DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passin' it along best I can. Now, you want a story about a man who crossed an ocean, built something out of nothing, and left his name on half of Fort Worth before he was through? Then let me tell you about John B.
Laneri. He was an Italian immigrant, and in 1883 he came to Fort Worth. Just came right on in and got to work.
By the time that city knew what had happened, Laneri had made himself a prominent businessman and a civic leader — the kind of man a town starts to lean on without quite noticing it's doing so. He founded the O.B. Macaroni Company.
He started a private boys school that came to be known as Laneri College. The man had range, is what I'm sayin'. Then in 1904, in one of the city's most prosperous neighborhoods, he had himself a residence built.
Brick, with classical detailing and fine interior woodwork — the kind of place that tells you, without raising its voice, that the man who lives here has arrived. And John B. Laneri lived there.
He occupied that house for the rest of his life, all the way until his death in 1935. More than thirty years under that same roof he'd had built. The O.B.
Macaroni Company. Laneri College. That brick house standin' in one of Fort Worth's finest neighborhoods.
An immigrant who showed up in 1883 and spent the next half-century building things meant to last. I'd say he succeeded.
What the marker says
Italian immigrant John B. Laneri moved to Fort Worth in 1883 and became a prominent businessman and civic leader. He founded the O.B. Macaroni Company and started a private boys school unknown as Laneri College. He had this residence built in 1904 in one of the city's most prosperous neighborhoods. The brick structure features classical detailing and fine interior woodwork. Laneri occupied the house until his death in 1935. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1982.