Sensenbrenner, Frank J.

Other Events:

• Induction: PaperMakers International Hall of Fame
• 1905 State Census: 1905, Menasha, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
• Biography: 1950; Who's Who in America 1950
• Obituary: Aft 22 Jul 1952
• News Mention: 24 Sep 2013; Investors.com

Notes:

Biography:
Frank J. Sensenbrenner was born in Menasha, Wisconsin, on December 23, 1864. He was educated through the eighth grade in public and parochial schools. His first job was as a grocery store clerk in 1878, followed by a postal clerk in the Menasha Post Office in 1879. Between 1880 and 1884, Mr. Sensenbrenner worked as a bookkeeper for the Menasha Chair Company, and then for John Strange Lumber and Saw Mill until 1888, when he joined Webster Manufacturing Company. In 1889 he went to work for Kimberly-Clark & Company, again as a bookkeeper.
When the firm was reorganized in 1907, Mr. Sensenbrenner became a stockholder and rose successively through the ranks to president and chief executive officer of the corporation, a position he held from 1928 to 1942. Although John A. Kimberly retained the title of president until his death in 1928, Mr. Sensenbrenner, as first vice president, actually ran the company through the teens and most of the '20s, until he was officially elected president in 1928. He was chairman of the board until 1944 and remained a director until 1952.
Under Mr. Sensenbrenner's leadership, Kimberly-Clark grew from a small company to a multi-state and Canadian operation. In 1907, the company acquired the assets of the Atlas Paper Company and the Tellulah Company in Appleton, Wisconsin. Two years later, K-C and William Bonifas organized Bonifas Lumber Company in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and purchased large stands of hemlock and spruce. In 1912, K-C acquired Bonifas Lumber.
In 1915, the Globe Mill, Neenah, was rebuilt, terminating K-C's production of newsprint in reaction to a 1911 U.S.-Canadian treaty that allowed Canada to ship newsprint into the United States duty free. The rebuilt mill began producing Cellucotton, K-C's trade-marked name for absorbent wadding used as a substitute for cotton surgical dressings.
In the same year, a pulp mill was built at Kimberly, Wisconsin, to make refined bleached groundwood and double the capacity of the electrolytic chlorine and caustic soda plant already there. After these changes, the Kimberly mill began using sulfite and bleached groundwood pulp to make bookpapers - the first mill in the U.S. to utilize this type of furnish. For a period of years, almost all rotogravure printing in the U.S. was done on groundwood paper from K-C's Kimberly and Niagara, New York, mills.
In 1920, K-C marketed its first consumer product, Kotex feminine pads, through the International Cellucotton Products Company. Four years later, the company began to market Kleenex facial tissue. K-C was the first to market these unique products. K-C stayed the course when initial sales were disappointing due to social taboos and retail resistance. The company allotted unusually high levels of advertising money, for that time, to make each product a byword in the industry.
In partnership with the New York Times, Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company Ltd., Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, was formed in 1928 at a cost of $16 million. K-C owned 51 percent, and the newspaper owned 49 percent. By 1930, the mill was producing 650 tons of newsprint for the New York Times and 17 other newspapers. A sulfite pulp mill, which produced 150 tons per day, and a 75,000 horsepower hydroelectric plant also began production. A planned community was then built around the complex.
In 1929, the Lakeview Mill, Neenah, WI, was purchased from Sears, Roebuck & Co. to produce school and specialty papers. During the Depression years, 1930 - 1935, K-C grew from 2,836 employees (excluding Spruce Falls) to 4,067, while sales fell only 7 percent from $21.8 million in 1929 to $20.3 million in 1935. Lower prices were responsible for the reduction, although at the Atlas Mill, Appleton, the number of tons shipped increased. During this time, the production of wallpaper was improved through four-color rotogravure printing, washable surface, and register embossing.
Between 1942 and 1944, the Ordnance Division of Kimberly-Clark, located in the Kimlark plant, Neenah, WI, assembled M-45 automatic antiaircraft guns utilizing 2,000 parts from subcontractors in five states. The U.S. Army's production schedule was met or exceeded each month, and the only gun returned for repairs was one that fell from an Army truck during a parade. Also in 1944, the Ordnance Division began a contract to assemble the M48A2 point detonating fuse. An Army-Navy E was awarded to K-C in June 1944 in recognition of K-C's production record.
Mr. Sensenbrenner was one of the founders of the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association and was a director from 1911 to 1945. Education was of particular importance to him: he was a trustee of Lawrence University; member, Board of Governors, Marquette University; member, Lay Advisory Board, St. Norbert College; president and member, Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mr. Sensenbrenner's contributions to the paper industry were widely recognized; in addition, he received many awards for his contributions to civic and educational organizations. He received honorary doctor of law degrees from Marquette University, St. Norbert College, and the University of Wisconsin. He was made a Knight Commander of the order of St. Gregory for distinguished service to church and state by The Vatican; and was recognized for work in human relations by the National Conference of Jews and Christians, Wisconsin Region. He received an award for distinguished service as a resident of a state in the Northwest Territory, Northwestern University; and in 1960, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Industrial Hall of Fame.
Mr. Sensenbrenner and his wife, Margaret, who died in 1912, had four children, John, Gertrude (Bergstrom), Margaret (Gilbert), and J. Leslie. Throughout his life, F. J. Sensenbrenner lived in Neenah or Menasha, WI.

