The biography of Herman W Bueker was published in the History of Cooper County by E J Melton in 1937. The accounts are from early times to the present (1937),written in Narrative Style, for General Use. Page 507 & 508
HERMAN W BUEKER BUILDS ENDURINGLY
Boonville Contractor thinks constructively and his life is an example of unselfish Christian service.
The hills are steep in Camden and south Morgan counties, Missouri. On a day early in April 1923 a Ford truck heavily loaded, headed north from Gladstone, formerly Riffletown.
Half way up the long tortuous, incline the weight, distributed over the rear axle, threatenend to tip the car backwards. The front wheels began to weave giddily and the car seemed to be ready to do an about-face.
So Herman "Doc" Farmer climbed out and stood on the crank as ballast, holding to the motormeter, while Herman William Bueker proceeded on up the long hill in low with the truck loaded with his personal efects.
That was the beginning of the long climb toward economic independece that H W Bueker and his family started, after they had been caught in the post-war slump that engulfed agriculture.
Had Mr Bueker retained for one more year the Camden County farm that he operated for four years and which now is part of the bed of the Lake of the Ozarks, he probably would have been about $15,000 better off, because the land in that area was sold to the promoters of Bagnell Dam at handsome premiums.
However, Mr Bueker, who came to Boonville and took up the carpenter trade and building and contracting, looks at this quirk of fortune psychologically.
"I believe I am happier serving through my work than I would be if I were sitting on my money and fearing that I was going to lose it," he said recently.
Always a Christian gentleman and a "workman who need not be ashamed" Mr Bueker cannot remember when he did not hold deep religious convictions. He was influenced much by his grandmothers.
One, in discussing repulsive incidents, often exclaimed, "Aye, aye child, God is not mocked."
The other was generous to the point of pauperizing herself. Mr Bueker's later contacts with conseerated Christian men and women have contribued to develop a personality which it is a privilege to know.
Mr Bueker is in demand as a carpenter and contractor. A business man recently said, "Herman Buecker is the coming contractor in Boonville."
Mr Bueker was born March 26, 1889 at California, Missouri. he has one brother and four sisters. He is a son of Louis Bueker and Mary Elizabeth Bauer Bueker.
His father was born in Germany, but disliked the enforced military system, so migrated to the United States in 1880. He was followed by his parents and three brothers. He attained independence as a farmer and is respected as a man of sterling character.
Herman W Bueker's paternal grandfather was Christopher Bueker, and his paternal grandmother was Cathrine Kruel.
His mother's parents were William Bauer and Mary Muri Bauer. Mr Bauer was a German immigrant, a cooper by trade.
Mary Muri was born in Switzerland and migrated to North Moniteau County. Both the Bauer and Muri families came to Missouri in ox-cart days.
While atttending Hooper Institute at Clarksburg in 1906, Herman Bueker met Miss Meta A Blank, another student there.
They were married June 20, 1915. She is a daughter of John
E Blank and Margaret Kloeckner Blank. John Blank was an early day settler in eastern Cooper county. The Kloeckner family lived near Rankin's Mill, southeast of Boonville. Their house at the old farmstead was razed less than two years ago.
Mr and Mrs Herman W Bueker have three living children and one deceased. W Roy Bueker was graduated from Boonville High School in 1934 and is engaged with his father in the contracting business. Helen and Marjorie are students in the Boonville public schools. The third child and second son, Ivan, died in infancy.
Herman W Bueker has a background of ancestry and experience that has made him versatile and resourceful. After completing the grade school in rural Moniteau County, and attending the widely known Hooper Institute at Clarksburg, he taught five terms in Moniteau County schools, then was a rural mail carrier for seven years. His health grew bad and he farmed for six years. Then in 1923 he came to Boonville and embarked on his present career.
He had learned the construction trades as a helper on various projects, but when he began carpentering in 1923 he was not a master builder. However, he studied books and trade journals and kept open-minded, always ready to learn more about his business, realizing that no one every learned it all.
Being earnest, conscientious and honest to a fault, he was given big values in service rendered and his popularity has grown steadily. Frequently a contract finished by him has cost less than the estimate he originally made.
A building and loan director told the author that once when Mr Bueker presented a bill for less than his original estimate the man who had hired the work done was so pleased that he said," I just made him out a check for the amount he originally said it would cost."
Mrs Bueker is a refined lady of more than usual ability. In her home, in religious activites and in social service she has inspired her family to practice virtues compelling reverence and devotion. Mr Bueker proudly admits she kept the candle of hope a flame when despair seemed supreme.
Mr and Mrs Bueker own an attractive cottage in the east suburbs of Boonville. The lawn is attractively landscaped. Flourishing fruit trees and gardens, flocks of poultry and an array of brooder houses, and acres of pasture with contented cows, and sleek porkers reveal the hobbies of the Bueker family.