GEORGE BERNARD3 KRUMHOLZ, Junior (George2-1) was born at New Bedford, Massachusetts, on 18 September 1915, a child of George B. Krumbholz and his wife Harriet Hathaway.[1] He died at Oceanside, San Diego County, California, on 9 January 1997.[2] He married at Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, on 24 June 1938 MARJORIE DUFRESNE.[3] She was born at Vancouver, British Columbia, on 27 September 1915,[4] a daughter of Simon Lewis and Susan (Mills) Dufresne. She died at Byron, Peach County, Georgia, on 26 July 2005.[5]
George grew up in New Bedford, the oldest of two children. He graduated from New Bedford High School in 1933. He took a one year course in textile testing at New Bedford Textile School, and graduated in 1936.[6]
Marjorie Dufresne and her family moved to New Bedford when she was young. Her three younger siblings were born in New Bedford from 1921 to 1928. City direcrtories reported her family at New Bedford from 1924 to 1934.[7] Her father, Simon, was called a "driver" from 1924 through 1928, and an iron worker in 1930 and 1934. Although the 1930 city directory reported tha family in New Bedford, the census of that year found them at 1867 Hunt Avenue, Bronx, New York:[8]
| Line | Name | Related | Sex | Race | Age | MS | B | FB | MB | Occupation |
| 90. | Dufresne, Simon | head | M | W | 45 | M | Canada-French | janitor, apartment house | ||
| 91. | Dufresne, Susan | wife | F | W | 40 | M | England | England | England | |
| 92. | Dufresne, Marjorie | daughter | F | W | 14 | S | Canada-French | Canada-French | English | |
| 93. | Dufresne, Gloria | daughter | F | W | 8 | S | MA | Canada-French | England | |
| 94. | Dufresne, Edson | son | M | W | 4 | S | MA | Canada-French | England | |
| 95. | Dufresne, Jeanette | dughter | F | W | 1 5/12 | S | MA | Canada-French | England |
This census record indicated that Simon and Susan were aliens, that Simon had immigrated in 1892, Susan in 1913, and Marjorie in 1918. This last year could be the year the family came to the United States. Susan could have arrived in Canada in 1913, as she and Simon married at Yale, British Columbia, on 17 August 1914.[9] I have no idea what the immigration year for Simon means. The census record also reported that Marjorie and Gloria attended school.
The 1934 Directory does not list Susan's name after Simon Dufresne, as it did in every other case, suggesting that they no longer lived together. I have no further record of Simon Dufresne.
Susan (Mills) Dufresne married Donald A Frasier some time between the 1930 and 1940 censuses. That later record reported Donald A. Frasier, 47, steam fitter, living in Brooklyn with his wife Susan, 51, and her children Gloria Dufresne, 18, Edson, 14, and Janet, 11. They were all living in New Bedford in 1935.[10]
The 1940 Census reported George and Marjorie Krumholz at Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey. George was a textile technician; Marjorie was a homemaker, but listed her usual occupation as waitress. In 1935 they both lived in New Bedford.[11]
George went to work for United States Testing Company (later name changed to Nationwide Testing), of Hoboken, Hudson County, on 7 July 1937. He started as a technician and ended up as manager, Textile Flammability Division. In later years he was frequently an expert witness in court.[12]
George and Marge lived at Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, from 1938 to 1939 while he operated a laboratory in a department store there for U.S. Testing. From 1939 to 1977 he worked out of their Hoboken location. George and Marge lived in the following communities:[13]
They retired to San Diego, California, in 1977, and located at Oceanside in 1985.[14]
George was active in Methodist churches wherever he lived, and enjoyed singing in the choir.
