More on Uncle Wilt

Last week I wrote about the early life of my grandmother’s only sibling, Wilton Gunzendorfer.  You can read about it HERE. 

There was so much about Uncle Wilt that I never knew, most importantly his musical abilities and that he worked in the radio business.  In fact, thinking about my time with him I’m not sure I ever thought about what he did as I’m fairly certain he was retired before I really had a chance to know him.  But he was an interesting guy and I want to continue to learn more about him.

After he and Natalie Traube were married, they traveled to Montery to meet “the folks” – how odd that they had not met their daughter-in-law before they were married or even that they attended the wedding.  And before you start thinking it was a shotgun wedding, they never had any children.

Santa Cruz Sentinel 26 Jan 1940

Wilt and Natalie were listed in the 1940 census (April) in Santa Rosa at 320 Doyle Park Dr.  Looking at the property on google maps, it looks to be multi-family with several different units side by side.  And what looks to be a parking garage across the street.

By 1944, I can see from the City Directory that Wilt and Natalie were living at 1900 Beach Street in San Francisco.  And in 1948, they were living at 1990 Beach Street – did they really move down the street or was one of them a typo?  And about 3 miles away was Wilt’s mother, Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer, who was living at 490 Geary Street, which is now the Warwick Hotel.  After her husband, Abe, died in 1944, it seems that she spent the last few years of her life living in hotels.

By 1946, Wilt had been appointed the manager of KROW Radio in Oakland, who also had a studio in San Francisco.  I’m not sure which studio Wilt was at but it makes sense that he would have been in San Francisco since he was living there.

Santa Cruz Sentinel 18 Jan 1946

This is an interesting piece of ephemera I found giving me some more information into Wilt’s life – a publication by KROW Radio.





Who are these men who serve to live and live to serve?
First let’s talk about Wilt Gunzendorfer.
Wilt, who is advertising director of KROW, has had 15 years in radio selling, merchandising and management.  Graduating from the University of California in 1922, he played eleven years in vaudeville with his musical attraction, “Jazz With A College Education” . . . . from show business he entered radio in 1930 as talent and production and sales supervisor of KFRC, San Francisco . . . . .then to Hollywood for two years in charge of the Don Lee Artist Bureau.
In 1937 he took over the management of KSRO, Santa Rosa, and after a six years’ successful record he was appointed manager of KSFO, San Francisco.
In August, 1945, Mr. Phil Lasky, General Manager of KROW, Oakland, appointed him Director of Advertising.
His 23 years in the field of entertainment, management and selling has won him the position as one of the best radio advertising counselors in Northern California.
If you don’t already know him …..
This Smiling countenance belongs to Wilt Gunzendorfer.

Nice piece summarizing his career path in radio.  I’m so glad I found this in my grandmother’s things.

Maybe some of my childhood friends can remind me – didn’t we listen to KFRC as teenagers?

My memories of Wilt and Natalie in the 1960’s was somewhere in Southern California.  From my grandmother’s address book, I can see that at one time they lived at 459 S. Doheny in Beverly Hills.  I also have a recollection that they lived “around the corner” from Jack Benny but from what I can find, they actually lived about 3 miles from his home at 1002 N. Roxbury in Beverly Hills.  My most vivid memory of this home was their parakeet that used to sit by the shiny salt and pepper shakers and talk to himself – funny what a kid remembers even if I can’t confirm if this is even accurate.

In about the 1970-1975 time frame, Wilt and Natalie were living at 1421 Reeves St. in Los Angeles.  And again my packrat grandmother has helped me out as her address book shows the Doheny address crossed out and replaced with the Reeves St. Address.

We must have spent some time with Wilt and Natalie during that time period as we posed for a family photo.  From the looks of it, I'd say this was in the mid 1960's.



And here is Wilt playing his clarinet – looks to be the same day.



I love seeing photos of two siblings together – I can just imagine the memories they shared.  And it’s especially satisfying to see them grow old together while maintaining a warm relationship.

Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy, Wilton and Natalie (Traube) Gunzendorfer c. 1980

And then, for some reason, they moved to Hastings St. in Belmont which is, I believe, where they lived until Wilt’s death on 19 May 1989, just 4 days before his 90th birthday.

It’s always so humbling to wander through a cemetery, particularly when so many of my ancestors are interred there.  Which is exactly how I felt walking through Hills of Eternity in Colma, California paying my respects to many of my Gunzendorfer clan.

Wilt is interred in the Gunzendorfer plot along with his grandparents, Ferdinand and Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer.  That’s Wilt to the right of the large Gunzendorfer stone.




And nothing quite hits a nerve as seeing the Gunzendorfer name on the step as you approach Fannie and Ferdinand.



What an honor to know my ancestors were so highly thought of that someone would have created this beautiful area for them.  I’m so happy I was able to see their final resting place in person.

Uncle Wilt

Wilton Louis Gunzendorfer was my grandmother’s brother, but I knew him as Uncle Wilt.  How many kids think about the fact that, at one point, their grandparents were young and actually had parents and brothers/sisters?  The “old folks” who were hanging around were just that – old folks – and we really didn’t give them much thought.

Wilt was born 23 May 1899 in San Francisco, California and was the second child of Abraham and Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer and my grandmother’s only sibling.

Being that Abe was a professional photographer, I’m never sure if the photos I find are of my ancestors or just a photo he took but, thankfully, he wrote on the back of this early photo of Wilt. 



I love how he called out that the photo was the property of his dad.  Hmm, July 8th, 1900 – that would make Wilt not quite 14 months old.  So where else would we find him but on a chamber pot!



Look at the beautiful embroidered pillow case.  What are those initials?  It doesn’t look like W G to me but more like L G – could this have been my grandmother’s (Loraine Gunzendorfer) pillow case?

Even though Uncle Wilt was in my life for nearly 35 years, it wasn’t until I started researching that I really knew much about him.  And as we have all experienced, by then it was too late to ask questions.  Thankfully, my mom was still living (Wilt was my dad’s uncle) but she did fill in a blank for me as to how Wilt got his name.  Bertha’s (aka Birdie) brother, Milton Schwartz, was a yell leader at UC Berkeley and when they would go to the events to see him in action, the announcer would tell the crowd that his name was Wilton Schwartz.  Turns out after hearing it enough times Birdie decided she liked the name and bestowed it upon her only son.

In 1900, the family lived at 2040 Sutton Street in San Francisco.  The census states that Abe was an abalone fisher – I guess it makes sense that he might have left Monterey for a few years to fish but I’ll need to keep my eyes open to see if I find any other clues about that.

By 1910 the family was back in Monterey at 430 Pacific, although the enumerator wrote 430 Pacific Franklin.  Did the street name change?  And in 1920, the family was still on Pacific, although Loraine was not there (she was married in 1919) and Wilt was enumerated as a college student.  From other records I know that he followed in his Uncle Milt’s footsteps and attended UC Berkeley.

I’ve learned that Wilt was a musician and from everything I can find, he played the clarinet.  I’m guessing this photo, taken by Myers in San Francisco, was used for advertisements and marketing.  What a handsome man!



Wilt was also a composer!

I have found information about the copyright (22 Sep 1920) with some other notes but I’m not really sure what it all means.  One interesting fact is that the music was arranged by Arthur Fisk.  It’s been a LONG time since I’ve read music – it would sure be fun to hear the tune.

In the mid 1920’s, Wilt was living in San Francisco and 1925 the Directory shows he was a car salesman with his uncle, Jacob Gunzendorfer, and also lived with Jacob’s family.

By 1930, things were getting a little more interesting for Wilt.  The 1930 census shows that he was a lodger at 1231 Market Street in San Francisco.  As I researched a little more, I found that Wilt (or Gunzy as he was known) was performing with an orchestra of 9 men at the same address – turns out that address is for Hotel Whitcomb.  An interesting tidbit about this hotel is that after so many buildings were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, Hotel Whitcomb was used as the temporary City Hall from 1912-1915.
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What a great commute he had – play music at night and then wander upstairs to go to bed!

