school (Chippewa County Past and Present). Henry started working for the Leinenkugel’s Brewery in 1905 (Brewer’s Digest). From 1914 to 1926, he worked as the Secretary and Treasurer of Leinenkugel’s. And from 1920 to 1926, he was the President and Treasurer of the Consolidated Elevator, Mill & Power Company Inc (City Directories). During this time, Henry was a prominent member of the Catholic Knights of America, as well (Chippewa County Past and Present). Henry, unfortunately, passed away sometime between 1926 and 1929 (City Directories).
Rose was quite the traveler in her day. Before Henry’s passing, she had applied for her passport and gone on a trip with her daughter, Irene, to Liverpool in 1924. They traveled back from Liverpool on the Megantic (Manifests of Passengers). After Henry’s passing, the two took two more trips together. One was to Gothenburg, Sweden in 1930 and the other was a round trip from New York in 1937. Both times they road on the ship, Gripsholm (New York Arrivals, New York Passenger List).
Irene Barbara Casper was their first born child. She was born January 28th, 1895. She went on to attend Chippewa Falls High School (Mrs. Charles J. (Irene) Hebert). While in high school, she participated in a lot of school activities. She was on the Monocle Staff and was also the Schatzmeister of the German Club. In her senior year, she was described as “Nobody’s enemy, everybody’s friend.” (Monocle 1914, 1915). Irene then attended Stout University and graduated in 1917. She then did some graduate work at University of California-Berkley and Columbia University (Mrs. Charles J. (Irene) Hebert).
Irene and Charles Hebert – Elks Club Meeting (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
After Rose was finished with her graduate work, she came back to Chippewa Falls and started working at Chippewa Falls Junior and High School. Here, she taught Domestic Science for almost twenty years (City Directories, 1920 Monocle). On February 11th, 1941, she married Charles J. Hebert of Eagle Point (Charles J. Hebert) After their marriage, they moved to work on the Hebert family farm in Eagle Point, where they lived until 1973 (Mrs. Charles J. (Irene) Hebert). They then decided to move back to Chippewa Falls to be closer to their family and friends (City Directories). On March 6th, 1977, Rose passed away and not long after that, Charles passed away on April 28th, 1978 (Social Security Index, Charles J. Hebert).
William Casper (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
William Casper, their second child, was born October 17th, 1902 (Social Security Death Index). He, like his sister, attended Chippewa Falls High School. He was very active in his school days. He was the Senior Class Vice President and he participated in track, football, and basketball. He was even voted Prettiest Boy his senior year (1920 Monocle). After graduation, he went on to attend University of Wisconsin-Madison (1922 Badger). He then graduated from there, and moved to Chicago. While in Chicago, he worked as a Bond Salesman for the First National Bank in 1930 (1930 Federal Census, William Jacob Casper).
In 1933, William moved back to Chippewa Falls and started working at the Brewery (Brewer’s Digest). He worked as a manager from 1934 to about 1940. He became the Vice President and Secretary around 1945, while he was helping re-establish the business after prohibition. He then became the President in 1964, a position he kept until 1971. Finally, from 1971 until his retirement, he served as the Chairman of the Board (City Directories).
As he was working his up in the Brewery, William was doing a lot outside of the business as well. On September 8th, 1942, he enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Force for WWII. He was a 1st Lieutenant and served until 1945 (WWII Army Enlistment Records). Once he came back to Chippewa Falls, he remained a member of the American Legion Post #77 (William Jacob Casper).
Gertrude Casper (Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin)
After coming back from the war, William married Gertrude Treis on April 1st, 1948 in Florida (Gertrude Casper). William and Gertrude were well-known members of the community and always tried to give back. They even have a park named in their honor here in Chippewa Falls (Stetzer, Rod). In fact, both of them participated in the Chippewa County Historical Society and the Chippewa Valley Cultural Association. They both lived out their days here in Chippewa Falls. Gertrude passed away on February 22nd, 1999 and William passed away July 15th, 1999 (Stetzer, Rod).
This branch of the Leinenkugel family tree became a very well-known one. Both generations stayed involved with the Leinenkugel Brewery, and one even brought it back to life after Prohibition. Without this branch of the family, who knows what would have happened?
Chippewa Falls History 