Papa Fraunfelder's Swiss Mother
The Fraunfelder Family Page
www.swissfamilyfraunfelder.com

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The six children of Mama and Papa Fraunfelder
and their families:
21 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren
Married 70 years (June, 1918 to Papa's death in August, 1988)
Updated May 17, 2022
Click Here to Read About Their 65th Wedding Anniversary (1983)
Papa and his grandson, Johnny Kleser
Mama and Papa Fraunfelder in their mobile home, circa 1975-1985


Fritz Fraunfelder, About 1988 1. Dr. Fritz Fraunfelder

Frederick or "Fritz" Theodore Fraunfelder was born in August 16, 1934 in Pasadena, Calif. He and his wife and high school sweetheart, Yvonne, raised five children: Yvette (Sherwood, OR), Helene (Poway, Calif.), Nina (Tustin, Calif.), Frederick W. or "Rick" (Lake Oswego), and Nick (The Woodlands, Texas).

Rather than show business, Fritz found his
success in medicine, particularly in the treatment of eye cancer. He received his formal medical degree at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR, in 1960. He also did advanced study at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, a fellowship in glaucoma at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and studied external diseases at Moorfields Eye Hospital at the University of London. He is the founder of the "Casey Eye Institute" which is part of Oregon Health and Science University. He is the author of medical textbooks and journals on the eye. He also founded the "National Registry of Drug-Induced Ocular Side Effects" which is a clearinghouse of information on adverse ocular events associated with drugs, chemicals and herbals. In 2008 he co-authored a non-medical book, Retirement Rx, a book that is his prescription for a successful retirement. Fritz is not yet completely retired, he remains a professor at the Casey Eye Institute, where his son, Rick, is an associate professor. Fritz and Yvonne live in Lake Oswego, Ore.

 Five grandchildren, 15 Great Grandchildren: Yvette and her husband, Kevin, have a son, Connor. Helene and her husband, Bing, have three children: Matt, Kara and Brooke. Nina and her husband, Scott, have four children: Courtney, J.D., Nicolette and Rees. Rick and his wife, Wendee, have four children: Mikayla, Jake, Gracie-Anne, and Sara Jane. Nick and his wife, Gabby, have three children: Asher,
Keilan and Piper.



Yvette, Nina and Helen


Hansi, 1950 2. Hansi Fraunfelder


John or "Hans" Ernest Fraunfelder is pictured with his wife Frida, and
three children. They are sons Brent and Scott, and daughter Sonia.
Hans was born Aug. 22, 1930 in San Fernando, CA. He died March 23, 2000 in Vancouver, WA.
His son, Scott, lives in Portland, OR. His daughter, Sonia, lives in Hillsboro, OR and has a son, Evan.

Photo, left, was taken in 1950.

Hans Fraunfelder Family 

Helen Fraunfelder, 1954\
3. Helen Fraunfelder Kleser


Helen Frieda (Fraunfelder) Kleser was born Sept. 12, 1928 in Anaheim, CA. and died April 6, 1962 at the age of 33.   Her portrait, left, was taken in 1954.  Helen and her husband, Ed, had three children. The earlier family picture (right) with both parents was taken in 1956. The two children are Cathy and Johnny.  The bottom photo is Helen with all three children: young Jimmy, Johnny and Cathy.

 Cathy married Randy Dangremond and they live in Milwaukie, Ore.

Three grandchildren and three great grandchildren: Johnny, who died in 2005, had two daughters and a son.  Johnny's daughter, Amy Kleser Nela, now lives in Vancouver, WA, with her husband, Lear.  Amy and Lear have a son, Zachery, and a second son, Grayson, was born on Sept. 11, 2012. Johnny's other daughter, Heidi, also resides in Vancouver. Johnny's son is named Eric.

Jimmy Kleser is married to Jean and they have a son, Jameson.

Ed, now 82 years old, lives in Hillsboro, Ore. Helen died from bronchopneumonia at Dammasch State Hospital in Wilsonville, Ore. Her interment is at Willamette National Cemetery.

