Henry was called "Hank." Hank spent his early life in Madison, Wis. After the death of his mother, when he was five years old, he and his two brothers went to live with their paternal grandmaother, Katie Weigel Quentmeyer. His aunts Dorothy and Addie also had an important part in raising the three boys. He attended Emerson School and graduated from East High. He worked at various jobs but worked mostly in McCarthy's Drug Store. Soon the urge to try something different changed his life. With a friend, Phil Chatland, they decided to "bum" their way to California. Having only $10.00 for food, this meant riding in box cars and working at odd jobs along the way. It took more than a month before they arrived, footsore and hungry, on the door step of Phil's uncle, Bill. They had come down the coast by train and got off in Santa Monica because that looked close to Los Angeles on the map. That was a long walk to 4th Avenue in South West Los Angeles. Through Bill, they found work in the lumber industry, so Hank worked for Mullin Lumber Company for several years. Hank had intended to return to Wis. but he met Dorothy Booth on a blind date. Since she was only 16 at the time, they dated for a year and a half and were married Oct. 30, 1937. They had been married 52 years at the time of his death.
Henry was called "Hank." Hank spent his early life in Madison, Wis. After the death of his mother, when he was five years old, he and his two brothers went to live with their paternal grandmaother, Katie Weigel Quentmeyer. His aunts Dorothy and Addie also had an important part in raising the three boys. He attended Emerson School and graduated from East High. He worked at various jobs but worked mostly in McCarthy's Drug Store. Soon the urge to try something different changed his life. With a friend, Phil Chatland, they decided to "bum" their way to California. Having only $10.00 for food, this meant riding in box cars and working at odd jobs along the way. It took more than a month before they arrived, footsore and hungry, on the door step of Phil's uncle, Bill. They had come down the coast by train and got off in Santa Monica because that looked close to Los Angeles on the map. That was a long walk to 4th Avenue in South West Los Angeles. Through Bill, they found work in the lumber industry, so Hank worked for Mullin Lumber Company for several years. Hank had intended to return to Wis. but he met Dorothy Booth on a blind date. Since she was only 16 at the time, they dated for a year and a half and were married Oct. 30, 1937. They had been married 52 years at the time of his death.
