Alfred Tenneyson Hipke - Obit

A. T. Hipke Dead At 87 In New Holstein
NEW HOLSTEIN—Alfred T Hipke, for years one of Calumet County's leading citizens, industrialists and dairy farmer, is dead.

Mr. Hipke, who was 87, reportedly died in his sleep about midmorning Tuesday at his home here, 2114 Randolph St. The founder of A. T. Hipke and Sons Canning Co. in 1899, he had continued as chairman of the firm's board of directors, making almost daily visits to the plant. Despite his advanced age, Mr. Hipke had continued to enjoy robust health, complaining of no serious illness. He was widely known and respected throughout the Wisconsin food canning and dairying industries.

A native of Manitowoc County, Mr. Hipke was born in the Town of Schleswig, July 22, 1873, a son of the late Jacob and Elizabeth Schroeder Hipke. He was educated at Chilton High School and in 1899 founded the vegetable canning company at New Holstein, which firm still bears his name and of which he was president for years.

Two of his four sons are officers in the company. Gilbert, who is Calumet County assemblyman and a County Board supervisor, is president, while Richard is treasurer. The other surviving sons are Howard, New Holstein, and Robert, Milwaukee. Mr. Hipke also leaves 10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and a brother, Arthur S., veteran Chilton druggist. His wife, the former Mary Vollstedt, who he married on May 12, 1896, at New Holstein, died in July, 1942.

As early at 1904, Mr. Hipke played a leading part in organizing the Wisconsin Canners Association, of which he was a past president. He built up one of the first pure bred Holstein dairy herds in Calumet County about 1907 and started the first contoured and strip-cropped farm in this section of Wisconsin. He was a pioneer in fighting tuberculosis in dairy herds and promoted cow testing programs. He also helped organize county fair programs and farm cooperatives, while taking a leading part in numerous civic and business ventures.

A great admirer and supporter of the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture, Mr. Hipke presented the school with a $1,000 check in 1953 as "an expression of my faith" in it. Said he at the time: "The college and its extension service has been a source of valuable service and great pride to me throughout my 54 years of association with it…"