Fred G. Christmann, president of the Christmann Veneer & Lumber Company of St. Louis, organized the business in 1917 and through the intervening period has built up a trade of very gratifying proportions. He is a young man of determination, energy and ambition, alert and enterprising and he never stops short of the successful accomplishment of his purpose nor have his methods ever been called in question. He builds along constructive lines in the attainment of success and has therefore won a creditable name as well as gratifying prosperity. Born in St. Louis on the 21st of July, 1887, he is a son of F. W. and Christine (Hesselbacher) Christmann. The father was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1857, and when about eighteen years of age came to America, settling in St. Louis where he engaged in the lumber business, continuing active in this line to the time of his death, which occurred in January, 1919. His wife was born in Pendleton, Missouri, in 1865, and they were married in St. Louis. Mrs. Christmann is still living and by her marriage she became the mother of two sons, Fred G. and W. E. A.
In the public schools Fred G. Christmann pursued his early education and also attended Frieden’s school. He initiated his business career as a clerk and assistant in the yard of the P. B. Little Lumber Company and subsequently became connected with the Charles F. Luehrmann Hardwood Lumber Company. His entire experience has been along the line of the lumber trade and thus he has gained broad knowledge of the business-a knowledge that served as an excellent foundation upon which to build a superstructure of his success. In 1917 he organized the Christmann Veneer & Lumber Company of which he is the president and through the intervening period has built up a business of very gratifying proportions. The company furnished supplies for the government during the war period such as airplane and box material.
On the 5th of December, 1908, Mr. Christmann was married to Miss Ids Lindhorst, a daughter of William Lindhorst, and they have become parents of three children: Irene, Adele and Vernon, who are with their parents at No. 4325 College avenue. Mr. Christmann finds recreation in fishing, athletics and outdoor sports. He is a member of Frieden’s Evangelical church, is identified with the Chamber of Commerce and is chairman of the Bryan Hill School Patrons Association. He is also a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association, Missouri Auto Club, and the Automobile Club of St. Louis. In Masonry he has taken high degrees for he is a Knights Templar of Ivanhoe Commandery and also Royal Arch Mason and a member of Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he is keenly interested in all that pertains to public welfare and to the advancement of high standards in connection with civic interests. He was unanimously elected president of the Lumbermen’s Exchange of St. Louis. This exchange consists of nearly one hundred leading lumbermen in St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, and other cities and he is also a member of the Hoo-Hoos.