Harry Degen, deceased, was for more than a decade actively identified with mercantile interests in Bartlesville as the proprietor of a department store which is still being conducted by his widow and which is one of the best establishments of the kind in the city. He was born in Austria on the 11th of November, 1875, and when a lad of twelve years accompanied his parents on their emigration to the United States. He worked for his relatives in Kansas until twenty-seven years of age, when in association with his uncle he established the firm of Degen & Company for the conduct of a clothing store in Pittsburg, Kansas. The year 1910 witnessed his arrival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where he established the Degen dry goods store on the corner of Third and Dewey streets, conducting the enterprise successfully to the time of his demise on April 16, 1921. His honorable business dealings and earnest desire to please his patrons won him the confidence and support of the public to such a degree that he enjoyed a large and profitable trade. Since his death the establishment has been conducted by his widow, who has placed a manager in charge thereof.
Twenty-five people are employed in the store, which carries a stock valued at about fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Degen erected a modern business block 6n Third street, between Osage and Dewey streets, and was widely recognized as one of the substantial and representative citizens of Bartlesville.
On November 24, 1904, Mr. Degen was united in marriage to Miss Frances Jacoby and they became parents of three children, namely: Louis, who is fifteen years of age and is attending the Western Military Academy at Alton, Illinois; Bertha, who is a junior in the high school: and Harriet Esther. The family resides in a beautiful home at No. 729 Delaware avenue.
Mr. Degen was a thirty-second degree Mason, belonged to the Mystic Shrine and likewise held membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret, for he had gained an extensive and favorable acquaintance during the period of his residence in Bartlesville and was very popular in business as well as social circles here. Mrs. Degen is also well known and highly esteemed throughout the city as a woman of many estimable and admirable traits of character.