Laverne M. Ide

Biography

Laverne M. Ide was born at Manchester, Michigan, in 1860 and raised on a farm. He began his career as a school teacher, then became assistant postmaster of Tecumseh, and briefly tried newspaper work. In 1882 he moved to Detroit and eventually joined the Farrand Company, rising to secretary of the corporation. After J. George Laffargue's death in 1906, Ide bought an interest in Laffargue and Company, assuming the offices of vice-president and treasurer. The text recounts that while teaching at a Tecumseh school known for defeating its teachers, Ide confronted rebellious boys with an iron poker and won not only their obedience but their affection. Described as a determined, broad-minded man of the world with a kind disposition and a love of golf, he helped promote the pianos built under Oktavec's direction and was honored with the secretaryship of the New York Piano Manufacturing Association and the presidency of the New York Piano Club.

Highlights

• Born at Manchester, Michigan, in 1860 and raised on a farm; bought an interest in Laffargue and Company after Laffargue's 1906 death, becoming vice-president and treasurer
• As a young school teacher at Tecumseh, Michigan, subdued a district school notorious for unruly boys by facing them down with an iron poker
• Elected secretary of the New York Piano Manufacturing Association and president of the New York Piano Club

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 133, 134, 135.

Public domain.