In 1931, Wilt traveled on the President Jackson from San Francisco to New York – a 17 day voyage from 22 Apr to 9 May, 1931.  He shows on the manifest as a musician and is listed with others who worked on the ship so my guess is that this was his job for that time period. 

After waiting many years, Wilt found ‘love’ with Natalie Traube and they were married on 18 Jan 1940 when Wilt was over 40 years old.  I haven’t pieced together how they met but the romantic in me hopes she was a frequent visitor to the Hotel Whitcomb where she loved to hear Wilt and the orchestra.

Natalie Traube, date unknown

Unfortunately, their marriage didn’t get off to a great start as reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel on 19 Jan 1940.

Santa Cruz Sentinel 19 Jan 1940, Page 1

Things turned out okay and the marraige lasted until their deaths.  Come back next time to see what Wilt was up to after his marriage.

Generations

I just love photos of generations in my family – what a gift to have these so many years later.  I remember hating it when Dad would pose us for a photo but boy am I happy now that he did!  Here’s some fun photos that I came across in Dad’s slides, I just wish these were in better shape.

Here we are with our Grandmas.

Clara Fitzgerald Hunter (holding Doug Levy), Carolyn Levy, Debi Levy, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy c. 1962

And with our Grandpas.

Sigmund Levy (holding Doug), Carolyn Levy, Debi Levy, Shelton Hunter c. 1962

Not many people are fortunate enough to have photos with a great grandparent – here we are with two of them!

Edward Fitzgerald, Debi Levy, Doug Levy, Carolyn Levy, Mabel McAboy Fitzgerald c. 1962

Not too many generations but this one cracks me up!  I’ve talked before about how small my paternal grandfather, Sig Levy, was but this is quite a visual.  My mom was only about 5’5” and for the record, she is not standing on a step.  Grandma and Grandpa sure loved going to Las Vegas!

Gordon Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy, Sig Levy, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy

The most special photos in any collection are those with four generations or if you’re really lucky, five generations.  Unfortunately, I’m not that lucky but I do have a few of four generations that I treasure.  I haven't run across one yet with both daughters but I'm on the lookout!

Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter, Debi Levy Austen (holding Erinn), Geraldine Martin Levy, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, Natalie Trabue Gunzendorfer (Loraine’s sister-in-law) 1975

Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy (holding Erinn), Debi Levy Austen 1975

Back:  Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter, Geraldine Martin Levy, Mabel McAboy Fitzgerald Front:  Carolyn Levy, Debi Levy c. 1960

I even have some from farther back in time.  I’m not sure who all of these people are but I can identify the generations.  Since my mother and her father were never close following my grandparents’ divorce, I have very few photos of him so this is pretty special.

Second from left – Earle Martin (my grandfather) Second from right – Clara Fitzgerald Martin (my grandmother) Seated – Francis Brooks Martin (Earle’s mother) Girl on right – Geraldine Martin (my mother) c. 1929

And another one of this group from a different day.  Wait – since my mother is holding a baby doll could this be considered four generations?

Clara Fitzgerald Martin, Francis Brooks Martin, Geraldine Martin, Earle Martin c. 1931

The Gunzendorfer and Levy families also took photos.

Abraham Gunzendorfer, Bertha Schwartz Gunzendorfer (my great grandparents) Gordon Levy (front), Sig Levy, Robert Levy (Dad’s brother) c. 1935

And this photo, without a doubt, is my very favorite photo.  So happy we were able to rescue it from the storage unit.

Rebecca Steen Schwartz (my 2x great grandmother), Bertha Schwartz Gunzendorfer (my great grandmother) holding Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer (my maternal grandmother),  and Hannah Plotzky Steen (my 3x great grandmother) 1896

I could just look at these photos forever!

Best wishes for a long and happy life together

Now that the ceremony is over, it’s time for a pause - first with the flower girl, Sandra Dick.  This picture is so sweet and just like any little girl would be, Sandy was probably so excited to be dressed up for the occasion and no doubt was dreaming about the day she would be a bride.



