PERRY O. STERETT
Perry O. Sterett, closely connected with important
business interests in Humeston as manager of the Hawkeye
Lumber Company, is a native of Iowa, born in Woodland
township, Decatur county, on the 16th of September,
1878. He is a
son of Albert P. and Anna (Pinkerton) Sterett, natives of
Greene county, Illinois.
The father has passed away, his death having occurred
in Humeston, and the mother makes her home in Albia, Iowa. In their family
were the following children:
William, who died at the age of one year; Joseph, who
resides in Wheatland, Wyoming; Mrs. Nellie Elder, of Canada;
Mrs. Eva Gillis-Rennolds, who makes her home in Agency;
Minnie, of Chariton; Perry O., of this review; Mrs. Lillie
Doolittle, who has passed away; and Jennie, who resides with
her mother in Albia.
Perry O. Sterett acquired his early education in the
public schools of Woodland township and completed it in the
Humeston public schools, his parents having removed to this
city when he was still a child.
In 1902 he began his independent career, engaging in
the restaurant business in Humeston and continuing in it for a
year and a half. At
the end of that time he went to Corydon and there for six
months conducted a similar enterprise, abandoning it in order
to enter the employ of the Hawkeye Lumber Company. He was stationed at
Albia in 1905 and three years later was transferred to
Lovilia, where he remained as manager until October, 1910,
when he was transferred to Humeston, where he is now holding
the same position. The
Hawkeye Lumber Company is one of the most important
manufacturing concerns in the city. It was established in 1905 and since
that time has expanded rapidly, its affairs being managed
along progressive and modern lines. The company deals in all kinds of
building material and numbers among its employees and
officials many able and resourceful business men. By virtue of his
position as its manager Mr. Sterett occupies a prominent and
representative place in business circles and has proved
himself well able to fill it.
Under his management the business has increased in
volume and the markets for the company’s products have
broadened. Everything
is conducted in a practical and systematic manner and the
wheels of the business run smoothly, showing the constant
supervision of an able and enterprising man.
Mr. Sterett married, in March, 1902, Miss Clara
Williams, who was born in Clay township, Wayne county, Iowa,
July 25, 1882. She
is a daughter of Levi and Josephine (Harbard) Williams, who
now reside in Humeston, and she acquired her education in the
public schools of her native section. She is the eldest
of a family of four children, the others being Judson, Cora
and Opal, all of Humeston.
Mr. and Mrs. Sterett have become the parents of two
daughters: Hazel
May, whose birth occurred in Albia on the 2d of May, 1904; and
Anna J., born in Lovilia, March 14, 1910.
Mr. Sterett gives his allegiance to the republican party and, although he never seeks public office, he is yet active and progressive in all matters of citizenship, giving hearty cooperation to movements for the public good. Fraternally he is affiliated with Fidelity Lodge, No. 228, A. F. & A. M. He has already made an enviable reputation in business circles of Humeston and gives every indication of continued progress. Broad, liberal-minded and closely observant, he has carefully noted and utilized his opportunities and has today reached a position among the men in this section who control and direct general industrial development. He intends next spring to erect a fine modern residence in Humeston, and in the meantime he is residing in a comfortable and attractive dwelling which he and his family have made a center of delightful hospitality. Here an atmosphere of culture and refinement prevails, for Mr. Sterett is a wide and discriminating reader, fond of good literature of all kinds, and has gratified that taste by securing a large and well selected library. In business relations he is upright, straightforward and honorable and in his private life genial and courteous—a fine type of a good citizen and an honorable gentleman.