Kentucky Post, Monday, 28 Nov 1994, Page 10A - "Joseph Trenkamp of Ft. Wright, Founded Excavating Company" - Lack of formal education and unfamiliarity with the language didn't stop Joseph W. Trenkamp from becoming a successful businessman and valuable member of his community. Mr. Trenkamp, 88, of Ft. Wright, died Saturday at his home. The founder of his own business, Joe W. Trenkamp Excavating Co., Mr. Trenkamp came to this region from Germany in 1928 at the age of 22. "He had only four years of schooling and he couldn't speak English, but he became a self-educated man," said Mr. Trenkamp's daughter, Margaret T. Boehmer of Ft. Wright. Her father came from a farming community in Drantum, Germany, near Oldenburg, and had experience with horses, she said. "He took a job as a stable hand with the French Bauer Dairy Co. in Cincinnati, and worked his way up to delivering milk with a horse-drawn cart in the West End," Mrs. Boehmer said. In 1949, Mr. Trenkamp started his excavation business. "He just decided that he wanted to get into something he thought he would be good at," said Mrs. Boehmer, noting that the Ft. Wright business continues to be operated by her husband and brother.

Mr. Trenkamp was a 40-year member of St. Agnes Church in Ft. Wright, where he was a member of the Holy Name Society, Knights of St. John, and an active member and past president of the St. Vincent DePaul Society. "He was very active in the St. Vincent DePaul Society. When someone came to the church rectory seeking help, he was always ready to help them find food, a place to live or some money to see them through," said Mrs. Boehmer. Mr. Trenkamp met his wife, Dorothy, on a blind date a few years after he came to this country, Mrs. Boehmer said. They were married 52 years at the time of her death in 1985.

Besides Mrs. Boehmer, survivors include another daughter, Mary Ann Bode of Concord, Calif.; sons, Paul J. Trenkamp and Charles E. Trenkamp, both of Ft. Wright, Hugh C. Trenkamp of Melbourne, Australia, and Robert A. Trenkamp of Columbia, S.C.; sisters, Margaretha Mayer and Lucia Meerpohl, both of Germany; 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Mass of Christian burial will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the church. Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Linneman Funeral Home, Erlanger. Entombment will be in St. Mary Cemetery Mausoleum, Ft. Mitchell. Memorials are suggested to St. Vincent DePaul Society at the church or the Alzheimer's Disease Association.