1905 State Census:
Frank Sensenbrenner40
Maggie Sensenbrenner40
John Sensenbrenner19
Gertrude Sensenbrenner17
Leslie Sensenbrenner13
Margaret Sensenbrenner11
Eva Petzel20

Biography:
Term: Sensenbrenner, Frank Jacob 1864 - 1952
Definition: paper manufacturer, business executive, b. Menasha. He worked for a time as a postoffice clerk, later became a bookkeeper for various manufacturing firms, and, in 1889, began his long career with the Kimberly-Clark Co. of Neenah. When the original partnership of Kimberly-Clark was reorganized in 1907, and stock sold in the firm, Sensenbrenner became a stockholder, and rose successively to become vice-president, general manager and director. He was president and director of Kimberly-Clark (1928-1942), chairman of the board (1942-1944), and continued on the board of directors (1945-1952). Sensenbrenner also held executive posts in several Kimberly-Clark subsidiaries, including the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Co. (Pres., 1920-1942), the William Bonifas Lumber Co. (Pres., 1909-1942) and the Neenah-Menasha Water Power Co. and North Star Timber Co. He was a director of the International Cellucotton Products Co., and had holdings in banking and insurance businesses throughout the state. From 1911 to 1945, Sensenbrenner was a director of the Wisconsin Manufacturers' Association. First appointed to the board of regents of the Univ. of Wisconsin in 1939, he served as president of the regents (1945-1952), and was also a trustee of Marquette Univ. and Lawrence College. A Republican, although Sensenbrenner was never a candidate for public office, he served as a powerful member of the party's finance committee. Who's Who in Amer., 26 (1950); N.Y. Times, July 23, 1952; Milwaukee Journal, July 23, 1952.

News Mention:
Frank Sensenbrenner Launched Kleenex At Kimberly-ClarkAt World War I's end in 1918, Frank Sensenbrenner had a problem.
As vice president at Kimberly-Clark Corp., he was looking at a large surplus of Cellucotton, a substitute cotton used in sanitary bandages for wounded soldiers.
Now he had no new customers.
"The Army had canceled all the contracts, and the Red Cross was giving away all the sanitary wound dressings free to hospitals," Thomas Heinrich, author of "Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies: Kimberly-Clark and the Consumer Revolution in American Business," told IBD. "There was no market."
Until Sensenbrenner made one.
In 1920, Kimberly-Clark introduced Kotex, the first disposable feminine hygiene product.
Four years later, they rolled out Kleenex, the first disposable paper handkerchief.
By finding a peacetime use for Cellucotton, Sensenbrenner helped Kimberly-Clark become a pioneer of personal hygiene products in the 20th century.
It Took Some Nerve
When Kotex hit the market, stores wouldn't carry the product, magazines wouldn't advertise it, and sales were poor. Yet Sensenbrenner persevered, overcoming the cultural taboos that made marketing the product so difficult. Within a decade, women considered Kotex a basic necessity of life.
When Kleenex landed on the shelves in 1924, it was targeted as a makeup remover for adult women. Sales were sluggish. When it dawned on Sensenbrenner that people were wiping their noses with his paper tissues, he repositioned it as a disposable handkerchief. Kleenex quickly became an iconic brand and the company's most reliable profit maker.
"His background isn't that of someone you'd expect to evolve into a brilliant CEO," Heinrich said. "He finished eighth grade, and that was it. He was a bookkeeper. He looked like a bookkeeper - a good, solid Victorian bookkeeper. But beneath it, he was a bit of a gambler. ... The guy was just a really good strategic thinker. He could figure out where opportunities were."
Despite his feats, Sensenbrenner was known for his modesty.
Although John A. Kimberly, one of the company's four founders, retained the title of president until his death in 1928, Sensenbrenner ran things from about 1914 and was officially elected president in 1928. He refused the title of president out of respect for Kimberly, whose health was failing.
"Sensenbrenner was the guy in charge," Heinrich said.
Born in Menasha, Wis., Sensenbrenner (1864-1952) found work as a grocery store clerk after dropping out of junior high school.
He was only 16 when he found his niche as a bookkeeper, and 19 when he started keeping books for Kimberly-Clark, a paper company headquartered in Neenah, Wis. The firm would move to Irving, Texas, in 1985.

