Community Corner

101-Year-Old Man Remembers Clayton Without Skyscrapers

Carl Rogge graduated from Clayton High School in 1928 and plans to celebrate his 102nd birthday with family in October.

was born Oct. 11, 1910, more than two years before Clayton became a city. He has lived and worked in , and he graduated from in 1928. His father-in-law, Henry Duffner, helped build the original high school building as well as on Maryland Avenue.

He knows a wealth of stories about St. Louis and the ways the region has changed over the course of the last century.

Take, for example, the fact that Rogge's proudest St. Louis moment is having watched Babe Ruth play at the old Sportsman's Park on Grand Avenue. He and a cousin sat up all night outside the stadium, which opened at noon the next day. Rogge recalls sleeping through part of the game.

He attended Mt. Olive Grade School. His family moved to Clayton in 1924, the year he entered Clayton High School.

"I developed my friendships there," Rogge said. He met the man who became his best friend unexpectedly during freshman year: Rogge and a bunch of other people were visiting out in front of the high school steps during halftime of a basketball game when he felt someone hit him in the face.

The fist belonged to Jim Barnes, who had been arguing with some students gathered nearby. He apologized profusely. It turned out they lived near each other in Clayton. The two struck up a friendship and often went on double dates together. Each later served in the other's wedding as best man.

"We were just pals," Rogge said.

When Clayton's skyline didn't include skyscapers

When Rogge grew up, Clayton didn't have buildings higher than two stories—and those largely were occupied by dentists and doctors.

"It was a little residential town," said Rogge, recalling landmarks such as a restaurant across from the court house, a dry goods store and the Claymo Hotel. He said the high school was located east of downtown. But even then, Clayton was a busy town.

Popular St. Louis restaurants included Vescovo's across from Washington University and Garavelli's. Rogge used to go ice skating at a rink on DeBalieviere Avenue.

The Kirkwood-Ferguson Streetcar ran in front of the Rogge family's home on North Central Avenue. Rogge recalls that the trolley began in Ferguson and traveled down to Delmar Boulevard before circling Washington University and heading onto Central Avenue. It then journeyed south past .

For many years, Rogge worked for his aunt and uncle. The Remley family owned six neighborhood grocery stores in the St. Louis area. As a fifth-grader, he sold shopping baskets for a nickel a piece at their store at Sixth Street and Franklin Avenue in St. Louis city. He didn't know how to make change, so if someone gave him a $5 bill, he had to head to the office to break it.

Rogge held various positions in the years that followed. He worked in produce, helped roast coffee and peanuts (he recalls how the smell penetrated the building) and weighed sugar, coffee and tea. His math skills improved.

The grocery had a popular restaurant with a big table that seated about 10 people. People such as the major of the St. Louis police came to the store for lunch.

Life in Clayton during the Great Depression

After graduating from Clayton High School, Rogge worked for $18 a week at his family's grocery store on Delmar Boulevard. It was a 65-hour week, and he didn't take hourlong lunch breaks. He went out, ate and got back to work.

Then came the Great Depression. Rogge began selling life and accident insurance, a job he held for more than a year. He almost sold a policy a week. He made $25 for successful policy sale.

With the help of his friend Jim Barnes, Rogge later got a job with American Investment Company. Its founder later owned the St. Louis Browns baseball team, he said. He interviewed at the Ambassador building. Days later, the company told him to report for work in Jefferson City.

Rogge hadn't a clue how to get there, but his friend worked in the region and gave him directions. He worked as one of four credit managers in the public finance division at a time when the company operated fewer than 30 offices. When he left several decades later, the company had more than 800 offices.

The Jefferson City office was a mess on the day he started: Someone had emptied the safe, and police were going in and out of the area as part of their investigation. The company told Rogge to find a place to stay nearby, so he located a room with a fireplace in a nice big mansion across from the Missouri Capitol. He paid $10 per month in rent.

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Rogge met his wife at the grocery store

Rogge married in 1938. He had met his wife, Dorothy (maiden name: Duffner), while working at at grocery his uncle operated north of Wellston. He held a position in an office on the second story and could look out over the meat department on the floor below. He caught the eye of a woman and her daughter while stalling for time one day, and he ended up asking the store manager to introduce him to the daughter.

A chaperoned date followed: The store manager took Carl and Dorothy to a nightclub.

They honeymooned in Chicago. The two stayed at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. They had anticipated spending time on the adjoining private beach, but the temperature had dropped and no one was spending time outside. Rogge wore a summer hat and a white gabardine suit. They spent two or three days in Illinois, visiting downtown and other attractions.

The two returned to St. Louis and visited the Statler Hotel. Then they made their way back to their home in Jefferson City. Rogge remained with the company and ended up working in a variety of locations, first as a system manager in Jefferson City and later in various capacities in St. Joseph, MO; Springfield, IL (the couple had two daughters at this time); Omaha, Nebraska; and Oklahoma.

They built a home in Ballwin in 1961.

Rogge later returned to Clayton to work as a division credit officer. The offices were located across Maryland Avenue from . He retired as a credit manager at the Clayton office in June 1974. After three weeks, the company asked him to return to the office to examine and report on loans. He came back for six months and then left for good.

Returning to Clayton High School

In 2010, then-principal Louise Losos invited Rogge to lead an alumni processional at Washington University to kick off the 100th graduation ceremony for Clayton High School. He didn't get to lead the group because of a recent heart attack, but he wasn't going to miss the opportunity. He attended in his cap and gown.

"I said, 'I look like Rip Van Winkle,'" Rogge recalls. He sat with Losos, who asked the audience to rise. Rogge led the group of more than 2,000 in the Pledge of Allegiance.

He considers Losos a dear friend. He credits her with getting him involved again in activities at the school, including homecoming. He threw candy to the crowd from a float at the head of the parade.

During the 2010 festivities, he met famous alumni such as , an ambassador to England and a U.S. Air Force pilot.

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At home in Ballwin

Today, Rogge has seven grandchildren and many other family members. He walks into the next room to point out the clock he received in 1965 from American Investment Company in recognition of his many years of service. It runs on atmospheric pressure and hasn't been wound once.

He and his wife also collected a variety of antiques over the years, and he can describe the history of each in detail. Nearby, his black-and-white chihuahua Nancy is resting, a pink collar around her neck.

Rogge plans to celebrate his 102nd birthday with his family. It will give him the opportunity to upgrade from the sweatshirt he wore for this interview, which celebrates his 101st.


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