Ortis C.
Huber
The Shelbyville Republican
Monday October 27, 1947
Page 2 column 4
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ORTIS C. HUBER
(Picture)
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With his inevitable cigar in a black
rubber holder, we found Ortis C. (Dick) Huber, maintenance man
for the DePrez Ice and Coal Company, at his home in an easy chair
indulging in his favorite pastime - reading. He spends most of his off
duty hours reading, fiction mostly, and has between 200 and 300 books
in his library.
“Dick” isn’t sure why he’s
called that but its been almost his official name since one of his
bosses who couldn’t remember “Ortis” tagged him with it when he
was a young man. Then too, Richard was his father’s name and he
supposes it was natural that the nickname be passed on to him.
As to occupation, Mr. Huber thinks
most people arrive at their life work through a sort of “trial and
error” method and he’ll wager that people who have found work
they like best have arrived at that stage by trying out any number of
jobs. And he could know, because he did quite a variety of things
before going to the DePrez Company in 1931. And the figure “2”
seemed to be predominate in his work life. He stayed at each of the
jobs just about that length of time.
When a young man Mr. Huber thought he
wanted to be a school teacher (now he thinks that was probably
because the pay those days was better in proportion to other jobs) so
after graduating from the Fairland high school in 1910 - with the
school’s first commissioned graduating class - he attended Marion
Norman School and then taught at the old Hankins school in Brandywine
township for one year. But that was long enough to convince him
that teaching wasn’t his bent. He’s happiest when he’s doing
“something with his hands.” “I can get along with people,”
he says, “and have had a number of men working under me but I’m
better satisfied when actually doing something instead of overseeing.
So after a year of teaching three R’s,
he worked on a farm for a while and in 1912, after marrying Miss
Elnora Arnold on January 29, 1911, he moved to Shelbyville and
then came the “two-year cycle.” His first work here was with the
former Frame Canning Company on East Washington Street-for two years. Then came a two-year period of selling farm implements for
Verne
Shepple and next he went with the Shelby Milk and Cream Company.
This company was operated by the late A. E. Rehme and was
located on Fourth street, where Mr. Rehme later operated the
Coca-Cola Plant.
About this time he
decided the auto sales business might be a good thing to try so he
took a job with the late H. C. Sorden who ran an agency on East
Broadway. Following his general trend toward machinery he then went
into partnership in a machine shop with Albert Degelow with
quarters where the Meloy Gift Shop now stands. The next two years
saw him in poor health and upon recuperating sufficiently he went to
the Sunlit Garage in 1922 to work as head mechanic for Al
Herschfeld, who had built the garage in 1916. He stayed there
until 1927 and then for two years operated a garage in Fairland. When things began getting bad for the auto repair
business - as well as
every other kind - in 1929 he came back here to work for the Shelby
Canning Company until 1931. The two-year “stretches” ended then.
He’s been with the DePrez Company since that time. Serving in
about all capacities, mechanic, stoker and furnace man, engineer,
plant manager and between 1941 and 1944 he was plant superintendent. Now, his health isn’t too good and he only “works when he feels
like it and when needed.”
So now you
find this quiet man who self-styles himself a “very ordinary
citizen” - not realizing perhaps that there are more “ordinary
citizens” in this world than any other kind - at his home at 224 East
South street with a book in his hand and perhaps looking forward to
an evening of cards with his wife and old friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Huber have two sons and
three daughters, Roland, who resides near Fairland; Mrs.
Leo Shaw, of near Waldron, and Richard, Mrs. James Jones
and Mrs. Chet Hamilton, all of Shelbyville. They also have
eight grandchildren of whom they’re pretty proud.
Contributed by Barb Huff
Notes from Virginia Flesher:
Ortis Calvin Huber was born in Shelby County, Indiana, January 6, 1891., He registered for WWI
in Shelby County and lived at 307 East Hendricks, Shelbyville. His occupation was
automobile mechanic. He also registered for WWII; his address was 224 East South St, and he worked
for Daniel DePrez Mfg then. He died Shelbyville, October, 1982. His parents,
Richard "Dick" Huber and Martha, are buried at Lewis
Creek.
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