Kafer, Howard, 1879-1950

Dates

• Existence: 1879 - 1950

Biography

Henry Howard Kafer, known as Howard Kafer, was born October 11, 1879, at Glidden, Iowa, the son of Christian and Martha Kafer. Kafer graduated from the public high school of Stuart, Iowa, and matriculated to Northwestern University in 1901, enrolling in Northwestern’s College of Liberal Arts. With the ambition of a career in ministry, Kafer transferred from Northwestern to the Garrett Biblical Institute for the 1902-1903 academic year. He remained enrolled at Garrett, taking a diploma from that institution in 1905. Kafer was a four-year member of the Northwestern University football team, a mainstay at the left tackle position, one of the best in the Western Conference, but also saw action at the left end and fullback. The Northwestern football teams of the period 1901-1904, coached by C.M. Hollister and then by Walter McCornack, were exceptionally good ones, posting records of 8-2-1 (1901), 6-6 (1902), 10-1-3 (1903), and 8-2 (1904). The 1903 team was co-champion of the Western Conference, now known as the Big Ten.

Kafer married Florence Marguerite Fernholz (born October 1, 1887) on October 14, 1909, and the couple settled in Fall River, Wisconsin, and then Florence’s home town of Jefferson, Wisconsin. The couple had one child: Helen Hattie Kafer, born August 15, 1910. Howard Kafer died September 17, 1950 and Florence on April 30, 1955. They are buried at Jefferson’s Greenwood Cemetery.

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