Carl was the oldest of five brothers and one sister and one of the most remarkable people in the Buermeyer family. His generosity to family and friends was legendary. He helped brothers set up businesses and he always contributed financially to neices and nephews. One small example of this generosity was my parent's first home in Winnipeg. He helped finance their emigration to Canada and they sold a ring he had given my mother for a wedding present to build an indoor bathroom! Carl had humble beginnings, selling nails and pins on Bremen street corners. All that changed on May 1st, 1896 when he and Wilhelm Hockemeyer took over Gebruder Thiele and jointly managed it until Carl's death in the early 1950's. The identity of the business changed when the new owners took over.
He and his wife Mary (Luders) had two daughters. Tragically, both Hilde and Herta died in 1924. Carl died October 25th, 1951. Mary died three years earlier, July 28th, 1948.
The focus shifted to iron, shipyard supplies and rigging equipment, thus taking advantage of the positive development of the industry and trade in the lower Weser River region.
Bremen's advantageous location, boasting a long tradition of trading in combination with first-class port facilities was favorable to Gebrüder Thiele's development, which, despite two world wars, inflation and depression, took on continuous positive growth.