Alex Stern was born in Illinois in 1858 and came to Fargo, North Dakota in 1880 to found Alex-Stern & Company. In 1883 he married Bertha Kaufman, who was born in 1864, in Aurora, Nevada, which used to be a mining camp. The couple had three sons, William born in 1886; Sam born in 1888; and Edward born in 1896.
Alex Stern was active in the community having been mayor for four years, a member of the State Legislature, City Commissioner for four years, City Alderman for three terms and a member of the school board for three terms. He owned several parcels of real estate and started the Dakota National Bank in 1916. The bank was located in the Northeast corner of NP Avenue and Broadway and the Alex Stern & Co. was located on the Southwest corner of that same intersection.
Bertha Stern died in 1930 and Alex Stern died in 1934. William (Bill) Stern was employed at the Dakota Bank and became President upon the death of his father. Bill was very active in politics with the Republican party having served as National Committeemen for several years. He was one of the original founders of Northwest Airlines and Croil Hunter, the first President of Northwest Airlines, served on the Board of Directors of Dakota Bank. Bill Stern was also a long time board member of Northwest Airlines. He was very active locally and nationally with the American Legion; he and his brothers had served in the army during WWI. At a National Republican Convention, Bill had volunteered Fargo as the site for the next Republican Convention. William Stern died in 1964.
Sam Stern worked for the clothing company and married Helen Hart, Helen was from the family of Hart-Schaffner and Marx, and was born in 1897 and died in 1963. Sam and Helen had two children who died at very young ages. Sam was active in the Elks Club and served as the National Grand Exalted Ruler. When he ended his term as Grand Exalted Ruler, he was given a new Cadillac car as a gift but none of the three sons drove a car and the Cadillac sat in Sam’s garage and had fewer than a thousand miles on it at the time he died. Sam died in 1967.
Edward Stern served as a public relations director for Northwest Airlines and also served on the US Senate Commerce Committee as a consultant. He lived in Washington, D.C. his adult life. Edward died in 1977.
William and Edward never married and due to Sam’s children dying young, there were no immediate heirs in the Stern family. Sam and Ed inherited William’s estate and they set up the Alex Stern Family Foundation in 1964 to honor their family members. The Foundation was to become active upon the last brother’s death and did so in 1977. The original Foundation document has this language; "The funds are to be used to enhance charitable and literacy causes in the Fargo-Moorhead area because it was here that the Stern Family had good fortune."
