John Motz
Inducted In
1972
John Motz came to Waterloo Country from Diedorf, Germany, in 1848 after an ocean voyage lasting sixty-four days.
He worked for farmers and then completed a three-year apprenticeship as a tailor. He opened tailor shops in Peterburg and St. Jacobs before going to Illinois in 1857. He later returned to Berlin and with Fred Rittinger established the Berliner Journal, a Liberal paper. Motz was the first of four generations of newspaper publishers in the Motz family.
Motz was a founding member of the Separate School Board and the Catholic Cemetery Board. In the 1870s he was elected to the town council; was mayor in 1880-1881; served on the High School and Public Library Boards and in 1900 was appointed sheriff of Waterloo County.