These fresh-faced young Davenporters were born in the month of December in the 19-teens, their images captured by portrait photographer J.B. Hostetler.
Irene Katherine Stoltenberg was born on December 2nd, 1913, the daughter of John Marcus and Kate Oden Stoltenberg. The family lived at 305 South Lincoln Avenue; her father worked as a molder in a foundry. Below is a photograph from her marriage announcement in the Daily Times for June 17, 1939. At that time, she was employed by the Gordon Van Tine Company and her new husband, Frode Thomsen, worked as a machinist for the Rock Island Arsenal. Both were Davenport High School graduates. The couple had two children, John and Sharon, within the next decade.
Hilda Agnes Waack was born on December 5, 1914, the daughter of Schleswig-Holstein immigrant William Waack and Agnes Kuehl. The family lived on West Fourth Street; her father was a city policeman. Hilda’s photograph in the 1932 Blackhawk (Davenport High School yearbook), below, was accompanied by the quote, “The quiet mind is richer than a crown.” She followed the Commercial Course in high school, then employed as a typist and a clerk at the Rock Island Arsenal for 37 years. She and her sister Viola were high-scorers in the Women’s Fraternal Bowling League. Hilda married Hilmore ‘Bud’ Koehnke in 1954.
Charles Gavin Fox was born on December 10, 1917 to furniture salesman Alonzo William Fox and Florence Katherine Millar. The family lived on West Fourteenth and later Dittmer Street. They left Davenport for Alameda, California following Alonzo’s 1926 bankruptcy filing. Charles became an appliance salesman and married Evelyn Van Wy in Bakersfield, California, in 1950.
Oscar Waspi Wilhelm was born on December 19, 1917 to Oscar and Anna Barbara Waspi Wilhelm. The family lived at 715 East Central Park Avenue. He was the editor of the 1935 Blackhawk, where the photograph below appeared. He was a Technical Sergeant in the R.O.T.C., his nickname was “Chubby” and his yearbook quote was “Man was born for two things–thinking and acting.” By the time of his marriage to Joyce Marie Smith in Davenport on November, 1948, he had attended St. Ambrose, the State University of Iowa, Ripon College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He had also served in the Navy during WWII as an engineer. The couple made their home on 2669 Ripley Street and had a son, Karl. Oscar was employed at the Rock Island Arsenal as an ordnance engineer. They divorced in 1964.
Let us know if you are related to and/or have any further information about these December darlings from Davenport!
(posted by Katie)
