Henry Soltermann ’53

By Victoria Gestner ’10

Henry is an outstanding gardener, former entrepreneur, and Bradley graduate. A Hopedale, Illinois native, he began his academic career as an engineering major in 1949. Deciding on his first major was as simple as asking, “So what do you have here?” Engineering sounded good, so he signed up. However, he quickly realized that was not the route for him, so he switched to business.

While at Bradley, Henry became involved in his fraternity and played baseball for the Braves. One of his favorite hangouts was at his fraternity house, Sigma Phi Epsilon, which was then located at 813 St. James. In fact, he fondly remembers the house’s cook, “a nice gal.” And what would a college student be without his or her favorite bar hangout? Henry’s was the Western Tap, located on west Main Street. Unfortunately, this hangout is no longer in existence.

In the classroom, Henry had several influential professors. He maintained good relations with professors Jackson and Richards in the marketing department and professor Gerald Tupper in the business department, who also sold insurance on the side.

It was his fraternity brother, Bob Cavanaugh, who first introduced him to the world of entrepreneurship early in his time at Bradley. Cavanaugh sold WareEver Cookware while at school and quickly brought Henry on to his sales team. From there, Henry eventually built up his own crew of salesmen. He became so successful in this entrepreneurial endeavor that he was driving a brand new Lincoln by the time he graduated. After graduation, he sold WareEver Cookware for 20 more years, and then later moved into real estate. For the next 20 years, he owned about 20 rental properties.

An interesting fact about Henry is that although he is a Bradley graduate, he never actually graduated from high school. Henry and four of his friends enlisted in the navy and shipped out before they could walk at graduation. However, he returns almost every year to Hopedale for a class reunion and has been the master of ceremonies at several alumni affairs. Upon mentioning that he and his four friends were never able to graduate, Henry has had the chance to walk across the graduation stage and receive his ceremonial diploma.

A hobby he acquired shortly after leaving Bradley and has continued throughout his life is growing dahlias. His gardening interest stemmed from his days helping his mother and father in their own garden when he was a kid. “We always had a garden growing up,” Henry said. “I would even hoe other people’s gardens for a few pennies.” After life at Bradley, a friend from Denver sent him a few dahlia bulbs with directions for planting. By fall one year, an assortment of beautiful flowers had popped up in his garden. Henry spreads his beautiful flowers all over his town bringing them to doctor’s offices, hospitals, churches, offices and, of course, Bradley’s annual alumni picnic in St. Louis.

The dahlia flower has more shapes and colors than any other flower in existence. Sizes range from about an inch up to a foot in diameter. Its assortment of sizes, shapes, colors, and heights make this a unique and attractive flower and has kept Henry interested in the flower’s varieties over the years. Because of the high heat and humidity here in the Midwest, growing dahlias in St. Louis has been somewhat difficult. To combat this, Henry keeps up with his watering and has built a shade structure to prevent the flowers from getting too much sun.

Today, Henry is a proud father of two boys and three girls, as well as six grandchildren. Three of his children live fairly close in Indianapolis, and two reside on the West coast. This is no problem for Henry and his wife because they love to travel. Their journeys have taken them as far as China, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, and Ireland. When he’s at home in the Midwest, Henry is working on his garden, meeting with the St. Louis Dahlia Society, and serving as an elder at Overland Christian Church.

Henry gives this advice to current Bradley students, “Work hard, partake in the activities, and mighty forces will come to your aid.”

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