A life sweetened by work, family
A life sweetened by work, family
Who: Howard W. Gerstenberger, 94, of Olathe, a World War II veteran and a retired executive of Russell Stover Candies. When and how he died: Jan. 29, of a respiratory infection. F irst a farm boy: Raised on a farm near Blue Mound, Kan., he adhered to the ethics of hard work, humility and responsibility. He wanted to be a farmer, but when drought settled in, he moved to the city. He arrived in Kansas City in the mid-1930s with $10 in his pocket. First he worked as a short-order cook, then a shoe salesman, said his son Dean Gerstenberger. He was hired to work for Russell Stover in 1937, first as a temporary employee. But Russell Stover took a liking to him and eventually took Gerstenberger under his wing. Climbing the Candyland ladder: Gerstenberger started as a janitor, then worked as a security guard and later as a plant manager.
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