Documents

Frank Haller helped build much of today's Hollister 

Thursday was a special day for Frank Haller, as his brother, Edwin and his wife came from Los Gatos to have luncheon and celebrate his birthday. In' the evening he and his wife were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cushman at Sugar Plum Farm. 

Frank Haller, a retired lumberman, was born in Wichita, Kan. Sept. 2, more years ago than he likes to remember. He was one of eight children born to the Rev. and Mrs. John Haller who had come from Germany in their youth. The Rev. Haller served German Methodist parishes in many parts of Kansas which means that the children attended many schools during their growing up years. 

Lower- grade studies completed, Haller attended business college at Abilene, Kan., studying to be a court reporter. His grades were tops but his big hands, inherited from his German parents, would not skim over the typewriter keys as. rapidly as they should.

Instead of going into the courts, Haller worked on farms surrounding Abilene and he recalls going to the Eisenhower Creamery along the railroad tracks to buy milk from the elder Eisenhower, father of the late president. "I never knew the boys because they were much younger than I," he said, adding that he might have played ball against them but never with them. 

After working on harvesters and thrashing machines for a few seasons, Haller obtained work clerking in a general store in Woodbine, Kan. After a time his employer wanted to replace Haller b but before discharging him found him a similar job in nearby Hope, Kan. It was in a general store and Haller remained there for about 12 years. The owner and Haller became close friends and the Hallers visited with his old employer in 1959. "He looked on me a as a son," he said. 

There was no vacation time alloted in those 'early years so periodically Haller quit his job in the general store. In a few weeks, when the boss decided he had had enough free time, he called him in to hire him again. 

Haller and his brother came to California in 1917 to operate a shoe store in Los Gatos. World War I took Edwin into the service, leaving Frank alone to run the shoe store. Then came his call to arms. He was unable to find a manager for the store so he sold it and was to report for duty Nov. 11, 1918. That was the day the Armistice was signed and he was excused from army duty. But his business was gone and he was without a job. He soon found employment with Sterling Lumber Co. in Los Gatos and worked there two years before that company purchased the Schochetti lumber yard in Hollister. 

It was a small operation and Haller was sent to Hollister to try to build up the business. "Our business was so small and there was no office SO I just carried the company books around in my pocket," he recalls.

The lumber yard had replaced the old Thompson Business College on First and Thompson Streets, and has since been sold to Hayward Lumber Co. Haller continued as manager of the lumber yard until retirement 12 years ago. 

He recalls that Sterling Lumber Co. provided lumber for construction of Hotel Holland, the Bank of America at the corner of Fifth and San Benito Streets. He said that Dr. E. C. Sheldon's home on Seventh Street was the first big home that he provided lumber for. During his first year in Hollister, Haller recalls that his company provided lumber for 41 homes, three rooms and larger. 

Haller and Grace Austin Ebi were married in 1944 and have resided on Fourth Street since then. The Hallers have traveled to Hawaii, to Europe and the Orient, as well as Canada and much of the United States. 

Radio and television provide interests, particularly the ball games, as Haller loved to play ball during his youth in Kansas. In earlier years he was a member of the Hollister Exchange Club and has been a member of both the Masonic Lodge and Order of Easter Star for more than 50 years, making his first Masonic affiliation with a Kansas Lodge.