“We just had our son Jack, who’s the eighth generation of our family in Naperville, and he’s named after my grandpa Jack,” says Nick Stenger, the seventh generation Stenger to live in Naperville. For many new parents, the birth of their firstborn is an extraordinary occasion. For Nick Stenger, it also marks an even more special milestone.
“It’s funny when you tell people that you’re eight generations now in the same town; they really can’t even wrap their minds around it,” says Nick.
Staying in one place is rare for Americans
“One study I read said that 12% of Americans are from their hometown and lived there for more than 35 years. There are a lot of long-standing multigenerational families in Naperville. But to go back 175 years, pretty extraordinary,” says Jeanne Schultz Angel, Associate Vice President of the Learning Experiences Department at Naper Settlement.
The entrepreneurial spirit of the Stenger family
The Stenger family is often known for its storied history, once having their own brewery in Naperville in the mid-1800s. Stenger Brewery quickly became one of the top employers in the DuPage County area, even serving as the training ground for the founder of one of the largest breweries ever.
“The man that the Stenger brothers were mentoring to become the next head brewmaster was Adolph Coors. So when his four years were up, he decided, looking around, that he probably didn’t see as strong a future for himself in the Stenger Brewery. And I’m not sure why that was. There’s several rumors about that. But he just decided he would go out west to Colorado, and the rest is history,”says Ron Stenger, a sixth generation member of the family and Nick’s Father.
The Stenger Brewery continued to operate for over four decades, eventually selling to another brewery. Yet the family’s legacy endured. For the next 150 years, the Stengers would become bankers, star athletes and coaches, and then own a real estate company that would help grow Naperville.
“What’s interesting to me about the Stenger family legacy is it could have stopped with the brewing and then people could have just done their thing and things like that. But the leadership, the entrepreneurial ship and just sort of that next level success is driving the family,” says Angel.
Today, Nick Stenger continues to exercise that entrepreneurial spirit
For the past 40 years, his father Ron Stenger was a financial planner and investor with a business in Oakbrook. Nick followed in Ron’s footsteps, first by joining his father’s business, and now, running his own financial planning company in Naperville.
“It feels like we’re bringing the business back home and to build a family office where it can keep going even beyond me or beyond my father, beyond Jack, even,” says Nick. And speaking of little Jack, his parents and grandparents are cherishing the bundle of joy he is now.
“We are so blessed to be only approximately 10 minutes away. So we’re able to continue to pour the love and affection and attention into the new generation. Now, just like it was poured into me,” adds Ron.
One family. Eight Generations. And 175 years in Naperville. The Stenger family continues to thrive and give back to the community they call home, bringing the legacy of Peter Stenger and his sons full circle.
