He
has an elementary school named for him in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. He was
a teacher at one time and a longtime school board president.
He usually went by the name Frank and was remembered as quick witted,
and someone who had a clever way with words. He had a talent for
storytelling and was not afraid to laugh at himself. He wrote poems and
jingles and had them published in many papers, including the Chicago
Tribune. Family members recall him as a tall, slender man with a gentle
manner. (Biographical details from “John Franklin Magee: A Gentle Man
and a Gentleman” by Sara Lea Bleeker).
This is a bio. sketch from “History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin” by Dr. L. Falge, 1911-1912, v.2, p.81-82.
J. F. Magee, secretary and treasurer of the Aluminum Goods
Manufacturing Company, one of the largest industries of its kind in the
country, is a well known business man of Two Rivers, where he has been
indentified with the aluminum business for the past fifteen years. He
was born at Salem, Marion county, Illinois, February 23, 1867, a son of
John and Sophia (Perrottet) Magee, who came to Manitowoc county in 1872
and purchased land in Two Rivers township, where Mr. Magee died in
1893. His widow still survives and makes her home in Two Rivers. Eight
of their children grew to maturity. John Magee was a prominent member
of the Odd Fellows and was active in democratic political matters. J.
F. Magee first attended the public schools and then went to the
Valparaiso (Indiana) Normal School, after which he taught school in the
city and township of Two Rivers for eleven years. In 1896 he became
connected with the Aluminum Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers, which
company was combined with the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company in
1909. On January 1, 1911, Mr. Magee was made secretary and treasurer.
In 1894 Mr. Magee was married to Joan L. Eggers, of Two Rivers, and she
died in 1903, leaving a son, Kenneth, who died at the age of five
years. Mr. Magee was married to Ella M. Perkins, of Portage, Wisconsin,
a daughter of 0. R. and Mary Perkins, and one son has been born to this
union, Allan Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Magee are members of the
Congregational church. He is a member of the lodge and chapter of the
Masonic order, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen. The family
residence is in Two Rivers, and Mr. Magee has for fourteen years been a
member of the Two Rivers board of education and for seven years a
director of Joseph Mann Library Association.
Below is a poem written by John F. Magee: “Too Late to Change” Little Roland had a sister Who was only five days old; But it seems she wasn’t welcome From the stories Roland told. When they asked him how he liked her, He looked up and said: “You see, I would much prefer a brother, So that he could play with me. “Papa wants to send her back, sir, But we thought that wouldn’t do, For we’ve used her most a week now, And they’d see she wasn’t new.” -Oct. 4, 1906 - Two Rivers, Wis. - J.F. Magee
From the Manitowoc Herald Times, Thursday, June 16, 1960: Name School After Magee
The public elementary school on the far north side, now under
construction, will be known as the J.F. Magee Elementary School.
The Board of Education at a postponed meeting unanimously acted to name
the new school after the late executive of Mirro Aluminum Co. who
served for nearly 39 years on the Two Rivers Board of Education. He
died here Feb. 2, 1936, at the age of 69.
Selection of a name for the new school had been under consideration by
the board for several months. The suggestion to name the school after
Magee was made by Commissioner Norman J. Hippert.
Magee, an early school teacher and for years secretary-treasurer of the
Mirro concern and who was associated with the founder, the late Joseph
Koenig, devoted his lifetime to education.
Records cited that he strived to make the local school system a model
for the country. He was first elected to the School Board in 1897, and
was a member of the body when his late brother, G. A. Magee, was a
teacher in the school system here. Magee served
continuously on the board until Oct. 16, 1917, when the entire body,
then presided over by the late H. P. Hamilton, resigned in a dispute
with the City Council over the school budget. The following year he was
elected without opposition to the board and served continuously until
the time of his death. For more than 20 consecutive years he served as
president of the body. The late educator was also
active on the Joseph Mann Library Board with which he was identified
for nearly 40 years. Magee was born at Salem,
Ill., son of the late John and Sophia Perrottet Magee. When he was five
years old the family brought him to a farm in the Tannery, Town of Two
Rivers. He was graduated from Valparaiso, Ind., Normal School after
which he began teaching in the rural area and later for a number of
years taught in the local public school system. Magee has two children,
Atty. Allan Magee, vice president of Heil Co., Milwaukee, and Mrs.
Harold (Florence) Liebich of Two Rivers. The only member of the Magee
family surviving is a sister, Mrs. Mabel Buege, of 1624-25th St.
