Encyclopedia Dubuque
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FRANTZEN, J. P.
FRANTZEN, John P. (Alton, IA, Nov. 30, 1873--Dubuque, IA, Aug. 29, 1938). Frantzen's parents settled in Mosalem Township in Dubuque County in 1870, but later moved to Alton where he was born. At the age of five, he returned to Mosalem Township to live with an uncle, Nicholas Frantzen. (1)
He was educated in the country schools of Mosalem Township and from 1889-1890 taught school at District School No. 1 near Massey Staton. He entered the North Indiana Normal School (Later Valparaiso University) in 1890 and graduated in 1890 with a bachelor's degree in science. He then accepted an appointment as superintendent of school in Kennedy, Texas. He returned to Valparaiso the following year to enter the law school. While studying law, he served two years as a manager of the school's commerce school and was an instructor in stenography. (2)
Frantzen graduated in 1895 and returned to Dubuque. Frantzen, a two-year president of the Dubuque County Bar Association, was a partner in the legal firm of Matthews and Frantzen in Dubuque. Later he was associated with Thomas J. FITZPATRICK. At the time of his death, Frantzen practiced law with Louis FAUTSCH, Sr.. He served as a director and attorney for the GERMAN TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK. (3)
Prominent in Catholic activities in the community, Frantzen served as a member of the Board of Regents of COLUMBIA COLLEGE, Board of Trustees of the Church of the Nativity, and compiled many years of service in the ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY. He was a past master of the Fourth Degree Assembly of the Dubuque Council of the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS and a past grand knight of the council.
Frantzen served the Democratic Party at both the county and state levels, but he never sought political office and declined nomination to the district court. He was chairman of the Democratic District Judicial Committee for many years. (4)
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Source:
1. "John Frantzen Dies Suddenly," Telegraph-Herald, August 29, 1938, p. 1
2. Ibid.
3. Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago : Goodspeed Historical Association, 1911, p. 665
4. "John Frantzen..."