Frank married Stilp, Margaret 15 Apr 1885. Margaret (daughter of Stilp, John and Birling, Josephine) was born 1 Feb 1864, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA; died 24 May 1911, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Birth - Church Record: 20 Apr 1886

Notes:

Birth - Church Record:
Name:John Stilp Sensenbrenner
Birth Date:20 Apr 1886
Birth Place:Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin
Gender:Male
Father's Name:Frank J Sensenbrenner
Mother's Name:Margaret Stilp
FHL Film Number:1305611

John married Kerwin, Grace 27 May 1908. Grace was born 6 Jan 1887, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA; died 9 May 1958, Palm Springs, Riverside, California, USA. [Group Sheet]

Gertrude married Bergstrom, James Abt 1910. James (son of Bergstrom, George and Smith, Alice) was born 22 Jan 1884; died 30 Mar 1967. [Group Sheet]

J. — LaCombe, Ina. Ina was born 1 Aug 1891; died 10 Apr 1971, , , Florida, USA. [Group Sheet]

Margaret — Gilbert, George H.. George (son of Gilbert, Louis and Nackers, Rosalia Gilbert) was born 22 Feb 1892, Wrightstown, Brown, Wisconsin, USA; died 4 Nov 1953; was buried , St. Paul Catholic Cemetery, Wrightstown, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Obituary: 26 Jul 2009; Appleton Post Crescent

Notes:

Obituary:
Sensenbrenner, F. Joseph
F. Joseph Sensenbrenner, 87, Neenah, passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2009. He was born Oct. 8, 1921, in Appleton to the late J. Leslie and Ina (LaCombe) Sensenbrenner. On Dec. 28, 1946, he married Mary Ellen Schuetter at St. Margaret Mary Church in Neenah. She preceded him in death on May 8, 2008.
Joe is survived by four children: Trudy (James) Roselle, Lake Forest, IL; F. Joseph (Mary Ellyn) Sensenbrenner Jr., Madison; Peter (Emily) Sensenbrenner, Ripon; and Ann (Timothy) Salutz, Manitowoc. In addition, he is survived by nine grandchildren: Avery (Roland Backhaus) Roselle and Lesley Roselle. F. Joseph (Jennifer) Sensenbrenner and David Sensenbrenner. Peter and Kurt Sensenbrenner, and John, Mary and Jane Salutz. He is also survived by one great-grandson, Finley Jonathon (Jack) Sensenbrenner.
The family will greet relatives and friends on Monday, July 27, 2009, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at Neenah's Westgor Funeral Home. Funeral liturgy will be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at 10 a.m. at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church. Interment will be in St. Margaret Mary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family would invite donations to St. Margaret Mary Church or to the charity of your choice.
The family extends their gratitude to Valley VNA, Brewster Village and Felician Village for the care given to Joe.
Westgor Funeral Home
205 W. Doty Ave.
Neenah 920-722-7151

F. married Schuetter, Mary Ellen 28 Dec 1946, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, Neenah, Wisconsin, USA. Mary (daughter of Schuetter, Karl A. and Balliet, Pearl Ellen) was born 11 Apr 1921, Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; died 8 May 2008, Neenah, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Obituary: 9 Jan 2015; Appleton Post Crescent

Notes:

Obituary:
Mrs. John D. Schmerein, ("Tot" aka "Martot"), a lifelong resident of Neenah died at her home on January 8, 2015. Tot was born in Neenah on January 28, 1918 to George and Margaret (Sensenbrenner) Gilbert. She married John D. Schmerein on August 14, 1940, enjoying 66 years of marriage when he passed April 7, 2007.

John and Tot were both graduates of Lawrence University, Appleton, WI. Tot was an avid golfer and bridge player, belonging to North Shore Golf Club, Ridgeway Golf Club and Innisbrook in Tarpon Springs, FL.

Tot is survived by her children: John G. (Susan) Schmerein, Dallas, TX and Mame (Daniel) Heaney, Neenah; grandchildren: John Charles Schmerein, Kristina (Michael) Kinzley, all of Dallas, TX, and Patrick (Kate) Heaney, Middleton, WI; and great-grandchildren: Lachlan and Iona Heaney.
A Funeral of Christian Celebration will be held on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 320 Nicolet Blvd., Menasha. The Rev. Jim Hablewitz and Mary Krueger, Pastoral Leader will officiate. Family and friends may visit at the church on Wednesday from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Burial will take place in St. Margaret's Cemetery, Neenah. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Valley VNA, St. Patrick's Church or the Neenah/Menasha YMCA would be appreciated. The family wishes to thank all the wonderful caregivers from the Valley VNA who have become "family".

Margaret married Schmerein, John D. 14 Aug 1940. John was born 18 Mar 1918; died 7 Apr 2007. [Group Sheet]