The development of the Greater Beloit Area has been substantially based upon the availability of gainful employment for its citizens. The Hall of Fame contains the names of numerous persons who, for lack of a better definition, can be called “captains of industry.” It’s not a coincidence that they are also civic leaders, known for their service to the community. Carl Aloysius Gorychka was born September 24, 1909, in Manitowoc, the son of Polish immigrants.

He attended school in Manitowoc and in 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, he graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering with a degree in power and power distribution. He was able to obtain employment as an electric fixtures assembler at Moe Brothers Company in Fort Atkinson. His ability and education soon led to his promotion as foreman, supervisor and then plant manager of the Moe Brothers Company manufacturing plant in Reedsburg. The fortunes of the Greater Beloit Area improved in 1950 when Carl Gorychka was hired as plant supervisor of Techni-Craft (forerunner of the Taylor Company) and moved with his family to Beloit.

He quickly became a managing partner of Techni-Craft and then coordinator of managing partners of the company in 1954. Subsequently, Mr. Gorychka would be named as president of Beatrice Food’s Metal Products Division and as president of Taylor Freezer, retiring from that position in 1975, but continuing on to serve as chairman of Taylor Freezer until his final retirement at age 81 in 1990.

Mr. Gorychka married his hometown sweetheart, Virginia Steckmesser on November 19, 1938. He was survived by his wife and their three daughters, Patricia (John) Beglinger, Kathryn (Richard) Ferguson and Carolyn (Chuck) Gilbert; a brother Adolph and sister, Adeline. Accolades from his business colleagues at the time of his death included such statements describing him as a “guiding star,’ a “Rock of Gibralter,” and a man who “had the work ethics and integrity which seem to be lost in today’s workplace.”

Over the years Mr. Gorychka shared his business knowledge and leadership ability with a variety of civic and philanthropic organizations in the Beloit community. His personal generosity touched almost every worthy group in the community. He was a longtime member and patron of St. Jude Catholic Church, serving on its financial committee and quietly becoming a major benefactor of the church.

He was a member of the Beloit Elks Club, Beloit Lions Club, Serra Club, Knights of Columbus of St. Thomas Council and served on the board of St. Coletta School. He was a charter member of the Beloit 2000 organization. Carl Aloysius Gorychka enters the Hall of Fame not just as a “captain of industry,’ he enters the Hall of Fame as a man whose talents, abilities, professional and ethical standards, religious faith and generosity, benefitted not only the hundreds of persons employed under him, but the entire Beloit community.