. . . Englert Family in Iowa City From Pioneer Years Forward
The locally prominent Englert family was based in nineteenth century patriarch Louis, who in 1853 opened and operated City Brewery at 315 Market Street, the original of three historic Iowa City breweries which together served the large local German and Bohemian populations with enough capacity for a large portion of eastern Iowa. Louis' son John developed a successful ice (winter cut, summer sales) and wood (summer cut, winter sales) business, which Will and his half brothers Clarence (Bumps) and John (Jack) eventually ran jointly as their father's successors.
A 1926 fire destroyed the original interior of the Englert, but a determined remarried Englert widow, Etta Chopek Englert Hanlon, envisioned a redesigned and greatly enhanced ornamentation of its interior to her liking.
The reconstruction cost $125,000, which is equal to $1.6 million in 2012 dollars. Among other design alterations, she eliminated eight box seating areas, each with six seats, hanging from the side walls. They had been considered fire traps even while under construction during 1912.
Will Englert had died during 1920 at a youthful 46 from "a nervous breakdown and cerebral hemorrhage" (stroke) in a bedroom of his home in the Englert Theatre building. Englert management briefly was the province of William M. McKenzie.
A year after her first husband's death, Etta Englert was remarried at age 38 to barber James J. Hanlon, whose shop was beside the ticket booth at street level of the Englert building, a spot previously occupied by Englert Candy Nook, which was moved into the theater lobby. Englert management by Etta and her new husband followed.
During a portion of the 1930s Great Depression years, Hanlon also managed the local Falstaff beer distributorship. He earlier had owned and operated Iowa City Fruit Co. Etta Chopek Englert Hanlon died at age 69 in 1952, shortly after the death of her second husband. She bore no children from either marriage.
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