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Note: [Krantz.FTW]
These Family Recollections Entered By
Dr. Richard Lynn Krantz
Born at home at 1955 Bradley Place. in Chicago, Illinois, a few blocks from Wrigley Field.
Thought by his wife to have been an OSS ( spy - commando ) during World War II.
Military Service Number :
When Wesley was a boy, he was followed home by a German Shepherd type dog which he named Wolf. Wolf was his constant companion until the dog disappeared years later, apparently when it left to find a place to die of old age.
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Source - Ancestry.com
U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
about Wesley Krantz
Name: Wesley Krantz
Birth Year: 1920
Race: White, citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country: Illinois
State: Indiana
County or City: Lake
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Enlistment Date: 21 Jun 1944
Enlistment State: Indiana
Enlistment City: Fort Benjamin Harrison
Branch: No branch assignment
Branch Code: No branch assignment
Grade Code: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 4 years of high school
Civil Occupation: Translator or Classification Specialist or Job Analyst or Interpreter or Employment Interviewer
Marital Status: Married
Height: 00
Weight: 000
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Wesley Krantz
Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates
Name: Wesley Brown
Birth Date: 18 Feb 1920
Birthplace: Chicago
Gender: Male
Race:
Father's Name: Daniel Barber
Father's Birthplace:
Father's Age: 23
Mother's Name: Eileen Brown
Mother's Birthplace:
Mother's Age: 18
Christening Date:
Christening Place:
Paternal Grandfather:
Paternal Grandmother:
Maternal Grandfather:
Maternal Grandmother:
Additional Relatives:
Death Date:
Death Age:
Film Number: 1309360
Digital Folder Number: 4442028
Image Number: 01677
Reference Number: 5976
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Sourcce Wesley Krantz
At the end of the war in Europe (World War II), he told his wife that he did not believe in women working outside the home and that if she did not quit her job at the steel factor he would volunteer to go to the Pacific theater of war against the Jaoanese. She agreed to quit.
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Source Courier Journal article
Column: Clarksville man seeks new home for editorial cartoons
Writer: Dale Moss
4/9/2008 Louisville Courier-Journal
At 88, Wes Krantz is spry enough to inspire the other regulars at Clark Memorial Hospital's fitness center in Jeffersonville.
"He works out very hard," said Dan Wibbels, a relative pup of 64. "He's a no-nonsense guy."
But then again, Krantz figures, he is 88. Not surprising then, that he worries what should become of his belongings down the road.
There are the dozens of original drawings of editorial cartoons by Pulitzer Prize winner Robert York, for instance. They surely would be appreciated, even treasured, but by whom? "If nothing else, if some museum would be interested or some school," said Krantz, of Clarksville.
He was married 42 years to wife Phyllis, and has been widowed for 27. She was everything to me, he said of Phyllis, who died at age 52 of cancer. She was an artist, a teacher who established the commercial art department at what is now former Jefferson Community & Technical College in Louisville.
Phyllis Krantz taught Robin York, daughter of Robert York, who won a Pulitzer Prize while drawing for the late-and-great Louisville Times.
After her father's death in 1975 -- one year after his retirement -- Robin York gave her teacher a stack of inherited cartoons penciled on cardboard.
They were the originals of some of what was published -- depictions of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Nikita Khrushchev, Charles DeGaulle, Fidel Castro, world leaders and newsmakers of York's era.
The batch does not include York's 1955 prize winner, a commentary on farm prices called "Achilles."
The topics of the drawings that Krantz has are international tensions, human suffering, symbols meant typically to provoke. "I like them," he said. "And everybody I've ever shown them to is amazed."
Wibbels certainly was. "I told him, 'It's like being in a time warp.' "
Krantz has not heard from York's daughter since Phyllis Krantz died, and only then in a brief note. He would love to return the cartoons to York's family, if he knew how. But otherwise, he is open to worthy ideas -- such as when he donated his wife's art books to nearby Clarksville High School.
Unable to afford college, Chicago-born Wes Krantz was working in a Gary steel mill when he was drafted into World War II. He volunteered as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne. He served in France, Germany, Belgium and Austria. He jumped perhaps 50 times. "After the first time, I didn't keep count," Krantz said.
He could brag about his service but steadfastly does not. He returned in one piece to marry his high school sweetheart. Only then was he wounded, he likes to note -- he shot himself in the leg while fiddling with a gun he had brought home from the war.
Krantz went on to college and to a career in industrial engineering that brought him eventually to a Louisville factory called Tube Turns. He retired from there in 1986.
Ever-reserved, Krantz keeps his house clean and his yard manicured. He does not subscribe to cable television. His place is decorated with his wife's artwork, along with photos of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
He talks with others who work out with him; people at the fitness center consider him family.
"Sometimes I have to get on him to slow down," said Maggie O'Neal, a fitness trainer.
"He's very considerate of others," she added. "He brings me roses every so often."
Krantz is glad to entertain ideas about what to do with the editorial cartoons. They are not for sale, by the way. Call him at 944-4658
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Wesley Krantz brought back from Austria, from the home of Germany's ambassador to Arrgentina, several war prizes, among them :
two Walther 7.65 mm psitols, one of the assembled from parts of other guns and labeled as 9mm
a silver snuff box
a carver wooden box
one German flag
one 32 caliber pistol
one Geman officers dagger
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After being drafted into the army, Wesley learn that paratroopers were paid an extra $50.00 per jump over the monthly $21.00 pay for privated. He requested assignmnt to the 1000st Airborne and was transfered from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to fort Benning Georgia by train. At night on the way, in Tennesee, the train derailed and Wesley and his and his fellow soldiers walked to the nearest town in their underware to find shelter, Later while being shipped to Europe, he ship was damaged and the soldiers were forced to disembark in the Canary Islands.
Ulimately Wesley made 37 jumps making an extra $1850.00 which allowed him to purchase thier first home when he musterd outt at th end of the war.
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Obituary
Wesley Krantz, 95, Clarksville, died Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, at his son's home in Floyd Knobs.. He was born in Chicago and was a retired Industrial Engineer for ICI Americas. He was an Army Veteran of WWII serving with the 101'st Airborne Division, a member of Clark #40 Masonic Lodge in Jeffersonville, and a member of Grace Presbyterian Church.. Survivors include a son, Dr. Richard Lynn Krantz, Floyd Knobs, two granddaughters, 10 great-grandchildren and one on the way.. Cremation was chosen per his request.. A memorial visitation will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, at Chapman Funeral Home, 431 W. Harrison Ave., Clarksville.. Online condolences at www.chapmanfuneralhome.net.
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