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David Engberg Etzold
David Engberg Etzold, whose name is carried on the Wall of Honor at the headquarters building in Fort Bliss, was a gallant military man who went on to a successful 40-year career in property and casualty insurance.
David was born March 25, 1924, in Detroit, the first of four sons born to Arthur Howard Etzold and Sara Engberg Etzold. His mother’s family were descendents of Swedes who came early to America and settled in McPherson, Kan. Later his parents moved to Taos, N.M. David’s school years were divided between early years in New York City, high school in McPherson, and graduating from The Citadel, the military college of Charleston, S.C.
“It was here he acquired a life long love affair with the sea,” said his son, David. “Dad taught me to love sailing as well as how to build boats and appreciate them. Then he taught me another thing — to give back to the community some of the things the community had given to us.”
He became an avid member of the Yacht Club, and later in life was a member of the Rio Grande Sailing Club of El Paso, often visiting Elephant Butte Dam.
David was a role model for his children in giving back to the community. He was either president or played key roles in several community organizations, including the United Way, the El Paso chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army, the Rotary Club of El Paso and Pro Musica. He also was active in St. Clements Episcopal Church. He became a member of the steering committee for the church’s Parish School and a charter board member.
After college graduation, lst Lt. Etzold was assigned to the Air Defense program at Fort Bliss. In 1949 he was made aide de camp to Deputy Post Commander Brig. Gen. Bryan G. Milburn and went with him to Tokyo, to join the Army of Occupation.
“One of the things he enjoyed most while living in Japan was the duck hunt,” David’s son said. “The event was held on the grounds of the Emporer’s Hunting Lodge. The men of the military were amazed at the idea of ducks being caught with a net.”
In 1951 Etzold was assigned to artillery Battery “C” and sent to the front lines in Korea as a forward observer. On Sept. 5, 1951, Etzold was stationed at an observation outpost, miles in front of the front lines with Infantry Company “ L.” They were attacked by several Chinese regiments. For his valor in the battle which ensued, Etzold was awarded the nation’s second highest decoration for bravery, the Silver Star, and also the Purple Heart.
He came home in the spring of 1952 for his second tour of duty at Fort Bliss. Mutual friends introduced him to Mary Francis, daughter of a Tennessee cotton broker. They were married Jan. 3, 1953. Mary described the time as hurried.
“That was the year Jean McGregor was Sun Queen and I was her lady-in-waiting. All the activities were one week before our wedding,” said Mary.
After attending the Advanced Artillery Course, David resigned his commission as a captain and took up life in El Paso. He began working with Whyburn & Co. General Insurance Agency. Other associations in business included partnerships in the Concord agency, Alexander and Alexander, Rogers and Belding Inc., D.C., Crowell and Co., and John D. Williams Co. Insurance.
“Dave was a very happy, humorous person whom I have known for over 40 years,” said his friend, Ralph Lowenfield. “In 1956-57, I went to him as a customer and he was absolutely one of the best insurance men in El Paso. I think of one word that best describes him, and that is ‘faithful.’
“David loved living here,” said his wife, Mary.
His daughter, Mary, said, “It was a great privilege to work with my father, as well as Park Kerr and Sean Henschel in the wonderful world of The El Paso Chile Co. He was always a calming influence.”
David and Mary were married for 45 years. They spent Jan. 3, 1998, in Brown’s Hotel in London for a black-tie, long-dress dinner dance.
David died at 74 on Jan. 11. He was preceded in death by a younger brother, William L. Etzold. He is survived by his wife, Mary Francis Etzold; daughter Mary Benning, who is an interior designer; a son, David Francis Etzold, a commercial real estate broker; two brothers, John Andrew and James Stephen Etzold; and five grandchildren.
Irene Bunsen Mack
What do the words alligators, policeman, and a shoe box have in common?
Irene Bunsen Mack, born Dec. 15, 1905, had reason to remember the story of the alligators in the plaza as it was passed down through the years. Her great uncle, Adolph Muensenberger, was the one who brought them to El Paso.
“One could say there are people all over the world, when they hear of a place called El Paso, Texas, will think of the alligators in the pool in the middle of the plaza,” said local historian, Leon Metz. “They remember the crowds standing around watching the motionless creatures.”
