City officials in Iola, Wisc., dedicated the Chester L. Krause Legacy Park, named after seminal numismatist and CCN founder Chet Krause, on Oct. 13, marking the 71st anniversary of the first issue of Numismatic News, another one of his brainchild publications.
More than 200 people from numismatics and other hobbies attended the Iola Historical Society (IHS) to honour Krause, who died in 2016 at age 92. The new park sits at the corner of Chet Krause Drive and Water Street, directly across from the first Krause Publications building. Officials unveiled a statue honouring plus a larger-than-life mural.
“I’m very pleased with the turnout on a rather miserable day,” IHS President Clifford Mishler, a past president of Krause Publications and an early consultant with CCN, said at the mid-October ceremony, which was marred by inclement weather. “But I hope you will all enjoy the program that has been lined up for you.”
A long-time Iola resident and likely its best-known citizen, Krause was born Dec. 16, 1923, living and working on a farm before serving in the Second World War as a mechanic and then working after the war as a carpenter and home builder.
His 1952 establishment of a publishing empire eventually employed more than 400 people at its headquarters in Iola.