This mesquite cross, made in memory of Laura Sue Gorrell Fetzer, was the inspiration for the pecan wood crosses made by Homer Donald Fetzer, grandson of HJ Lamm.
This cross was made from pecan wood from the orchard developed by Henry Joseph Lamm (1870-1938), father of Herbert, Alex (died as teenager), Dora (Dodo), Gertrude (Nuddie), Hilary (Bill), Helen, Bruno, Adeline, Raymond (Boob), and Mary Louise (died as infant).
In Grandpa's Memory and Honor, this cross was made with a QR code on the back for a website that includes a 1925 San Antonio newspaper front page article which praises Henry J Lamm as San Antonio's "Luther Burbank" because of his pecan and fruit tree grafting ability. The website also includes a biography of Grandpa, and a Lamm Family Tree as well as other historical notes and photos.
The sequence of owners of the pecan orchard as far as can be determined and dates of ownership:
- Henry J Lamm: before 1924 to death in 1938. His children, and subsequently his grandchildren, inherited the land located south of San Antonio, some of which was bordered on the west side by the San Antonio River.
- Herbert Lamm (son): chose the orchard and no river property as inheritance about 1939.
- Raymond Lamm (son): purchased the orchard from Herbert sometime between 1940 and 1952.
- Homer (grandson) and Sue Fetzer: purchased the orchard from Raymond in 1974
- Charles Hutzler (Fella - grandson): purchased the orchard from Homer and Sue in 2006 and owned it until his death in 2020.
- Fella's 7 children (Sharon, Chuck, Cathy, Patty, Pat, Mike and Mary) inherited the orchard and the other properties that their father had acquired. In 2021, they sold the properties, including the orchard, to Ranger Excavating Company, the largest earthwork contractor in Texas.
- Prior to selling the orchard, Pat Hutzler and his siblings decided to harvest some pecan wood. Finding a tree that had recently died, some very large limbs were cut and processed into 1-1/2 inch thick slabs. Several of these slabs are up to 12 inches wide and over 6-8 feet long.
- We (Fetzers) were invited out to Pat and Brenda Hutzler's residence near Floresville to pick up some slabs and rounds. Jeff and I made the trip.
- From the slabs I acquired, I decided to make crosses for the Fetzer and Hutzler families.
- The crosses are in Memory and Honor of Henry J Lamm, our Grandfather, for developing and caring for the pecan orchard and riverfront properties and for the many memories we hold of the good times spent on the properties and in the adjacent San Antonio River.
Homer Fetzer
10.28.2023
