City Departments
Hall of Fame Members
Otto Klotz
Inducted 1996
Otto Klotz was born in Kiel, Holstein Germany on 25 Nov 1817 and arrived in Preston in 1837. Almost immediately he began that involvement in community activities which has led some to call him "Waterloo Township's most public-spirited citizen of the 19th century."
In 1838 he was elected to Preston's first Board of School Trustees. This began a long connection with the educational system in Preston which was to last almost until his death in 1892. He served as the secretary-treasurer of the Board from 1839 to 1891 with the exception of the years 1859-1861. He was elected to the Waterloo Township School Commission in 1841 and was appointed superintendent of schools in 1852. As the school inspector, he was also a member of the County Board of Examiners of Teachers, a post he occupied for 17 years. In 1845 Preston's school became Ontario's first "Free" school when Mr Klotz convinced his fellow trustees that school costs should be covered by the municipality rather than by fees collected directly from the parents of the students. Free schools did not become the norm in Ontario until about 1870. In addition he prepared and published a grammar text book for the use of students of the German language in local schools.
In addition to this his work in education, he helped to establish and served as secretary of Preston's first Hook and Ladder Company when it was organized in 1844. He became the company's Chief Engineer when it was reorganized into the Preston Fire Brigade in 1850. He was appointed a notary public in 1846 and a Justice of the Peace in 1856. He served as the clerk of Preston's first village in 1852, was a founding member, in 1871, of the Preston Mechanics Institute, the forerunner of the library system, and was the President and long time director of the Waterloo County Agricultural Society.
In business, Mr Klotz operated a small brewery for several years shortly after his arrival in Preston. This enterprise was joined, in 1839, by the Klotz Hotel which he began in 1839 and operated for about 40 years. The hotel was later sold and renamed the Central Hotel, a business that continues to operate on King St. He also started a starch factory in 1862 but this business proved unsuccessful and was soon closed down.
Mr Klotz retired from most, although not all, of his public offices in 1882 and died on 6 Jly 1892. He is buried in Preston Cemetery.