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| Helen Gildein Haegele |
In 1927 German immigrant, August Haegele arrived in America with nothing but his dream of starting a bakery business. In about the same year, Helen Gildein, American born but resident of Hungary, returned to America with nothing but the desire to retain her American citizenship. By chance, the two met at a Fairmount Park hiking club and later joined their hands in marriage on June 25th, 1930. No time for a honeymoon... as the two embraced the American dream together. The newlyweds opened the front door to Haegele's Bakery on July 7th, 1930, with nothing more than "the change they had in their pockets".
August and Helen raised two boys, Richard & Erich, right above the bakeshop. Erich went on to work for Bell Telephone, but remained committed to the family business; helping out on Friday nights and lending a hand at holidays and repair work. Richard, master baker, trained at Dobbins High School and made Haegele's Bakery his lifetime commitment. He became a partner and owner first with his mother, and later with his son. Richard, along with his wife Jean, raised two children, Linda and Glen; though not right above the bakeshop, but just a few blocks away. The couple never truly retired as they both worked well into their eighties. Like the generation before them, they continued to work as a vital part of a family business.
Glen, third generation master decorator and baker, was brought up in the family business. He trained under the bakers at Haegele's and also under Mr. Wilton himself at the Wilton School Of Cake Decorating in Chicago. Glen first became a partner with his grandmother & father, and then later with his wife Cheryl. Like the preceeding generation, the couple made a life committment to the family business. They have raised three boys, Joshua, Aaron, and Elijah, who are all active at the bakery today. For decades, on any given holiday or Friday night, three generations of Haegeles worked side by side together. What a sight to see...father, son, and grandson all learning from each other with a mutual respect for the work and craft that lay before them at the bench.
In the years 2021-2022, Glen, Richard, and Jean all passed into their heavenly homes. In such a short amount of time, the bakery lost two generations of bakers and an integral part of our family and daily lives. But like our 1st generation, when founding owner August Haegele died at the young age of 49, the family pulled together in Faith and dedication, and continued to keep our doors open! Our fourth generation has truly stepped up to the "bench". Elijah left the pursuit of a college degree behind to join his brother Aaron, who had already been working full time at the bakery. Joshua who had worked at the bakery in between career changes, returned to lend his brothers a hand on weekends and holidays. Freddy Franke, our longtime assistant baker of forty-five years, was instrumental during this time. At the age of 85, he remained dedicated to seeing Aaron & Eli succeed in the absence of their father and grandfather. He referred to them as "his boys" too, as training at the bakery began with the greasing of pans at Freddy's side. Freddy retired in 2023. He was family to us and he was the longest working employee who did not bear the name Haegele.
A lot has changed in this world over the past eight decades, but Haegele's strives to remain the same....a humble business and a way of life! Our family has been blessed with dedicated, long-time employees and a truly faithful following of customers. With your help, and the fourth generation at the bench, we continue to write our history everyday on the little old corner of Erdrick and Barnett Streets.
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| August Haegele with sons Richard & Erich |
God willing, Haegele's will reach a 100th Anniversary in 2030
