Talk:Joe Jagersberger

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This turned up at the commons' village pump [1]:

Hello,

My name is Patricia Hartley. I am the daughter of Rosemary and James Haas and the granddaughter of Joseph W. Jagersberger, who was born Feb. 14, 1884 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. He died rocking me to sleep October 5, 1952. I was 6 months old. He came to this country in 1902 (see Ellis Island documents) with letters of introduction from Mssr. Daimler of Daimler Motorwerks. (I am in possession of this documentation.) He became a chauffeur to John Jacob Astor about 1904, and from New York, found his way to Racine, WI, where he met my Grandmother, Amanda Olle, about 1911. They were married June 16, 1919 and my mother was born May 7, 1920. He came to work in the fledgeling race car program for the J.I. Case Co., and was in the starting lineup of the 1911 Indidanapolis 500, the first year of the race on the brick track. The steering knuckle on his car broke and he had to bow out of the race after 87 laps, but he continued to race and in November 1911, in Columbia, SC, he hit the wall rather than hit a car full of tourists traveling from the infield across the track. He was in the hospital for several months, and his left leg was amputated, thus ending his racing career.

He continued to design cylinder heads and peripheral equipment and he started his own company, RAJO Motors, about 1914. According to my Grandmother, he counted amoung his friends, Ray Harroun, the Chevrolet brothers, and Eddie Rickenbacker, all of whom frequented our house on 14th St in Racine, into the small hours of the night.

In June 2006, he was inducted into the Model T Ford CLub Speedster and Racer Hall of Fame, in San Jose, CA.

In April, 2007, he will be inducted into the Chevy Sprints Association, along with many other people who have made contributions to the automotive industry in the last 50 years.

My mother, Rosemary, was his only child and she is gone now, but I am honored and proud to say I was Joe's granddaughter . Once in a while, I run into people who not only know of my Grandpa, but still tell me how his innovations have made an impact on the best hobby in the world. CARS!

I can be contacted at dnhartley AT gmail (address obfuscated -- G. Gearloose (?!)), and would welcome questions or comments from anyone who knew, or knows of Joe Jagersberger.

Perhaps this can be useful for the article in some way -- G. Gearloose (?!) 11:37, 22 January 2007 (UTC)