Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
GANTZ, John J. Sr.
Gantz, John J. Sr. (Dubuque, IA, July 31, 1922--Dubuque, IA, Nov. 20, 1994). In 1916 L. B. Gantz established the Gantz Bottling Works. He sold the company to his son, John J. Gantz, Sr., in 1917 and it became the NORTH END CARBONATING COMPANY. In the early 1920s, the company was renamed LIME ROCK SPRINGS COMPANY for the natural springs on which the bottling facility was originally constructed.
In 1936, the company obtained the Pepsi franchise and maintained an exclusive distributorship of the product within a fifty mile radius of Dubuque.
Gantz started Vendors Unlimited in 1948. The company provided a full line of vending supplies including beverages, snacks, food and office coffee. With his family, he was involved in the purchase of the "West Virginia Belle" in Charleston, West Virginia, and Noah's Ark Water Amusement Park in the Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. (1) His son, John J. GANTZ, Jr. assumed the management of the company.
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Source:
1. Bergstrom, Kathy. "Water Park." Telegraph Herald, Apr. 28, 1994, p. 1. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ll9FAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AbwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6115,5926883&dq=dubuque+water+company&hl=en
Obituaries, John J. Gantz, Jr. Telegraph Herald, July 28, 2005
Schmidt, Eileen Mozinski, "Back to the Grind," Telegraph Herald, Dec. 26, 2010
