Harold J. Huber (1902)

Born 1902 in New York, USA

Ancestors

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Biography

Few people knew Lancaster as well and served it with more loyalty as Harold J. Huber, The Lancaster Village Highway Superintendent was forced to retire when he turned 70 in 1972. He had been at the post for 44 years. He never earned more than $7,000 a year.

His accomplishments in public works, his love for the Village and his recordkeeping staggered the imaginations of seven different mayors and many boards of trustees. He kept the Village going despite floods, horrendous snow storms, poverty and disaster.

Huber started his career in Lancaster in early spring of 1928 as an assistant for Superintendent Charles H. Wing. When Wing quit three months later, the keys were thrown on Huber's desk. He started as the acting Superintendent, and was soon appointed to the permanent spot in 1929.

The job had its share of challenges. The catastrophe of the Depression cast a terrible pall over the Village as Huber remembered formerly affluent neighbors begging for work. Huber applied for relief projects and employed as many as he could.

The Flood of 1937 did $3 million worth of damage which resulted in the $3 million federal relief project. Another difficult time came when the boiler exploded in the American Legion building.

Among his many accomplishments is a condensation of the Village board minutes for the last 148 years through 1954. Huber was replaced by Dick Bulman in 1972, another home run for the Village.

The Hubers have been in Lancaster for 5 generations. His beloved grandfather, George, held many posts in the Village, including Public Works Superintendent, fire chief and town justice before he died in 1946. His brother, Joseph, was Village Police Chief, serving for nearly 40 years before retiring in 1983. (1)

St. Mary of the Assumption,Lancaster,Erie County,New York F

Irving Oswald, Joe Brown Jr., Harold Huber, Gorden J. Walter, Robert Brown During the great flood of 1937

Sources

• 1910 United States Census, Lancaster, Erie, New York
• 1920 United States Census, Lancaster, Erie, New York, United States
• 1930 United States Census, Lancaster, Erie, New York, United States
• 1940 United States Census, Ward 1, Lancaster, Lancaster Town, Erie, New York, United States
• MARGARET STOCK, 6-1-72 ENTERPRISE