Desloge, Joseph, 1889-1971

Joseph "Joe" Desloge (1889-1971) was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Lydia Davis and Firmin Vincent Desloge, who had moved to St. Louis to attend St. Louis University. A descendant of French immigrants, Joseph Desloge served in the French army in WWI and was decorated for bravery near Vouziers. He graduated from the Massachusettes Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1912 with a degree in electrical engineering and founded the Minerva Oil Company (miners of zinc and fluorspar), Killark Electric Manufacturing Company, Louisiana Manufacturing Company and Atlas Manufacturing Company. In 1946, built an elegant mansion in Florissant, Missouri, whcih he named "Vouziers" after the site of his glory in France. A frequent vacationer on the Colorado River, Desloge used his wealth to preserve and share natural landscapes in his home state by donating the land to create Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park in Reynold County, Missouri and Sunset Park in the city of Florissant. Desloge and his first wife, Anne Kennett Farrar, had four children. She died in 1934, and Desloge spent his later years with Anna Margaret Saalfrank, whom he married in 1953. Joseph Desloge passed away in 1971.