In 1915 following a devastating fire in the tin shop of
the Schafer Company which left him unemployed, A. R. Ashbaucher started his own
business known as Ashbaucher’s Tin Shop. Originally located on the north
side of Monroe Street between 1st and 2nd Streets in
Decatur, A.R. built and moved to a brand new two story brick and block building
at 115-18 North 1st Street in 1929 where he specialized in spouting
and slate roofs.
A.R. and his wife, the former Bertha Knapp, had one son,
Robert, who went into the business in 1937. Over the years the business built
custom heating and cooling ductwork as it expanded into selling gravity and
forced air furnaces and air conditioning units. Robert owned and operated the
business until 1980 when it was sold to Mark Bulmahn (now Master’s Heating and Cooling,
Inc.). Robert and his wife, Margaret (Schamerloh), had one daughter, Cheryl, who has established the Ashbaucher Family
Community Enrichment Fund to ensure that this once vibrant family is remembered
for the ages.