Joseph kunz

            The fifth child of Joseph Kunz and Mary Magdalena Weber was Joseph Kunz, born August 23, 1860 in Nauvoo, IL.  Little is known about his childhood, except that he grew up in the Hamilton, IL area.  Sometime before March 1892, Joseph Jr. left Illinois for Washington state where he attended the State Normal School (renamed Central Washington College in 1937) at Ellensburg.¹   It is very likely that Joseph was a member of the very first class of the Normal School, since the institution opened its doors on September 6, 1891.  It is unknown why he decided to go to school in Washington.  It could be that he was attracted to the west thanks to his brother John's settlement there.  At some point while in the Ellensburg area, Joe took care of the Hamiltonian horses of Ben Snipes, Cattle King of the Northwest.  Perhaps this was his method of working his way through school.

            Joseph graduated from the State Normal School and started a career in teaching,  familiarly called “Professor Joe.”  In 1897 he was teaching in the Dayton, WA area. It is here that he met his future bride, Mary Alice McCall.  She was the daughter of Andrew and Rebecca McCall.  Joe and Alice were married on July 13, 1897 in Dayton.

            By December of the next year, Joseph and Alice had twins:  Claire and Bonnie.  Just two years after that, their family doubled with another set of twins, Claude and Pearl, born September 1, 1900.  A year later, the family moved to the Big Bend country and settled on a farm near Sherman.  There Joe taught for a number of years as well as farmed.  Among his students there could be counted at least one of his nieces, Gertrude Kunz.  While teaching, he also purchased wheat land in the area and farmed.  Joseph and Alice's fifth child, Joseph Frederic, was born  in 1907.


            The total children of Joseph and Alice Kunz:

• Claire Weber, born December 1898 [twin]; married Robena Jamison

• Bonnie Evelyn, born December 1898 [twin]; married Archer Pugh 1 July 1923; died 1953 in Poulsbo, WA

• Claude Andrew, born 1 September 1900 [twin]; married Eva LaFollette; died February 1977 in Moscow, ID

• Pearl Magdalene, born 1 September 1900 [twin]; married John Mays; died 26 March 1979 in Odessa, WA

• Joseph Frederic, born 4 April 1907; married Ida Schmidt; died 1988 in Spokane, WA

            Besides teaching and farming, "Joseph Senior [also] served as a director and as president of Graingrowers Whse. Co. of Wilbur for many years.  He died April 8, 1948 in Spokane, Washington at the age of 87 years."²

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