Charles B. Judy

Page 452-453 - Charles B. Judy, of the A. G. Van Allsburg Casket Company, of Grand Rapids, was born in Fredonia, Mercer county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1879, the son of Mathias J. and Amanda (Slater) Judy, the former of whom was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1847 and the later in 1857. The grandparents of Charles B. Judy were among the first settlers of that county in the Quaker state, and his father was a prominent farmer in the same county throughout his life. Charles B. Judy received his education in the public schools of Mercer county after which he secured employment with the Spearman Iron Company, of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. Later he was employed at the Mabel Iron Company plant in the same city. After continuing in this work for a time, he went to work for the Pennsylvania railroad on the division west of Pittsburgh. It was following his period of employment on the railroad, that he first became engaged in the casket making business in which he was destined to become so successful. His first position of this sort was with the Freedom Casket Company, of Freedom, Pennsylvania, and after thoroughly learning the rudiments of the business there, he went to Allegan, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Owen Arnold Casket Company. He next became associated with the Grand Rapids, the Furniture City, the Wolverine, and the A. G. Van Allsburg Casket Companies in the order named. When he had been employed in the last concern for a year, he, in partnership with Louis N. Spring bought out A. G. Van Allsburg in 1921. The partners have continued to operate the firm since that time under the same name, and under their management, the company is rapidly increasing its business. It enjoys an extensive trade throughout the lower peninsula of Michigan and in the northern sections of Illinois and Indiana. Mr. Judy has come to be recognized as a keen business man and a substantial citizen of Grand Rapids where his business associates regard him as a distinct asset to the commercial life of the city. On October 1, 1901, Mr. Judy married Miss Bessie J. Davis, the daughter of Andrew P. Davis, of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and to this union have been born five children as follows: Lavesta, aged twenty-two years; Ella, aged nineteen; Benjamin, seventeen years old; Robert, aged fifteen, and Charles, Jr., thirteen years old. Mr. Judy is a member of the Grand Rapids local of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also a member of the Protective Home Circle of Sharon, Pennsylvania.