William and Glenna Bauer (both born near Klemmes Corner, Indiana) were major contributors to Klemmes Corner, Franklin County and Franklin County 4-H during the 20th century.
William (Bill) started his trucking company in 1924 at the age of 16 with a Model T Ford truck hauling slab wood then later milk, cream, livestock, agricultural lime, and fertilizer. During the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s Bill’s trucks applied ag lime to hundreds of farms in eastern and southern Franklin County. During the 60’s Bauer Trucking transitioned to hauling sand, stone, and asphalt with the construction of Interstate 74 and the Brookville Dam. Bill’s trucks hauled over 250,000 tons of rip-rap to Brookville which was placed to protect the dam and causeways from erosion. For many years, Bill served as a director of the Franklin County Farm Bureau Co-op and officer and board member of the Maple Grove Cemetery owned by the Odd Fellows Lodge.
In 1936, Bill married Glenna Beckman who became a partner and bookkeeper of Bauer Trucking. Bill and Glenna have 4 children: Aleen (Thackery), Wayne, Rosalie(Weber), and Nelson. Glenna served as Highland Center 4-H leader for 45 years and wrote the Klemmes Corner news items published weekly in the Brookville Democrat/ American newspapers. During WWII, Glenna started a campaign to write weekly letters to the local soldiers and sailors overseas. It is estimated she personally wrote hundreds of those letters.
During the late 50’s, Bill and Glenna, with other fair board members, were very instrumental in the removal of the fair grounds from the Brookville town park to the mostly abandoned FC poor farm. Their hard work and vision for the present park complex is reality today. Bill, Glenna and others volunteered countless hours of labor and provided donations to see this project through.
Upon retiring in 1973, Bill and Glenna continued volunteer work. Collecting and restoring mostly Ford Model A & T cars became their passion. One particular car, a 1936 Auburn 4 door Phaeton convertible (one of the last made in Connersville) was completely restored by Bill and is now on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, IN.
To carry on their legacy, the William & Glenna Bauer Family Endowment has been established within the Franklin County Community Foundation by Wayne and Linda Bauer. The endowment will provide funding during the FCCF’s annual grant cycle for community programs and projects.