I did some more Urbandale rambling today, as I wanted to return to a stamp I had made note of, but found illegible, in the past. It’s on the east side of South Hayford Avenue between Elizabeth and Harton. Initially I didn’t find it any more legible today, but when I looked at it mediated through my camera suddenly I thought I made something out. It seems that sometimes having less information lets my brain find letters in the noise. It appeared to read “Kegle.” Could that be a name?

Yes it could, and it was. Kegle Construction Company Inc. advertised in the February 8, 1981, Lansing State Journal: “Kegle Construction Company has been serving the highway industry in Michigan since 1957.” The ad promises “Concrete Roads, Streets, and Parking Lots” and gives the address 3508 Wood Street (today home to Sanches Construction). The business was founded by Howard S. “Red” Kegle (who had previously run Kegle Dairy Company) and continued by his son, James F. Kegle. According to the May 21, 1978, Lansing State Journal, James was elected president of the Michigan Concrete Paving Association, meaning this stamp has a real pedigree. Sadly, according to an obituary posted at Find A Grave (titled “James F. Kegle, Road Builder, Weightlifter”), James died in 1984 at the unripe age of 44. Weightlifting was his hobby and he won many awards in competitions.

I haven’t been able to determine a date for Kegle going out of business, so I don’t know if the company survived James’s death. Unfortunately the stamp is undated.