Alfred Petsch

Alfred PC Petsch (born August 16, 1887 in Luckenbach , Texas , † November 28, 1981 in Fredericksburg ) was an American politician, Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 85th constituency ( Fredericksburg and Gillespie County ). He served as a soldier in both world wars, most recently with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . Petsch also worked as an educator and lawyer and was a well-known philanthropist.

Childhood and upbringing

He was the son of Joe F. and Ida (Baag) Petsch. As was customary among Germans of Texas Hill Country , he spoke only German and did not learn English until he was in college.

Education and early career

Petsch graduated from Southwest Texas State Normal School in San Marcos in 1906 . Lyndon B. Johnson also studied at this college two decades later .

Petsch worked as a teacher to finance his education. From 1906 to 1907 and in the fall semester of 1908 he attended the University of Texas , where he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and passed the State Bar of Texas exam in the same year to work as a lawyer. Petsch opened his first law firm in Fredericksburg on January 1, 1911. In 1934 he was admitted to the United States Supreme Court .

military service

Petsch was appointed second lieutenant on May 26, 1917 . He served at Camp Funston and Camp Travis, which later became part of Fort Sam Houston , and at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois , where he was released as a major on December 18, 1918. During World War II , Petsch served as Lieutenant Colonel at Camp Bullis from 1942 to 1943, the Hereford Internment Camp in 1943, and Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Hot Springs, Arkansas from 1943 to 1945.

Political career

Petsch was established in March 1911. County Attorney of the Gillespie County appointed. A Democrat, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives for the 85th constituency in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, in 1924, replacing Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. He was re-elected until 1933. Petsch was then voted out, but re-elected in 1935, and worked in this office until 1941.

Newspaper publisher

Since 1915 the Fredericksburg Standard was published by the Fredericksburg Publishing Company, which also published the Fredericksburg Wochenblatt , a newspaper in German. Petsch was one of the founders and director of the publishing house, and also a contributor to the We Believe column .

Civic engagement

As a member of the Fredericksburg Progressive Business League, he worked in 1913 to build a railway line to Fredricksburg. Petsch was on the Fredricksburg School Board and was President of the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce from 1923 to 1924. He helped rebuild the Gillespie County Fair Association in 1922. He was also one of the organizers of the Hill Country Bar Association.

During the Great Depression , Citizens Bank and Bank of Fredericksburg went bankrupt in 1932, so a committee was formed to start a new bank to serve the needs of the community. Petsch was on the board of directors from 1969 to 1979, as chairman, and also served as the bank's lawyer. Petsch was on the organizing committee together with HH Sagebiel, EH Riley, HA Ries, WH Schaefer, Eric Juenke, Edward Stein, WJ Schroeder, John W. Metzger and ML Bogisch.

Petsch, a friend of Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson , was heavily involved in fundraising for Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park - Fredricksburg City Park. He helped organize the Hill Country Memorial Hospital and served on the board of directors while planning its construction. He also had a decisive influence on the development of the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum .

Colonel Petsch and his wife were influential members of many civic organizations such as the non - profit Hill Country Bar Association, the Community Chest, and one of the local 4-H youth organizations. They became honorary lifelong members of the Parent Teacher Association in 1968 . On September 28, 1969, Alfred and Myra Petsch Day was celebrated in Fredricksburg. The Alfred and Myra Petsch Appreciation Dinner, which was attended by 500 people and bought a ticket for $ 2.50, was held in the Fair Park Exhibition Hall. US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife shared the head table with the Petsch family.

Personal life and death

Alfred Petsch married Myra Slator on May 3, 1918 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio . The couple had two children.

Petsch retired from his legal professional life in 1980 and died on November 28, 1981 in Fredericksburg. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Melanie Watkins: Alfred PC Petsch . In: Handbook of Texas Online . Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
2. ^ San Marcos Campus . Texas State University. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
3. ^ Lonnie J White: Camp Travis, Texas . In: Handbook of Texas Online . Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
4. ↑ Lucielle Henegar: Hereford Military Reservation and Reception Center . In: Handbook of Texas Online . Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
5. ^ Norman D Brown: Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas Politics, 1921-1928 . TAMU Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-89096-157-5 , pp. 292, 301.
6. ^ Robert A. Caro : The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 1) . Vintage, 1990, ISBN 978-0-679-72945-7 , p. 93.
7. ↑ Martin Donell Kohout: Gillespie County . In: Handbook of Texas Online . Texas State Historical Association. Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved on December 5, 2010.
8. ^ Fredericksburg Standard . In: About Us . Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2010.