Irene’s parents were Paul George Bunsen and Louisa Renner Bunsen. They lived in a little adobe house on Tularosa Street.
Adolph was her father’s uncle who owned a ranch in Mexico and held cattle drives on the trails of the Southwest. Leon Metz pointed out the date the alligators arrived was 1883, when Joseph Magoffin was the first mayor. Kathleen Lamb, granddaughter of Paul Bunsen, told how the legend of the ctiy alligators came about.
“It started as a joke,” she said “Uncle Adolph was visiting Granddad when he, (Adolph) received a shoebox through the mail containing two baby alligators. Not knowing what to do with them, Adolph gave them to the mayor for the city.
J. Fisher Satterthwaite, a New Yorker who had come to the border in 1881, was given $600 by the city council to beautify the plaza where people gathered for social affairs and listened to the band play. He was repairing a garden area in the plaza when he built a pool for the baby alligators. These alligators could be the very ones given to the city.
“Granddad was a policeman,” Kathleen said. “He was 6-feet, 2-inches tall with a handlebar moustache which made him look like every other policeman. His badge was No. 17. I have framed his picture with his gun, brass knuckles and night stick and hung it where I can touch it every day.”
Paul Bunsen ran a small dairy, Tularosa Street Dairy, a business that included delivering milk to his customers. Irene was a small child when she began helping. Her father put her, along with the pouches of milk, on a horse called Old Dan, who knew the route. He had been trained to stop at each house.
“She would call out and someone would come and get a bottle of fresh milk,” Kathleen said.
Irene attended Alta Vista Elementary School and El Paso High School where she was a member of The Honor Society. She graduated in 1922.
“One day she noticed a young man getting on the bus as she was riding to work. In those days you didn’t speak to a man unless properly introduced,” Kathleen said. “They rode the same bus every morning for several months, all the time admiring each other. Then she and Russell Mack started conversing, which prompted him to visit Irene’s father and ask for her hand in marriage. The ceremony was performed April 7, 1926. In a few years Irene began working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. She began as water clerk in 1942 advancing to Insurance Clerk. She worked for the railroad for 30 years, retiring in 1972.”
The family had always been members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
“My Mother was not a socializing type of person,” Kathleen said. “But she did attend the night circle of the women’s group and she was a member of the Rebecca Lodge No. 191. When she was quite young, she became a Rainbow Girl. She went through all the chairs of the Rainbows and became worthy adviser to the Rainbow Girls.”
In 1968 the family moved to a home in the Lower Valley. She began to plant roses. Soon she had 130 varieties around her home.When her husband died Feb. 23, 1982, Irene purchased a grandfather’s clock with beautiful chimes which she dedicated to him. When she died at 93, it was in this home that she heard the last tick of the old clock on Jan. 2.
Her funeral was held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church with pastor Arthur Solem presiding. Many of those who attended remembered that she had started the elevator fund several years ago and now it was in use. She was preceded in death by her husband, Russell Mack, and son, Dr. Russell P. Mack. She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Lamb, six grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
Anne Shelton Perrenot Georges
Anne Shelton Perrenot Georges was the first student to attend Radford School for Girls all 12 years of her elementary and secondary education.
She was one of the original founding members of the Study Club, holding membership for 38 years and a Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League.
Anne was active in the Junior League, the Planned Parenthood chapter formed by her mother, worked with the El Paso Historical Society, and in 16 civic and charitable organizations where she had volunteered her services during her lifetime.
Anne was born June 21, 1931, in El Paso, the first of two daughters born to Preston Rose Perrenot and Jane Rust Burges Perrenot. Anne’s father descended from Antoine Perrenot de Granville, an eminent French statesman made a cardinal by Phillip II in 1561. Her mother was the daughter of pioneer El Pasoans Richard F. Burges and Ethel Shelton Burges.
Richard arrived in El Paso in 1886 from Seguin, Texas. He was admitted to the Texas State Bar when he was only 21. He met and married Ethel Shelton of El Paso. In 1907 he authored the present city charter.
“She came from a wonderful old El Paso family,” said Ellie Fenton, cousin to Anne. “One of her great aunts on her mother’s side was Mrs. W.D. Howe, and her great uncle was Dr. William D. Yandell, the first city health inspector for El Paso.”