The following eulogy, offered by George's son, Donald, should help to make his life and personality come alive:[15]
|
Everyone we meet makes an impression on us in some way, and our memories are formed from these encounters. Most people in this room knew my father for a relatively short period in his long life of 81 years. I want to help shape your memories of him by sharing some of his accomplishments, and what he means to me. As many of you know my father could be very stubborn. If he felt strongly about something he didn't hesitate to speak his mind. His style was not to convince you with careful persuasion or charisma, but with an overwhelming deluge of facts and logic (and volume). As a child I didn't care much for this characteristic of his personality, but later in life, once I was able to look through his presentation and see the message, I could appreciate how practical and well thought out he was. I found a paper he wrote recently in preparation for a church meeting. It had something to do with financing a new building. In typical fashion, he methodically worked through all the figures and prepared a series of questions supporting his position. Naturally, like a good lawyer, he didn't intend to ask any questions he didn't have the answers to. From what I could tell, the meeting will go a little smoother for some people without him. My father always chose the safe route, the one that he knew would get him there. Throughout his life he never earned an astronomical salary, but through careful planning was always able to provide us with everything we needed. Careful saving and investing was more than 'just the right thing to do'--it was his obsession. Not long ago in a rare moment he shared his Merrill Lynch statement with me. As I looked it over I couldn't help but ask 'Dad, when are you going to start spending some of this?' He replied with a look of surprise, "Oh no, that's for your mother and I to fall back on." That's the way he was. He was not the least bit pretentious and would never spend money on himself for things he didn't need. I suppose it was in his genes. My father was born in September 1915 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a pragmatic Yankee of German descent. Although he left Massachusetts for good in 1936, he never fully lost his accent. He grew up surrounded by music. His father was a violin teacher and orchestra leader. During his school years, in an age when all musical entertainment was performed live, he played tenor saxophone in his father's orchestra and with a number of popular local dance bands. He even played Roseland, a still famous dance hall in New York City where the music was broadcast live on the radio. Later in life he sang in church choirs in New Jersey, San Diego, and here in Oceanside. I can empathize with his fellow choir members because he took an active part in my violin and clarinet practice sessions. After those sessions, I always knew that if I was needed for military service I would be ready. When it came time for a career, music was too insecure for my father so he earned an engineering degree from the New Bedford Textile Institute. In 1937 he took a job as a Lab Technician at United States Testing Co. in New Jersey. He stayed with U. S. Testing for 40 years finishing his career as the manager of the Textile Flammability Testing Division. We are all safer because of my father's work. During the 1950s and 60s many people were badly injured because their synthetic garments could catch fire easily. My father was instrumental in the development of textile flammability standards designed to protect people. He authored numerous technical articles on textile flammability that were published in recognized trade journals. Because of his work in this field he was invited to the White House by President Johnson in 1967 to witness the signing of Senate Bill 1003, the Flammable Fabrics Act, which enforced the use of his flammability standards by the garment manufacturing industry. My mother can't remember if he went to the ceremony. He probably didn't; all that pomp and circumstance just wasn't his style. He wasn't the type to put himself in the spotlight. My father was also a teacher. He taught me how to plant, how to garden, how to fish, how to play the clarinet. He taught me the power of analytical thinking and good preparation. He taught me how to plan for the future and how to save. He taught me not to give up, but to stand up for what I thought was right. As you can see I'm very proud of my father and miss him very much. I am consoled by the fact that I know he will always be with me. I am constantly reminded of him in the things that I do and the way that I think. He was a good father and I know he loved my mother very much. I owe my success in life to the lessons I learned from watching him. |
Marge later moved to Georgia to be near a family member.
George B. Krumholz and his wife Marjorie Dufresne had the following children:
1Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915, v. 628, p. 367, George Bertram Krumbholz, 1915; digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 25 September 2018).
2Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 14 April 2017), George B. Krumholz, 018-03-6137
3Letter from George B. Krumholz Jr., to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985; held in by Charles A. Maxfield.
4Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985.
5"U.S. Social Security Death Index", Marjorie D. Krumholz.
6Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985.
7New Bedford House and Street Directory, 1924 (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1924), 434, Simon Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). 1925 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1925), 373, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). 1926 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1926), 396, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). 1927 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1927), 244, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). 1928 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory (Boston, Masschusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1928), 231, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory: for the year ending November 1930 (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1930), 247, 666, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018). New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory, 1934. (Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1934), 205, Simon L. Dufresne; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018).
8Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population, Bronx, Bornx County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 463, p. 5B, household 87, Simon Dufresne family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018); NARA microfilm record group T626; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
9British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency, "British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935," database, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018), Dufresne-Mills, 1914-09-157908.
10Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, enumeration district (ED) 24-266, Roll: m-t0627-02552; Page: 4B, household 95, Donald A. Frasier family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 20 September 2018); NARA microfilm group T627.
111940 Census, Union City, Hudson County, New Jersey, ED 9-315, roll 2353, p. 6B, household 166, George Krumholz family.
12Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985.
13Ibid.
14Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985. Personal Knowledge.
15Eulogy of George Bernard Krumholz, Jr., by Donald Andrew Krumholz, 1997, privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
16Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985.
17Marjorie Dufresne Krumholz, Interview by Charles A. Maxfield, about 1992; privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
18Letter, George B. Krumholz Jr. to Charles A. Maxfield, 29 March 1985.
19Marjorie Dufresne Krumholz, Interview, about 1992.
1925 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1925. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
1926 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1926. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
1927 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1927. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
1928 New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory. Boston, Masschusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1928. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency. "British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
Krumholz, Donald Andrew. Eulogy of George Bernard Krumholz, Jr., 1997. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
Krumholz, George B. Jr. Letter. 29 March 1985, to Charles A. Maxfield. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
Krumholz, Marjorie Dufresne. Interview by Charles A. Maxfield, about 1992. notes. Privately held by Charles A. Maxfield.
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of. Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915. Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2018.
New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory: for the year ending November 1930. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1930. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
New Bedford and Fairhaven Directory, 1934. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1934. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
New Bedford House and Street Directory, 1924. Boston, Massachusetts: W. A. Greenough Co., 1924. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
United States Department of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
________. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
United States Social Security Administration. "U.S. Social Security Death Index." Database. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2017.