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- Casey Hanegraaf
My name is Casey Hanegraaf. I was born in Helmond, Holland in 1895 and immigrated to the United States in 1909 at the age of 14 with my mom and brothers and sisters nine months after my father came to America.
We settled in Kimberly and after a short time working at the Kimberly Mill, I took a job with Gloudemans Department store delivering groceries. In 1918 during WWI, I joined the army and played clarinet in the band. The day I landed in France the war ended. After my discharge, I joined the Kimberly band and later also played with the Little Chute Band.
In 1920, I rented the building on the corner of Grand Avenue and Lincoln Avenue from John Wynboom and formed a partnership with Martin Van Eyck which dissolved after a short time. The building still stands and is now known as Bakers Outlet. After renting for almost 25 years, I bought the building. One year later, I remodeled and made the space larger and had a grand opening in 1947. It was named Hanegraaf's Supermarket. It was the first supermarket in Little Chute. Along with several men from Appleton, I was one of the founding fathers of the United Grocers Association and spend several years as President of the organization. The building was on the site which in now Kraft Pizza. The motto which I lived by was "I find no fault with those who sell for less… they know what their product is worth." My days in the store were long---from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. I did my own bookkeeping which was all done by hand. Because my hours in the store were so long, I spend every Sunday afternoon, whenever possible, with my wife and children. We would go for a drive to Gordon's Drive-In in Appleton and everyone got a chocolate malt. During the 1930's, I tried to help put as many people as possible to get through the depression. Minimum payments were made, sometime as small as .50 cents a week, and it may have taken time, but most customers paid their bill in full. Shop in Little Chute was the rule of the house, if we couldn't find it in Little Chute, we didn't get it.
Greg, my oldest son, worked as my meat cutter and in 1969 purchase the business and after a short time he established Hillcrest Meats and Catering Services. Greg enjoyed working with meats, not groceries. I enjoyed just the opposite.
Sheephead is my favorite card game, along with the regulars, Pete Vanden Heuvel, Arnie Deering, and Heinie Verbeten. Whenever a new assistant priest came to St. John's, he was indoctrinated into the game.
In 1922 I married Bets Verstynen who also emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland. Together we raised six children; Betty, Celine, Greg, Joe, Lou, and Jack. We had a good marriage. We were a religious family and always adhered to the rules and preaching of the Catholic Church. The Rosary was recited every evening and mass was attended six days a week.
I retired in 1971 and went to my rest in 1975.
My name is David Flanagan. I am Casey Hanegraaf's grandson.
Little Chute Historical Society Cemetery Walk 2009
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