William Arthur Balbach

1881 - 1945

William Balbach was born in Grand Rapids in 1881. He planned to be a painter or illustrator and studied with Mathias Alten. He accepted an opportunity to enter a designing studio to gain supplementary knowledge and discovered his life’s work. In the old Phoenix Furniture factory he worked under the tutelage of David Walcott Kendall. Later he designed for Luce Furniture, and was associated with Mueller Furniture as a designer in 1939. He died August 20, 1945.