During the Great Depression, Harry Anton Loft made drain tiles in his father’s factory, Munson Bros. and Co. in Capron, Ill. He loved working with his hands and was fascinated by automobiles, said his son-in-law, Kent Houck. “He was a really hard-working person, and he loved to build things and work with mechanical things,” Houck said. Mr. Loft, 84, of Richland Center, Wis., formerly of Harvard, died of heart failure Monday, April 18, in Richland Hospital in Richland Center. Born in Capron, he graduated from Capron High School and began working at Munson Bros. “They made terra cotta drain tiles that were used to drain fields years ago,” his son-in-law said. “They did quite a bit of business in the north suburbs.” In 1938 Mr. Loft married Roselyn Ann Callahan, who lived in nearby Harvard. When the factory closed in 1958, he began working for Starline Inc., a farm equipment company. Two years later, he and his wife moved to Harvard. He retired after the company closed in 1983, but returned to work as a porter for auto dealerships in Harvard. He retired again in 2000. A year later, he and his daughter, Marilyn Houck, began writing a book on the history of the Munson Bros. factory, which was established in 1906. The book, scheduled to be published in June, recalls with great detail the process of making agricultural drain tiles. Other survivors include his wife; a son, John; another daughter, Judith; a granddaughter; and three great-grandsons. A mass will be said at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. Joseph Catholic Church, 206 E. Front St., Harvard.
