Titus Hutzel Dies After Long Illness

Titus Hutzel Dies After Long Illness
Member of Pioneer Ann Arbor Family Was 89 Years Old
Titus F. Hutzel, one of Ann Arbor’s pioneer businessmen, a civic official for more than a half century and member of one of Washtenaw county’s oldest families, died at his home, 717 W. Huron St., this morning. He was 89 years old. Mr. Hutzel had been in ill health for a long period.
Aside from his long business career as clerk, junior partner and then senior partner in what is now the Hutzel & Co. plumbing concern, Mr. Hutzel was long active in the city’s political and civic life, having served at various times as an alderman, board member and president of the board of public works, trustee of the Forest Hill Cemetery Association and superintendent of construction for the Ann Arbor Waterworks Co.
A native of Ann Arbor and the son of August F. and Sophia Mann Hutzel, Mr. Hutzel was born here on Feb. 18, 1855. He was educated in Ann Arbor’s public school system.
In 1933 he received public recognition for 47 years of “meritorious public service” when the Erwin Prieskorn post of the American Legion selected Mr. Hutzel for the post’s distinguished service citation.
Joined Father In Business
After spending some time in Detroit, during which he learned the tinner’s trade, Mr. Hutzel returned to Ann Arbor and became associated with his father, who had established a general merchandise business on S. Main St. in 1857. The Hutzels entered the plumbing business in 1872 when Mr. Hutzel, his brother Herman, and their father all held interests in the firm.
In 1878, Mr. Hutzel became a partner in the firm and continued as such until his retirement in 1915 at the time his son, August F. Hutzel became a firm partner.
Mr. Hutzel participated in the original planning of the Ann Arbor water plant and served, from 1886 until 1915, as superintendent of the Ann Arbor Water Co., which supplied the city with water until the plant was taken over by the city in 1915.
On Board 17 Years
He became a member of Ann Arbor’s board of public works in December, 1916, and served continuously for 17 years, five of them as board president, until retirement in June, 1933. He served the city as an alderman in 1902-03.
For 22 years, from 1916 until 1938, Mr. Hutzel was superintendent of the Forest Hill Cemetery Co. He held the title, superintendent-emeritus, until his death.
Mr. Hutzel was a life member of the Elks Lodge, served that organization as a trustee for several years, was a Mason and a Knight Templar. He was also a member of the Bethlehem Evangelical and Reformed church.
Mr. Hutzel’s first wife, the former Emma Brehm, Ann Arbor, whom he married May 16, 1883, died on March 17, 1908. He later married Eda Lindermann. She died Aug. 28, 1941.
Survivors include a sister, Miss Charlotte Hutzel, Detroit; four daughters, Miss Eleanore Hutzel, prominent Detroit policewoman, and Mrs. Lewis H. Haskins, both of Detroit; Mrs. Lee L. Waterbury, Lapeer, and Mrs. Philip Heartt, New Canaan, Conn; a son, August F. Hutzel, Ann Arbor, and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the residence with Rev. Theodore Schmale officiating. Burial will be in Forest Hill cemetery. Friends may call at the residence tomorrow afternoon and night.
IMAGE TEXT: TITUS F. HUTZEL TAKEN BY DEATH: One of Ann Arbor’s oldest businessmen and member of a pioneer Washtenaw county family, Titus F. Hutzel, 89 years old, died at his W. Huron St. home this morning.