Franz Osthaus; Longtime Stock Exchange Specialist
Franz Osthaus, whose tattered green visor was a familiar sight on the floor of the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange for 56 years, died Wednesday at age 82 in Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital.
Osthaus was the oldest specialist at the exchange when he retired as a vice president of Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards Inc. in 1982.
He began as a runner in the old Los Angeles Curb Exchange in 1926 where, for $80 a month, he ran personal errands for his bosses between picking up securities. By 1957 he had become a member of the board of governors of the old Los Angeles Stock Exchange when it and the San Francisco exchange merged into the Pacific Stock Exchange.
Osthaus is survived by his wife, Rhoda; two daughters, five grandsons and six great-grandchildren.
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