After graduating from Radford in 1948, Anne enrolled in Indiana University graduating in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature. She married Ronald Earl Mangan in 1951. They lived at Fort Hood, Texas, and for a short time in Germany.
Among her many hobbies was a love of books.
“Anne was such a cheerful little thing,” said friend, Lea Vail. “I recall what a well-read person she was. Her grandfather, Richard Burgus Perrenot, was responsible for getting the Carnegie Library into El Paso. His own library contained over 5,000 books. Many writers came to him for information.
“Jane Burges, Anne’s mother, later donated her father’s extensive library to UTEP, and when she died had willed the Burges House to the County Historical Society. Anne was a Godsend on the Burges House Commission when restoration time came and the interior was re-fashioned after the original pattern.”
Anne was a Gold Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League, having accumulated more points than any other woman in El Paso. She was also a member of the ACBL District 17 judiciary committee and the ACBL National Charity Committee. While playing in some of the tournaments she met her second husband, Gerald Ayles Georges whom she married Sept. 12, 1964.
“She was the best partner anyone could hope for,” he said. “We played together at bridge, and worked as partners in everything we did. We attended the world championship group of bridge players when the competition was held in Albuquerque, N.M.”
Anne worked at Shutes Piano Company, Sun Publishing, Bassett Center Book Store, and after her marriage to Georges became his partner when he founded Georges and Co. in 1967.
“She managed the office and did all the redecorating. She especially loved blue carpeting,” Gerald said.
Her volunteer activities included being a script writer and helper for the Sun Carnival Balls for seven years. She also did volunteer work for Providence Memorial Hospital Women’s Auxiliary for 12 years, the Lighthouse for the Blind, the Child Guidance Center, the Social Service Exchange, the Cerebral Palsy Association, El Paso Public Schools, and the El Paso Public Library.
“She did not leave a trail of awards behind, but she left her mark,” said her daughter, Leigh Adlaco. “She was not one to seek accolades or awards. She did things from the heart.”
Anne’s husband, Gerald, added, “Her chief friends were the lonely ones. She was always finding someone sitting alone and trying to bring that one into the group.”
“Up until the last she always thought of her mother’s friends,” Lea Vail said. “The day she fell and broke her hip, she had ordered the traditional eggnog treat for the Burges Open House and friends who looked forward to it each year.”
She was hospitalized before Christmas and died Dec. 27. Graveside services were held at Memory Gardens of the Valley Cemetery in Santa Teresa, N.M.
She is survived by her husband Gerald Georges, and their combined families: daughters Leigh Aldaco, Christine Georges, Julie Georges; sons Jeffrey, Joseph, Brian, Gerald, and David Georges; sister Mary Austin Fraser; brother Richard Burges Perrenot; and 13 grandchildren.
Mark Bernard Kupfer
Mark Bernard Kupfer, a Holocaust victim who broke ground for the present Holocaust Museum in El Paso and was also a prominent business man in both El Paso and Ysleta, left his legacy to the area in which he had lived for 45 years.
Mark was born in the little city of Nova-Korczyn, Poland, Nov. 18, 1929, one of nine children born to Deborah and Dov Kupfer. His father was a member of the city council.
Mark was 10 when Adolph Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. His father was chosen as one of three hostages. The villagers were told to hand over salt, sugar, gold, guns and diamonds — otherwise one of the hostages would be killed.
Many were tortured and killed as the Nazi’s tried to get information. Mark watched as his brother and sister were murdered. He had to bury them even though he himself was wounded in a leg. Mark was kept in several prison camps and was on the death march to a final camp when the Americans liberated them on April 23, 1945.
With a chance to go to America in hopes of getting to Israel, he boarded the “Mariner Jumper” on April l0, 1946, and sailed for the United States. At first he worked in a factory cutting leather for shoes while attending a public school in Brooklyn. In 1952 the 23-year-old Kupfer started retailing — buying goods and re-selling them for higher prices — in Chicago. In 1954 he opened his own dry goods store. When he went to New York City his life changed.
“Some Jewish friends invited him to spend the Sabbath with them,” said his daughter, Debby. “There he met my mother, Rose Eisenberg. In December 1954 he came to El Paso with Rose to meet her folks who lived here. As the plane approached the city he saw the star on the mountain for the first time. When he saw the downtown area, it reminded him of his home town in Poland.”
