McCook's Suess-Harris connection

Soon the "Lots To Love" women's apparel stores will close their doors forever.

The chain consists of some 45 stores located nationwide, from coast to coast, border to border, with the corporate office in McCook. We will miss the McCook store, but the loss felt here will be more than just the loss of that one store. For the first time in more than 100 years the McCook business community will be without the very positive influence of the Suess/Harris family -- J.T. Harris, President of Lots to Love, back to his father, John T. Hams, back to John T.'s father-in-law, Louis Suess.

Part 1 -- Louis Suess

Louis Suess was born in Decorah, Iowa in 1870, and came west with his missionary family in the mid 1880s. His father. the Rev. William Suess, became the guiding force in starting a number of churches in Southwest Nebraska, first at Culbertson, later in McCook, with the founding of the first Westside Congregational (German) Church. He also found time to file a homestead claim, southwest of McCook.

His ministerial duties required him to travel extensively, so it fell upon his son, Louis, a lad of 15, to live on the homestead, so that residency requirements for the land could be fulfilled, while his father was away preaching.

In 1896 Louis began his career as a merchant and went to work for the business that eventually became DeGroff's Store. Over the years he acquired equity in the store, and in 1927 he became sole owner. In the heyday of department stores, DeGroffs was the shining example in Southwest Nebraska of such a store, and was a magnet that drew countless customers to McCook from a three state area.

In 1930 The Nebraska Federation of Retail Merchants honored Mr. Suess, when he was chosen as a Nebraska Master Merchant.

Mr. Suess was civic-minded. In addition to his work with the DeGroff's Store, he was one of the organizers and the secretary-treasurer of the Clya Products Co., which operated a brick factory in West McCook. That factory furnished the bricks for many of the area's early buildings. He was also President of the McCook Milling Co.

Mr. Suess served on the Board of Directors for the McCook Commercial Club (Chamber of Commerce) for many years. He was an active member of the Congregational Church, President of the Rotary Club, a member of the McCook Board of Education for 11 years, and an active member of the various Masonic organizations.

Mr. Suess believed strongly in the youth of the community, and served as a Director of the McCook YMCA for a number of years. It was not generally known at the time, but in 1925 Mr. Suess took out a personal loan at the bank, so that the city could match his gift, enabling the YMCA facility (at Norris & E. St.) to be built.

Mr. Suess not only had great faith in the community, but also in his own judgment. He was sure that there was oil in Southwest Nebraska and invested large sums in trying to develop that industry. Unfortunately his money only served to drill dry holes -- each dry hole, he maintained, brought him just that much closer to success.

Mr. Suess did not live on the farm after his boyhood days. However, he always loved his farm and the challenges that agriculture in Southwest Nebraska offered. With other local forward-thinking ag leaders of the day, such as John Cordeal and Ed Hoyt, he worked closely with the University of Nebraska in pioneering the latest advancements in farm and ranch management in our area. He was one of the early proponents of bringing irrigation to the farms in the Republican River Valley.

Louis Suess was married in the late 1880s to Kate Schmidt. Kate passed away in 1892, leaving Louis to care for two little girls, Gertrude and Martha. In 1902 Mr. Suess married again, this time to Ethel Oyster. The couple had one daughter, Eleanor, who later became Mrs. John T. Harris, of Opelika, Ala.

Ethel Oyster Suess was a pioneer in her own right. Long before the feminist movement, she worked at DeGroff's Store, at a time when there were very few women working downtown. Initially she endured a good deal of negative feeling -- there were dire predictions about employing women in business -- business was thought to be a 100 percent male domain. Ethel Suess certainly proved that women could be productive in business. Louis died in 1943, but Ethel continued to work at DeGroff's as she was needed. At the time of her death in 1962 she had worked at DeGroffs, as an employee or owner/manager for over 50 years.

The depression years of the 1930s were difficult years for businesses in Nebraska.

Jobs were scarce, and wages were very low for those who were fortunate enough to have a job. There was no such thing as medical insurance. There were no food stamps, and the government programs that were in place were inadequate in supporting a family. At that time DeGroiff's Store was a leading seller of groceries in McCook.

Dr. John Batty of Mc-Cook remembers that as a schoolboy he worked at DeGroff'ss Store on Saturdays. As farmers brought eggs to town, to trade for groceries, John would help unload the egg crates, then candle to eggs -- from noon till 9 p.m. -- for $2!

Like most hometown stores of the day, DeGroffs Store sold groceries on credit, and because of Mr. Suess' generous nature the store had a lenient credit policy. People paid as they could, but a great many people could not. Some left the Midwest for the promise of greener pastures in California and Oregon, leaving unpaid bills behind. By the time the 30s came to a close DeGrofFs store, as well as the other grocery stores in McCook, had files bulging with unpaid grocery bills. Even for a big store like DeGroffs the burden was heavy.

World War II added its share of problems for businesses, and DeGroffs was not immune to those problems. Products to sell were either rationed, or in short supply and hard to get. The problem of men leaving for military service, trickled down to all businesses, and Mr. Suess along with his contemporaries, struggled to keep "business as usual"--bringing employees out of retirement, or relying on less than reliable help and teenagers, and/or working countless hours of overtime.

To add to all of these problems was the fact that Mr. Suess was past 70 years old, a time that most men are retired or at least tapering off from a busy career. The pressure of the situation undoubtedly took its toll on the health of this strong man. In 1943 LouisSuess passed away and was buried at McCook's Memorial Park Cemetery.

After Louis' death Ethel Suess took over active management of DeGroff's store, with the aid of her brother, Howard Oyster, and loyal long time employees of the firm.

She would continue this active management of the store for two more years. It is ironic, and very sad, that Louis Suess, who was so optimistic about the future of McCook, of DeGrofFs Store, and of a Southwest Nebraska oil industry, could not live to see all three blossom, which they did in the years after World War II.

Next week -- McCook's Man From Alabama

Source: Trails West, by R. Ray & L. Rutledge--Photos, courtesy Gazette Centennial, 1882-1982