George kunz       

George Kunz

            George Kunz was born on October 18, 1857, in the postal district of Nauvoo, Illinois.  He was the fifth child of Joseph and Mary.  When he was ten years old his father bought land in Prairie Township, north of Elvaston Illinois, and there he attended local schools.  He started teaching around 1884 in Illinois and farmed there as well.  He met Alice Markey of Carthage, Illinois and they were married November 13, 1888. There were Markey families living in Prairie Township south east of the Joseph Kunz family.  One of these is listed in the 1874 Atlas of Prairie Township as F. Markey. 


            Alice Markey's parents were Frank Markey and Catherine White Markey.  They had nine children, Alice, Anna, Rosie, Mary, Kate, Jenny, John, Frank, and Hugh.¹ 

            George and Alice continued to live in Illinois where their first two children were born:  Alice and Mamie.  George taught and farmed for eleven years in Illinois before the family moved to Charleston, IA where George continued to both teach and farm.  In Iowa, two more children were born:  Tessie and George.²       

        George Sr. visited his brothers Mike, John and Joe in the Sherman area in August of 1904.  It was stated in the Wilbur Register that “if Washington strikes him only partially as well as it has his brother he will sell his holdings in Iowa and locate here.”³  By December of that year, George arrived back in the Big Bend country and purchased a quantity of wheat land located about half way between Sherman and Creston.  He retired from teaching and devoted his time completely to farming his large farm.  There were three more children born to George and Alice; Agnes, Helen and Hugh, these being born in Washington state.

            Children born to George and Alice Kunz are:

• Alice Catherine, born 4 March 1890; married 12 October 1912 to James L. Copenhaver (born 3 June 1889, died 7 April 1968); died  26 March 1979

• Tessie, born 1 July 1893; took religious vows (order of the Blessed Virgin Mary); died 19 October 1982

• Mamie, born 28 July 1895; married c.1919 to Arthur Rettkowski (born 12 October 1891; died 7 October 1968); died 24 November 1983

• George F., born 24 November 1897; married 3 October 1940) to Cecilia Glendenning; died 4 November 1974

• Agnes, born 28 June 1903; married Bill Wylie; died 24 June 1983

• Helen, born 20 March 1905; took religious vows (order of the Blessed Virgin Mary); died 31 July 1987

• Hugh, born 15 November 1906; became Jesuit seminarian; died 28 July 1933

 

            A niece of Alice, Agnes McNalley, came from Illinois to live with George and Alice and help Alice with the children.  She eventually received her teaching certificate and taught school in Sherman.  While teaching she lived with Michael Kunz whose home was  closer to the school. ⁴  Agnes later married Leo Kunz, son of Michael Kunz, and George’s nephew.

 

            George Kunz died in October 1941 after many months of illness.  He was taken very ill a week before he died and his family were called to his bedside.  He rallied and was conscious to the last.  Alice lived until May of 1960, just one month short of her 97th birthday.

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¹  Letter from Sr. Mary Hugh Copenhaver (Conrad, MT) to Mary Ann Kunz Bresba (St.Hubert, QC), October 16, 2007. Sr. Mary Hugh also contributed to the vital statistics about George and Alice’s children.

²  Obituary of George Kunz, Wilbur Register, October 30, 1940.

³  Wilbur Register, August 19, 1904.

⁴  Letter from George Kunz (Sherman, WA) to Josephine Kunz (Hamilton, IL).