Our History
Where it all started
John Bronner was born in Pfaffenhofen, a small “dorf” near Heilbronn in Württemberg, Germany. This area is located on the northern edge of the Black Forest. Stuttgart, the largest city in this region, lies south of Pfaffenhofen.
Pfaffenhofen is in a region known as “Zabergau,” an area of gently rolling and wooded hills, most notably the Stromberg. There are also many vineyards in the area.The dialect spoken in Pfaffenhofen is “Schwabisch.” It is somewhat different than the Frankish or Bayrisch spoken in Frankenmuth.
Coming to America
John Bronner immigrated to America in 1883, settled in Frankenmuth, and started a business known as John Bronner,
All Kinds of Brick and Stonework. In 1889, he married Maria Rohn from Merrill who emigrated from Crailsheim, Germany, a town east of Pfaffenhofen. Together they raised a family of six children.
320 Tuscola
In the early 1890’s John and Maria built a house at 320 E. Tuscola St. Stone foundations and stone porch pillars with stucco above, were common on many homes in the Frankenmuth area. The Bronners also performed concrete work and plastering.
Usually the homes they worked on took a year to build. The basements were laid up in the spring, often with blocks made on site, the framing done in the summer, the brick laid in the late summer and fall. During the winter, the house was plastered and then the finish carpentry installed. The concrete work, (basement floor, etc.) also took place during this year of construction.
430 E Tuscola
In 1929, Bill and Charlotte Bronner built their home at 430 E. Tuscola. They did most of the work themselves, with only the carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work done by others. The home is truly a masterpiece in masonry and is probably one of the most unique homes in Frankenmuth.
The brickwork is known as “skintle” brickwork (oozing mortar) and is laid in a special pattern. The brick were reclaimed from razed buildings and had to be cleaned and “rock faced,” which was done by Bill’s father, John and Charlotte. The trim on the house is Terra Cotta, a fabricated clay product. It was “left over” material from the Capital Theater in Flint, where Bill was working at the time
Stone Masons
Three of John’s sons, Richard, Herman, and William, also became stone and brick masons. The company was then known as John Bronner & Sons, Contracting Masons.
After John died in 1934, the boys continued the business, changing the name to Bronner Brothers, Masonry Contractors.
Family of Contractors
In 1961, William (Slim) Gilmour married Bill and Lottie’s younger daughter, Charlotte and joined the company as a carpenter. During this time the company became general contractors and built several houses on Cherry Street. Charlotte was the bookkeeper for the business.
The business was incorporated in 1967 and became known as Wm. Bronner & Son Contractors, Inc., as it is to this day. After William’s death in 1969, Ron and his wife, Anne became co-owners of the company. Upon Slim and Charlotte retired in 1986, Anne took over the bookkeeping and payroll responsibilities.
Ron is presently the treasurer and Anne the vice-president of the company, which employs approximately 25 bricklayers, carpenters, and laborers throughout the year. Also, in 1967, Ron and Anne Bronner purchased their parents’ home.
St. Paul, Millington
Most of the churches we have built were contemporary in style, buy St. Paul’s in Millington, built in 1967, could be described as modern Gothic. This project also included four additional classrooms for the school.
Because of the height of the structure, we needed to come up with a method to elevate material, our forklift only lifted to 21 feet and the old rope and pulley method wouldn’t work. We built a host tower using scaffold, a gas powered winch, and a series of pulleys to pull a material platform within the scaffold to the desired height. This equipment has since been used in other high projects including the realignment of the St. Lorenz steeple.
St. Michael's Lutheran Church
St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Richville was also a very interesting and extremely challenging project. During this time we needed to find bricklayers that lived up to our standards. As with St. Lorenz we had water problems.
While excavating the basement, we unknowingly broke a storm sewer. One night there was a major rainstorm and the hole for the basement filled half full of water. Fortunately, only the footings were poured and the Richville Fire Department was on hand with large pumps. In later years, as enrollment for the school increased we added classrooms, a kitchen, cafeteria, and enlarged the gym.
Warehouse
In 1971, seven acres of land was purchased on List Street in Frankenmuth. The intent being to move all the equipment that was stored behind their house to this location. A 120′ x 120′ warehouse was constructed and List Street was developed. The street was no more than a bicycle path at that time.
As the word spread about this new warehouse, before it was completed, it was rented out for storage except for 1600 sq. ft. that was kept for our operations. More and more people came to us for warehouse space and over the years we kept building. Now, along with the Bronner Development, LLC building, there is a total of 90,000 sq. ft.
Bethlehem Lutheran
Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Saginaw was our first negotiated contract in 1978.
We were brought on as the contractor and along with the architect, formed a team concept (owner, architect, contractors) from the design stage to completion. Classrooms were also added to the school on this project.
Veterans Memorial
The Veterans’ Memorial was built in 1995 as a Sesquicentennial project by the American Legion Post 150.
Although not legionnaire, Ron Bronner was asked to be a member of the committee to help design and build a memorial to local men and women who served or are serving in the military.
The memorial, designed by Harold Eckert and Dan Walter, was a wonderful project, a truly humbling experience for those who built it.
St. Lorenz Lutheran Church
In 1996 a tornado ripped through Frankenmuth and damaged or destroyed many homes and structures. One of those structures damaged was St. Lorenz Lutheran Church. The southeast quadrant of the roof was lifted off the bearing wall and the steeple was leaning 15 inches off center at the elevation of the cross. One side of the base of the steeple was lifted 1.5 inches above its bearing point, consequently causing the steeple to lean.
After the roof was pulled and tied back down, a scaffold was built around the tower. Approximately 8,000 loose brick were replaced and the steeple was pulled back to its original position by a series of turnbuckles and tiedowns.
Trinity Lutheran Church
In 1920 John Bronner and his sons performed the masonry work and plastering of Trinity Lutheran Church in Reese.
Ironically, in 2003 we were awarded the contract to construct a new sanctuary and offices for them.
St. Lorenz Lutheran Lutheran School
Our third project at St. Lorenz Lutheran School was recently completed early childhood wing and cafeteria.
Like at St. John’s we were selected to be part of the building team – owner, architect and contractor. Doug Kueffner was the architect for this undertaking. We have worked with Doug on many other projects.