As appeared in THE DIAPASON, September 1, 1927:

JOHN B. KOHLER DIES      AT HOME IN CHICAGO	with the same men at its head.  Their patronage grew from year to year and a few years ago a new factory was built to take care of the business.  The trade name of "Liberty Chimes" was adopted by the company and their output ahs been shipped to all parts of the world.      Mr. Kohler married Jane Perren in 1941.  He is survived by the widow and by two sons -- William and John.      Funeral services were held at the family home Aug. 16 and the body was cremated at Graceland Cemetery.  The services were conducted by Constellation Lodge of the Masonic order, of which Mr. Kohler had been a devoted member.      Otto H. Liebich, Mr. Kohler's close associate, left Chicago the night of Aug. 18 for northern Wisconsin and on the following day scattered the ashes of Mr. Kohler on the waters of Lac Vieux Desert.      Mr. Kohler's friends pay him the tribute of testifying that with all his genius and interest in his chosen work he was unassuming and essentially a man devoted to his family and his home.  His greatest happiness was when taking trips with his wife and children into the wilds of northern Wisconsin, where he could commune with nature.
PROMINENT AS CHIME MAKER
Senior Member of Kohler-Liebich Devoted Life to Manufacture of Organ Percussions--Born in Germany 53 Years ago.
John B. Kohler, head of the Kohler-Liebich Company, Inc., of Chicago and one of the founders of that house, did at his home in Chicago Aug. 14, after an illness of several weeks.  Death was caused by heart disease complicated with dropsy.  Mr. Kohler remained active in his business until June, although he had not been in robust health for the last six years.  A vacation trip early in the summer failed to improve his health and he was compelled to abandon his activities.      Mr. Kohler had been for years one of the most prominent men in the field of manufacturing organ percussion instruments and it may be said that he had devoted his entire life to the making of chimes and other organ accessories and to improving them in various ways.  He was known to all the organ builders of the United States and to a large number of organists, and his geniality and very evident genuineness had made friends for him everywhere.      Mr. Kohler was born July 16, 1874, in Berlin, Germany, and therefore had just passed his fifty-third birthday.  He left his native land when a boy of 16 years to make name and fortune in the United States.  After traveling all over the country he entered the employee of J.C. Deagan and was connected with the factory of that noted tone expert for fifteen years.  Then he decided to enter business for himself and he and Otto H. Liebich established the firm of Kohler & Liebich in 1912, opening a small factory on the north side.  In 1915, the Kohler-Liebich Company, Inc., was chartered