And then it was time to read the notes of congratulations that came pouring in!



And the next page of the Bride’s Book shows the telegrams they received.  Telegrams were so popular back then but aren’t used anymore.  I can imagine it was very exciting to receive a telegram.



Again, my grandmother wrote the address on the telegram, probably so that my mother could send a note of thanks at some point.  Having an address will give me good information to research in the future.  Interesting that just a few years ago all of these names wouldn’t have meant a thing to me but now several are familiar.

Heartiest congratulations and best wishes Cecile Cohen Leah Jacbos	Congratulations and best wishes on this very happy day with many more years to follow May Cerkel Marks

It’s hard to see here but someone, probably my grandmother, tried to fix the spelling from Jacbos to Jacobs.

Heartiest congratulations.  May all your days be as happy as this one. Gussie and Paula Levy	Sincere and hearty congratulations.  Long life and happiness. Mrs. and Mrs. K Simonian

Here’s a special one – Aunt Bella was Bella Steen Benas.  Bella was my grandmother’s cousin and was married to Max Benas, brother of my grandfather’s mother.  This is my first example of a cross over where my grandparents’ relatives married each other.  I’ll never know for sure but my gut tells me that Bella and Max were the individuals who introduced my grandparents.

May your wedded life be one continuous honeymoon Aunt Bella

Uh-oh, here’s another example of relatives marrying each other.  Lionel Benas was the son of Max and Bella Benas – his wife, Hesper Hertz, was the daughter of Bella’s sister, Myrtle Steen, and Harry Hertz.

May your marriage lot be years of happiness and love Hesper and Lionel Benas

We both congratulate you on this wonderful occasion and wish you a long and happy wedded life Louise and Jerry Riese	My sincerest congratulations and best wishes for your continued happiness Al Mendelson

Lionel Traube was the brother of Natalie Traube Gunzendorfer, wife of my grandmother’s brother, Wilton Gunzendorfer.

Our love and best wishes for many years of happiness Lionel and Ella Traube

And here’s another Levy mystery.  My grandmother added Mr. and Mrs. Melville Levy, 1037 N. Fulton, Fresno.  Need to add that name to my research to-do list.

Sincere wishes for much happiness.  Sorry cannot be with you Levy’s and Markovits	Congratulations to you and young couple wishing all abundant happiness Ethel and Arnold Friend

And this last one is appropriate for two Stanford grads, although I don’t know who Indian Ray is.  Since back in those days Stanford’s mascot was the Indian, I wonder if this has something to do with the mascot.

Congratulations and best wishes for all the years to come and keep the cardinal waving Indian Ray

I’m sure all of the people who sent congratulations to my parents in 1950 had no idea their telegram would still be out there today.  Who knew?

Sentimental Sunday: My own scanfest

It's quiet today so I took this opportunity to go through a box of things my mother has had in her garage for who knows how long.  Many years ago we found a carboard box lying open on the floor and I just knew it was filled with treasures.  Several months ago my sister boxed everything up and sent it to me and after a quick look-through, off it went to the upstairs cavern.  I found a gazillion letters that were written to and by my father when he was off in WWII, a bunch of newspaper clippings, and various other things that were just waiting to get out of that box.  So today is the day and here's a few things I've found.

My Dad - Gordon Levy
March, 1942

This is my dad when he was just 15 years old - wasn't he a cutie?

Here's his discharge papers from the Army.  I requested this information from St. Louis a year or so ago and got something back that I could barely read.  I knew this had to be around somewhere and now I've found it!

And here's Mom and Dad on vacation.  I'm guessing it was about 1960-1965.  I love seeing how happy they were!









These weren't in the box but because I'm being sentimental, I decided to scan them and add them here.




My paternal grandmother

Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy

March, 1974

My maternal grandmother

Clara Maxine Fitzgerald Martin Hunter

March, 1974

My maternal step grandfather

Sheldon Abb Hunter

March, 1974

My paternal great uncle and his wife
Wilton Louis Gunzendorfer and Natalie Traube Gunzendorfer
1978

What fun this has been and I can't wait to read all of the letters!