Nels T. Eckberg Page 602-603 - Nels T. Eckberg is one of the progressive business men of Grand Rapids, where he owns and conducts two well equipped and attractively appointed drug stores – one at 200 Union avenue, northeast, and the other at 1501 Plainfield avenue. Mr. Eckberg was born in Sweden, December 5, 1882, and is a son of Martin and Hannah Eckberg, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom still maintains her residence in Grand Rapids, where the family home was established more than thirty years ago. The subject of this sketch is the eldest in a family of five children, of whom one son died in infancy; Oscar is manager of the Eckberg Automobile Company, Grand Rapids; Bertha B. is the wife of Roy F. Springer, president and manager of the Standard Automobile Company, having the Grand Rapids agency for the Ford and Lincoln cars, and Fordson tractors, and Miss Helen C. is cashier for the Standard Automobile Company. Nels T. Eckberg was about nine years of age at the time the family came from Sweden and established a home in Grand Rapids. Here he attended the public schools and the Grand Rapids Business College, and after taking a course in pharmacy he found employment in the drug store of Peck Brothers, one of the old and important concerns of the kind in the city. While gaining practical experience in this connection he also applied himself diligently to study, with the result that he was finally enabled to pass the required examination before the state board and gain rank as a registered pharmacist. Later he was employed for a time in the Warres drug store. In 1906 Mr. Eckberg engaged independently in the drug business, and for eleven years he conducted a store at the corner of Bridge and Pine streets. He then sold this store, and for a time thereafter he gave his attention to the automobile business, he being still financially interested in the Standard Automobile Company, of which mention has been made earlier in this review. In 1918 Mr. Eckberg opened his present drug store at 200 Union avenue, northeast, and in this attractive residential district of the city he has developed a substantial and prosperous business, with a representative and appreciative supporting patronage, a postoffice sub-station being maintained in the store. In September, 1924, Mr. Eckberg further showed his progressive spirit and his good judgment by opening his drug store at 1501 Plainfield avenue, and here, likewise, courteous and efficient service is bringing substantial success to the enterprise. Mr. Eckberg has won advancement through his own ability and efforts, has worked with utmost diligence in making his way to the goal of independence and prosperity, and he has so ordered his course as to merit and receive the uniform confidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life. His interests have centered in his home and his business, and thus he has had no desire to identify himself with clubs or fraternal organizations. He is loyal and liberal in his civic attitude, is a Republican in politics, and he is a member of the National Association of Retail Druggists, besides being a popular and influential member of the Grand Rapids Association of Retail Druggists, of which he has served as president, his professional affiliations being further extended to the Michigan Pharmaceutical Association. He and his family are communicants of Bethlehem Lutheran church. In the year 1911 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Eckberg to Miss Anna Victoria Nelson of Grand Rapids, and their one child is a daughter, Anna Elizabeth.

Transcriber: Nancy Myers
Created: 13 December 2002