March 24, 1957, they were married in El Paso. He ran a dry goods store called Parisian in downtown El Paso owned by the Aaronson Brothers.
“He realized now that retailing would always be his life,” said his youngest son, Abraham.
Next he went to Bonanza Dry Goods store in Ysleta. Then he decided to go into business on his own, calling his effort Kupfer Enterprises. He became a familiar figure to hundreds of El Pasoans who went to the flea market each week.
“On Sunday, Dad woke me up to go to the flea market. We would stop at Dunkin’ Doughnuts and discuss what promotions he would have that day,” said his son, Samuel.
“For several years my two younger brothers and myself helped Dad with the booth,” added Debby.
Mark would not speak about the Holocaust happenings until one day when his son, Dov, a student at El Paso High School, wanted to write a paper for his English class about the 6 million Jews who were killed.
“Being interviewed by his son triggered his interest in writing a book he would entitle ‘From Darkness to Sunshine — a Young Boy’s Odessy,’” said Dov. “It is an unpublished manuscript, illustrated by a close friend, Hugo Marquez, whom he had met at Aaronson Brothers.”
“I spent many nights assisting my father in writing the book. With the help of his children he completed the writing before Father’s Day 1998. Our aim now is to publish the book and keep his legacy alive,” Debby added.
He died Dec. 7, at the age of 69, in Miami Beach, Fla. and was buried in Jerusalem on Dec. l0 in Harim Hanukot cemetery .
He is survived by his children: Dov Emil Kupfer, Deborah Renee Kupfer, Samuel Paul, and Janet Kupfer, and granddaughter, Dina, from Susanville, Calif.; Abraham Jacob Kupfer of Houston; and sister, Sarah Horenfeld in Tel Aviv, Israel. The youngest son accompanied the body to Israel. Upon his return, memorial services were held at Congregation B’nai Zion.
“May his name always be for a blessing,” said the writer of their weekly brochure. That same evening the children had the star on the mountain lit in his memory. He made many donations to Israel, was a member of Chabad Lubavitch congregation B’nai Zion, and a member of Young Israel Synagogue in Miami.
“Dad’s last act was to reunite the family in Miami. I believe each of us is put on the earth for a purpose, and I feel that Dad completed that purpose for himself, although I do not believe he knew it at the time,” Dov said.
Bill Burton
Best known as administrator of historic Southwestern General Hospital, Bill Burton made a lasting contribution to the community of El Paso.
The venerable hospital had been started by his wife, Jenny, Bob Crimen, Burton’s father, the late Dr. John C. Crimen, and Dr. Robert Homan. The original hospital, known as the Baldwin Sanatorium, was built on Grandview Street in El Paso for patients with tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses. Later purchased by Homan-Crimen Inc. in 1915, it became the Homan Sanatorium.
Crimen built his house directly across the street in 1927, which later became the home of Bill, Jenny Bob, and their six children. That hospital, later sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph, became St. Joseph’s Hospital. Crimen and Homan then built the present Southwestern General in 1927, on Cotton and Erie streets, where it stands today.
“For 22 years this was a work of passion for Dad,” said Bill Burton Jr., president and CEO of Mithoff Advertising, El Paso’s oldest advertising firm. “He loved that hospital and loved what he did.”
Bill was born at Hotel Dieu Hospital in El Paso Jan. 12, 1918, to Melvin Harry Burton and Alice McDonald Burton. He attended Alta Vista School, and later Austin High School, where he was president of the student body and captain of an ROTC Company. He graduated in May 1935, and that fall enrolled at Texas A&M.
Lacking only six hours to get his degree, Bill accepted a job in Honduras from the United Fruit Company. He left Texas A&M in September 1939 and sailed to Central America, where he worked until 1941. But the early departure from college would not stop him from graduating.
“He always said he would graduate from Texas A&M before any of his sons did,” said Bill Jr. “So, when my brother Michael attended A&M, Dad took the hours he was lacking via correspondence courses. And in 1981, when Dad was 63 years old, he donned cap and gown, walked on stage, and received his degree from the university. The family was there, and the whole auditorium erupted with applause. Everyone was moved by the fact that this old guy went back to actually graduate.”
