Elmer Luiten

CFP Volume 63 No. 7

Elmer Luiten, this week's businessman, has seldom been far from the wheat business, either as the basic producer, the retail outlet from wheat products, or as manager of the Cheney Grain Growers.

Fittingly, Luiten was born on a wheat ranch in Ritzville, and after going through high school there, farmed with his father on the home wheat ranch before and after being manager of the Safeway store at Sprague for a year-and-one-half.

When he left ranching for the second time, Luiten became the manager of the elevator at Marcellus, north of Ritzville. He remained there until 1942 when he removed to Cheney to become head warehouseman of the Cheney Grain Growers. After three years in that post Luiten was named manager in 1945, a position he still holds.

In the fourteen years he has been manager, the Grain Growers have added capacity of 320,000 bushels at the Cheney headquarters and at the Rodna station.

The Luitens have a daughter, Carol Mix, who is living at Huntsville, Alabama, where her husband is stationed at the Redstone Missile base. A son is attending WSU.

Luiten is a member of the Emmanuel Lutheran church and of the Masons. His service to the city has chief of the volunteer fire department for 10 years until he was appointed to the city council. He ran for election after his appointment and is serving his first full term. His position on the council is, naturally, fire commissioner.