LOTT, Herman

Family History: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ftm109&id=I01460

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

LOTT, Herman.(St. Louis, MO, Dec. 8, 1900-Dubuque, IA, Sept. 5, 1981) and his wife Marcella (Summer) (Dyersville, IA, Feb. 6, 1900--Dubuque, IA, Nov. 29, 1987) were active in the development council at CLARKE COLLEGE and supporting MERCY HEALTH CENTER.

Herman Lott began his career in the mercantile business in his hometown working for the Ely-Walker Wholesale Dry Goods Company. He worked during the day and attended business college at night for four years. On January 1, 1923, he changed jobs and began working for the J. C. PENNEY COMPANY in St. Louis. He had barely started there when he was moved to the St. Paul, Minnesota central buying office where he was supervising piece goods orders from across the United States. Looking for more background in merchandising, he requested manager training and was moved to Marshalltown, Iowa.

Within eight months, Lott was moved to Dubuque to the Penney store at 10th and Main as the assistant manager. He was promoted to manager in 1923, but was moved to Davenport for one and a half years. He returned to Dubuque in 1925 and remained the manager of the J. C. Penney store in Dubuque for thirty-six years. (1)

During his life, he purchased and then protected 1,300 historically valuable acres of ground including the MINES OF SPAIN south of Dubuque. In 1948 Lott donated an access road and 12.3 acres for Julien Dubuque Park which would surround the JULIEN DUBUQUE MONUMENT. (2) Lott and his wife sold part and donated sections of land, valued at approximately three million dollars, to the State of Iowa during public ceremonies held in December 1980.

In the community, Lott was a past director of the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce and served two years as the chairman of the Chamber's Retail Merchants Bureau. He served on the executive committee of the Boy Scouts, and two years as chairman of a committee to develop CITY ISLAND. In 1944 and 1945 during WORLD WAR II, Lott was chairman of the War Fund Community Chest Drive. He was one of the seven original members of the Civil Defense Board and was given the responsibility for setting up Dubuque County ration boards. In 1965 Lott served as the spokesman for Dubuque three-man County-City Authority which was investigating the possibilities for such a building in Dubuque. (3)

In 1983 $10,000 was donated from the Marcella Lott Trust Fund toward the $74,500 cost of gilding the dome of the DUBUQUE COUNTY COURTHOUSE.

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Source:

1. "Herman Lott Retires; 38 Years with Penney's," Telegraph Herald, January 29, 1961, p. 26

2. Stowell, John. "Julien Dubuque Park Access Road Still 'Mired,' " Telegraph-Herald, May 3, 1964, p. 9

3. "County Officials Visit County-City Complex," Telegraph-Herald, June 6, 1965, p. 27