>>What brought your family here? In celebration of St. Louis’ 250th birthday, Town & Style is compiling and sharing tales from readers about family histories in St. Louis. To share your story, email us at tellus@townandstyle.com.
Our grandparents, Scotland-born George Graham and German-born Amelia Mueller, fell in love while crossing the Atlantic by ship. The captain married them, and they later settled in Maplewood. He became the chief engineer of Fairbanks Soap Company in St. Louis, and together with Amelia raised five boys and two girls.
During the Depression, our father, Roy F. Graham, worked for Stock-a-Fire Company, trading furnaces for food or goods. After learning he had a severe heart problem, he bought a car lot a few doors from his home in Webster Groves, where he sold plants. It became Old Orchard Gardens, and eventually expanded to a second location in Manchester. Dad helped Webster Groves grow in many ways. He built the apartment buildings that sit on the Old Orchard property now, as well as the offices across the street. The latter are still owned by the family.
Roy and his wife, St. Louis-born Mildred Marten, daughter of Dr. William Marten, were married one month short of 60 years. They had three children, Robert (deceased), Marilyn Guier of Ballwin and Susanne Jacobsmeyer of Chesterfield, and 12 grandchildren.
—Susanne Graham Jacobsmeyer and Marilyn Graham Guier
Around 1960, my parents, David and Carolyn Phillips, came to St. Louis from Oklahoma and Indiana for local food service jobs. After studying hotel and restaurant management in college, David started working at Pope’s Cafeteria on Manchester Road. In 1985 he founded his own company, Food Service Consultants. Carolyn, who had worked for a local beverage company, became vice president. The couple had seven children together, all of whom worked in some capacity with food or the family business. I carry on the family legacy as executive chef at Balaban’s in Chesterfield. In a typical St. Louis twist, Balaban’s co-owner Steve McIntyre got his first job out of college with my dad.
—D. Scott Phillips
My St. Louis roots go back to my paternal grandfather, who helped sponsor the tent city near today’s Skinker Boulevard at the 1904 World’s Fair. Tent City allowed residents to camp and visit the fair for extended periods.
My father, Elmer Creamer Fewell, earned a degree from Washington University in electrical engineering and worked at Union Electric. My mother was primarily a homemaker and pursued her artistic interests. I was their only child; they settled in North County, primarily Wellston and Normandy for the school district.
I graduated from Normandy High School, where I was an active orchestra member, which led me to music degrees and private teaching. In 1968 I joined the Ladue School District to establish the elementary string programs. A result of that program is the popular Ladue Strolling Strings Ensemble—strolling violins, violas and cellos mingle with the audience and perform in a fashion reminiscent of earlier gypsy violinists across Europe.
—Lois Percival
—Richard Kerckhoff
Complied by Stephanie Zeilenga