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Senske In The News: |
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West Coast Lawn Care Pioneer William “Bill” Senske Dies at 93 |
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William "Bill" Senske |
Washington lawn care and pest control pioneer William Senske passed away May 25
at his home with family at his side.
William "Bill" Senske In 1947 William “Bill” Senske had a choice to make. He could
continue working for Trackson Company of Milwaukee, Wis., trying to sell a new kind
of rubber tired front loader Caterpillar tractor to contractors from the Palouse
region of eastern Washington to Montana, a tractor nobody could really see the value
in, or, he could apply his chemical engineering expertise to solve an age old problem:
eliminating dandelions from lawns.
As a youth, Bill visited his Aunt Tillie’s farm near Latah, Wash. One of his many
jobs on the farm was to dig the dandelions from the sparse farm lawn. Fast forward
to WWII. Research papers published in the chemistry journals he read to keep up
with technology while managing the incendiary bomb manufacturing process at Pine
Bluff Arsenal referred to a couple of very interesting compounds being tested. One
of those compounds was DDT, the insecticide. The other was 2,4-D, a product that
was found to make broad leaved weeds like dandelions, grow their cells so fast they
would plug up and die. The new characteristic of 2,4-D, which is still used today
on crops and lawns, was it would not hurt grassy plants at all at the low doses
that eliminated weeds.
It didn’t take much to connect the dots: Bill had a wife and two kids and the need
to put a roof over their head. There were thousands of lawns in Spokane, his home
town, and every one had a full crop of dandelions. So, in 1947, he put together
a wheelbarrow and a hand pump and started spraying lawns for fifty cents each to
remove the dandelions. He met with significant skepticism in the early days so he
had to do the work for his new customers and wait for results before he got paid
the four bits. Soon he added fertilizer applications to add color and density to
the lawns.
Bill’s reputation grew in the community. He helped Hygrade’s slaughter house and
meat packing plant eliminate with a severe cockroach problem. By spraying the plant
down inside and out on a weekend when it was closed he was able to reduce a significant
public health problem. There were so many roaches dead on Monday morning, the plant
couldn’t open until wheelbarrows of dead insects were removed. With this tremendous
success under his belt Bill became the expert that local food processing plants
and health departments went to for help on serious pest and vector issues.
His greatest successes might not be possible today but in the 1950s made the quality
of life in Spokane much better than it could have been had he not been called on
to help out the community. In the early 1950s he cooperated with Spokane health
departments and local business eliminate two serious health related problems: rats
and pigeons.
Washington Water Power (Avista) and the railroads had a serious rat problem. Rats
were infesting all the buildings and natural areas in the core city area up and
down the river and railroads. Raw sewage dumping into the river and grain spills
at elevators and along the railroad itself were food sources difficult to correct
that helped large rat populations to thrive. WWP and the railroads sponsored Bill’s
efforts to manage the rodent population over a long multi decade program in Spokane.
About the same time downtown building owners were suffering the effects of about
10,000 pigeons living on the architectural features of Spokane’s beautiful historic
buildings. Some
of the doctor and professional offices in prominent Spokane buildings
were having issues with bird parasites, lice, mites and bird bugs, coming inside.
Obviously, something had to be done to protect the health and welfare of Spokanites.
About seventy percent of affected downtown building owners agreed to pay a fee based
on the area of their roof to get rid of the pest pigeons. Most paid from fifty dollars
to two hundred fifty dollars for the operation. The pigeon population was collapsed
over a few days. Most of the building owners that benefited paid for the service.
The Spokane health department cooperated on the project. Not until mid 1970s did
the pest bird population grow to economic levels in some areas. Recently, as some
buildings have been removed in downtown Spokane, pigeons have become a nuisance
again.
The original Company Bill started in 1947, Chemical Weed & Pest Control, shortened
its name to Weed & Pest Control during the environmental movement of 1970. Son,
Chris
Senske joined the business and the name was soon changed to Senske Weed &
Pest Control. As the business developed and grew into a modern automated lawn care
company under Chris’ leadership, the pest control company was spun off into a separate
corporation and the names changed to Senske Lawn & Tree Care and Senske Pest
Control companies that that today have combined $20 million in sales.
Bill Senske retired in over a period of several years as he slowly gave up day to
day operation al control to the younger Senske from 1978 to 1982. During that period
he also started a new business with his wife, Elizabeth, selling doll houses and
miniatures. He re-retired in 1997 to enjoy his home in Spokane.
Bill Senske was born in Spokane in 1914 to William and Hulda Senske. He attended
Lewis & Clark High School and was awarded a DuPont Scholarship to study chemical
engineering at the University of Wisconsin where he graduated in 1936. He was hired
by DuPont in 1936, but because of a skin ailment was not allowed to go to work in
the organic chemistry analytical laboratory of DuPont. He pursued other chemistry
related careers until he ended up in Spokane, WA, where he grew up, with the Trackson
Company.
Bill’s skin condition was cured soon after initiating his lawn care career. He attributed
the cure to exposure to the ethanolamine salts of 2,4-D he used on lawns on a regular
basis.
Bill was active in the East Spokane Kiwanis, Spokane South Side Senior Center, a
lifetime member of the National Pest Management Association and several local and
regional trade associations.
He is survived by his five children, 9 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren
and Pepi his black lab friend.
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