Content area
Full text
Though the Loacker family has owned the Kroll Map Co. for nearly 80 years, the name will never change.
"There will never be a Loacker Map Co.," said W, John Loacker Jr.
Kroll Map Co. began as the Anderson Map Co. in 1889. In 1909, Anderson Maps acquired Washington Map and Blueprint Co., which dates back to the 1870s. Two years later, Carl Kroll acquired full ownership of Anderson Maps, and the Kroll Map Co. was founded.
The Loacker family was involved from the very beginning.
John Loacker was a lifelong friend of Carl Kroll, and worked for the company for several years before purchasing it in 1920. John Loacker's son, Waldemar J. Loacker Sr., worked in the family business for over 70 years before retiring at age 90 and passing the company on to his son, W. John Loacker Jr.
"You could count on your hand the number of days he missed for being sick," Loacker said of his father.
That kind of devotion helped win the company a 1999 Washington Family...