~Page 972~

Denzil Arthur Fitch

The subject of this sketch is a son of G. W. and R. A. Fitch, of West Union. He was born in Illyria township, Fayette county, Iowa, April 11, 1874. His early life was spent in his native county, and he entered school at West Union when a child of five years, pursuing the course through the various grades, and spent two years in the high school. His brother, William E., was then in the laundry business, and it was the ambition of the younger brother to take up that industry. He worked, as a journeyman and foreman, in large laundries at La Salle, Ottawa and Joliet, Illinois, for several years, when he secured a position as traveling salesman for a Chicago laundry supply house. After some years spent in this work, he purchased a half-interest with his brother-in-law, J. E. Palmer, in the Mendota, Illinois, laundry. A year later he bought out Mr. Palmer, who removed to California, and how the Fitch Laundry is one of the stable industries of the pleasant little city. It is well equipped with modern machinery, and is turning out high-class work, and making money for its owner.

D. A. Fitch is a young man of good business qualifications and an indefatigable worker. He has met some reverses in business, but the successes of recent years have placed him on a higher plane, and his prospects for a successful business career are now very bright.

Much credit is due his estimable wife, whom he married in Mason City, Iowa, September 8, 1902. She is the daughter of Cornelius and Mary H. (Cook) Van-Note, natives of Monmouth county, New Jersey. She is thoroughly schooled in the details of the business, a lady of excellent business attainments, and one who is a competent adviser as well as a real helpmeet, as comprehended in the marriage relations. Elizabeth Van-Note was born on a farm near Mason City, March 1, 1876, and is a representative of a large and prominent family, of whom four brothers and one sister reside at Mason City, while her father also makes his home among the children, mostly in the vicinity of his early Iowa home. The brothers are Monroe, Eugene, Morris, George, and Charles W., the last named a resident of Live Oak, Colorado, and the others are well-known business men of Mason City, Iowa. The sisters are Daisy, now Mrs. J. H. Ransom, of Mason City, and Jennie, the wife of C. J. Ferris, of Steward, Illinois. The father of this family was born April 9, 1836, and was a soldier during the Civil war. His wife, Mary H, Cook, was born February 15, 1845, and died at Mason City, Iowa, November 2, 1900.

Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Fitch have had three children born to them, of whom two are living, and the youngest, Kenneth Dale, died in infancy. William V. was born September 15, 1904, and Marion W. was born March 17, 1906, the former at Burlington, Iowa, the daughter at the parental home in West Union, and Kenneth was born and buried at Mendota, Illinois. The subject of this sketch is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Owls.

He is a Republican in political views. He possesses a congenial temperament, is universally esteemed as a business man and faithful, sympathetic friend. His wife possesses these virtues in a marked degree. Her quiet, unassuming manner, and helpful, encouraging disposition have endeared her to all who know her. The family genealogy of the subject of this sketch will be found in the personal sketches of his uncle, E. E. Fitch, and his father, G. W. Fitch, to which reference is made or further consideration.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Mary Aldrich