Emil Ferdinand Harster – Artist
By Sue Steinnerd
Born September 3, 1921, Emil Ferdinand Harster was the first of eight children of Emil and Julia (nee: Goettelmann) Harster of Lemay, Missouri. His childhood years were carefree, often spending hours at his Aunt Clara’s nearby home. After graduating from St. Andrew Grade School, he attended St. John’s High School. In 1937 he enrolled in David Ranken, Jr. School of Mechanical Trades and graduated June 16, 1939, as an Air Conditioning Junior Engineer.
Emil was hired in May 1939 by E. E. Souther Iron Company for sheet metal/furnace hoppers/air duct/gutter work. He left there in December 1940 and did residential sheet metal work for brief periods for several different companies.
During World War II, Emil enlisted in the U.S. Navy and obtained the rank Ship Fitter First Class. After his discharge in 1946 he worked for Bud Welsch Heating. In April 1947 he was awarded a diploma for completing a general high school curriculum by the Board of Education, City of St. Louis. At age 26, Emil married Marylyn Joan Wagner.
On March 15, 1950, with a loan of $500 from Aunt Clara, Emil Harster started his own business Harster Heating in Lemay. It was a one man operation – furnace installation and repair, architectural sheet metal, and gutters. In the early 1950s he relocated the business to Affton, in the former Pyles Ice Cream store at 9860 Gravois Road. Emil, Marylyn, and his four children (one son and three daughters) lived on McKenzie Road until he later bought a home on Darlow, also in Affton.
With the advance of air conditioning in the late fifties, the Harster Heating & Air Conditioning Company business grew. In 1960 Emil moved his business office into the former Clabes Hardware store, 9900 Gravois Road, after purchasing it from his father, who had bought the building in the mid-1950s. At the age of ten, Dave, his son, started helping in the family business. In 1988 when Emil retired from the Harster Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Dave Harster took over the reins of a business that had 14 employees and owned a fleet of trucks operating in the St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Emil was active in the Gravois Kiwanis organization, serving as President, Vice President and on the Board of Directors.
In retirement Emil Harster now with spare hours found his niche in oil painting, primarily landscape scenes. Dave reported that his father was always good at mechanical drawing skills, giving three-dimensional effects to the furnace/air conditioning designs for installation, while the designs of other installers were comparable to stick figures in art. Emil purchased many “how to paint” books and on a Saturday afternoon he was often seen watching a how to paint show on TV. In addition, for almost ten years he honed his painting skill with the help of Hella Smith in her basement studio. Emil recreated on canvas pictures he found in magazines, or photos taken on trips. His work definitely captured nature’s grandeur. Only occasionally did he do portraits, or include people in his art. All of his paintings are signed Ferdinand, his middle name. He continued painting for enjoyment until his death July 20, 2004. Emil Ferdinand Harster was buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
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