Through the years, Bill raised his five sons and one daughter in the fashion of Texas A&M discipline.
“He was a consummate Texas Aggie,” said his son, Rob Burton, general manager of a number of radio stations in Evansville, Ind. “Because of his military experiences at A&M and in the Army, he would ‘order’ us to stand at attention, lined up from oldest to youngest, when he talked to us. We loved it. I will always remember his whistle, too. We could hear it four blocks away. And when he whistled, you came — no questions.”
In 1940, during a trip home from Honduras, Bill visited his father who was a long-time employee of the White House Department Store in downtown El Paso. While at the store, the elder Burton introduced his son to a young, frequent patron of the White House. She was Jenny Bob Crimen, a pretty, bubbly student and Goldigger at Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso. Bill and Jenny Bob immediately began dating, and continued their relationship via mail when Bill returned to Honduras.
But as war threatened, on Aug. 25, 1941, Bill left his job with United Fruit Company and enlisted in the Army. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served as a Field Artillery officer, reporting to Camp Wallace, Texas. The letters to Jenny Bob were frequent, and the visits could not be frequent enough.
On Jan. 28, 1942, Bill married Jenny Bob, and it was a wedding in an odd but familiar setting: Southwestern General Hospital. Although scheduled by Jenny Bob’s family to be held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the ceremony was performed in the hospital where her mother, Ella Guinn Crimen, was hospitalized. After the wedding, Bill reported back to duty.
Because Bill was fluent in Spanish and had experience in Central America, he was ordered to report to Fort Sherman in the Panama Canal Zone. As captain, his artillery unit was stationed to guard the Panama Canal. Later, he was stationed at Fort Gulick, Canal Zone, and was promoted to major.
While home for Christmas in 1944, Bill convinced Jenny Bob to join him in the Canal Zone, which she finally did in August 1945. The couple lived there until Bill was discharged in 1946. Bill continued to serve his country as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve until 1963.
After the war, Bill and Jenny Bob returned to El Paso, and Bill joined Southwestern General as business manager. He was appointed administrator in 1954. During his career at Southwestern, he earned a fellowship in the American College of Hospital Administrators.
It is believed that he is the only El Pasoan to serve as president of the Texas Hospital Association. He also served as president of the Texas Association of Hospital Accountants, the Northwest Texas Hospital Association, and was chairman of the El Paso Hospital Council.
“The health care industry and care for patients were Dad’s priorities,” said Nancy Burton Adams, an elementary teacher in Albuquerque, N.M., and the only daughter among five sons. “Every Thanksgiving while we were growing up, Dad would take all six of us to visit the children in the hospital. We had the opportunity to visit the kids and see them in their beds, sick, or burned, or just out of surgery.
“It was always a humbling experience; it always demonstrated to us how blessed and fortunate we were. Dad’s point was to show us what we had to be thankful for, and it was a lasting lesson.”
The second love of Bill’s life was the El Paso Downtown Lions Club.
“Dad served in every office during his 50-year membership,” said Bill Jr. “The awards he received lined a wall, but the two which he was most proud of were the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award and the Monarch Award the club gave him in 1997 for 50 years of service.”
Bill also received El Paso’s Father of the Year Award in 1965.
He served on many boards for numerous organizations. He was a past member of the El Paso County Historical Society, past secretary of the Southwestern Sun Carnival Association, past president of the El Paso Touchdown Club, and past president of the Downtown Lions Club. He also served as president of the Holy Cross Retreat House Foundation. He was a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of Scottish Rite Bodies, Fraternal Lodge 1111.
Bill died Dec. 21, 1998 at the age of 80. His memorial service was on Dec. 23. His son Michael said, “I heard someone say — Right before Christmas — what a horrible time for this to happen. The more I thought about it the clearer it became. This is the perfect time. There was never a bad Christmas at our house, and this Christmas, the Good Lord has blessed our family with the greatest gift: He has reunited our mother and father.”
Jenny Bob, his wife of 53 years, preceded him in death. His surviving children and in-laws are: Nancy Burton Adams, and her husband, Larry; Bill Jr. and Chana Burton; Rob and Susie Burton; Michael Burton, Tom and Janet Burton; and sister-in-law, Johnell Crimen, a local artist. He also had 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
