Hans Morsbach

Morsbach was born in Munich in 1932. His father died before World War II. In 1951 his mother remarried and he moved with his family, including his brother, to Washington, DC. He went to Georgetown University and then American University where he received his BA. Then he went to the University of Chicago business school and earned an MBA in 1961.[2]

He first began working for an auto parts company in Milwaukee, and then in 1962 he bought the Medici for $1,700. He grew the business over the years until it became a multi-million-dollar business. It became known across the country when President Barack Obama was a customer.[2][3][4]

In 1972 Morsbach purchased a farm, and wrote a book, Common Sense Forestry,[5] published in 2003[3] when he could not find a book to help him run his farm. He started Shima Woodcraft company, Shima an anagram of Amish, to sell furniture designed by Amish carpenters and made with wood from Morsbach's farm.[2]

At the age of 74 he opened a second Medici restaurant whose distinguishing feature was a 30-foot mulberry tree within the restaurant.[2][6]

Morsbach founded the Hedgerow Project, an initiative begun in the mid-1990s to promote the planting of trees around farmland.[7]

Morsebach was married to Kathy,[8] who took over ownership of the Medici. He died on May 6, 2011 at Northwestern Hospital from complications from a stroke following surgery. He had a brother, Paul, a son, Paul, a daughter, Sarah, and a step-brother Martin Weigert.[2]