 
Klezer Family, 1956
Helen with Jimmy, John and Cathy
Helen Fraunfelder, September 1950

Ruthie Buckley 4. Ruthie Fraunfelder Buckley


Ruth (Fraunfelder) Buckley was born March 25,1924 in Van Nuys, California. In 1950, she married Richard Buckley, an electrical engineer who was plant superintendent for Sprague Electric and Cera-Mite in Grafton, Wisconsin.

 She played keyboard, often piano, for the Swiss Family Fraunfelder as well as sang and yodeled with the group through the "Schlitz Family Fraunfelder" era.

Ruth and Dick had four children: Helen Buckley of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Robert Buckley of Mequon, Wisconsin,  Jim Buckley of  San Jose, California, and John Buckley of Woodside, California. Ruth died in 1997..Dick died on April 20, 2016.  Dick Buckley's Obituary

Seven Grandchildren: Bob and his wife, Marlene, have three children: Megan, Kelly and Nick. Jim and and his wife,
Sue, have two children, David and Shannon. John and his wife, Wendy, have two sons, Peter and Alex.
 

Betty in the early 1960s 5. Betty Fraunfelder Ganders

Betty was born "Elisabeth" Frauenfelder in Amden, Switzerland (Canton: St. Gallen.) It was around midnight on December, 22, 1922. Her name was later changed to "Elizabeth" with a "z" but almost everyone called her Betty.  She is pictured at right in the early 1960s with her husband, Stanton, and three children: Larry (Olympia, WA), Lisa (looking at Betty, Spokane, WA) and Linda (Spokane, WA.) Betty raised her family in Spokane, WA, where she died Dec. 8, 2008, just a couple weeks before her 87th birthday. Stanton died in Olympia in 1990. Both are buried in Olympia, WA.

Seven Grandchildren: Larry and his wife, Robin, have four children: Aaron, Tiffany, Adam, and Cara.  Lisa had two daughters with her late husband, Akira Yoshida. Akira died in 2010. Their children are Anna and Mia. Linda and her husband, Paul Johnson, have a daughter, Lisa.

Two great grandchildren: Adam and his wife, Hannah, have a daughter, Poppy, and live in Pullman, Washington. Lisa and her husband, Matt Neel, have a daughter and live in the Seattle area. 
Betty Ganders Family, 1960s

6. Rheiny Fraunfelder


"Rheiny" Fraunfelder technically bore the name of his father, Reinhard Wiliam Frauenfelder (Papa) and his grandfather, Reinhard Frauenfelder.  So, he could have been Reinhard III. But everyone called him Rheiny. Rheiny was born April 28, 1920 in Amden, Switzerland. His legal name was later changed to Reynard Fraunfelder.
On April 16, 1955, he married Annelise Muecke or "Annie" in Portland, Ore. Rheiny and Annie raised his family of three children: two daughters (Erika and Heidi) and one son (Reinhard IV or Ryan, whom the family called "Buba.") 

 Rheiny died in Salem on Feb. 2, 2007. Annie still lives in the Portland area. Annie is the granddaughter of a German founding family in the Old Aurora Colony in Aurora, Ore. Annie died Jan. 13, 2020.

The family operated Aurora's Miramonte Farm and Annie's uncle became postmaster of "Aurora Mills" in 1898. 

The nearby 600-member colony was composed of mostly German emigrants who operated as a commune from 1856-1883. More information on the commune is available at  http://www.auroracolony.org/

Six grandchildren:


Erika married Ivan Williams. The couple lives in Foothill Ranch, Calif.  Erika and Ivan have two daughters,Teryn and Paige.

Heidi lives in Portland, Ore.

 Ryan and his wife, Marianne, live in Wilsonville, Ore. and have four children:  Colin, Kyle, Andrea, and Megan.

Erika Fraunfelder, 1973 Buba Fraunfelder, 1975 Heidi Fraunfelder, 1977
The children of Rheiny and Annie: Erika Fraunfelder (1973), Ryan Fraunfelder (1975) and Heidi Fraunfelder (1977)

Reinhard and Annie Fraunfelder, 1955
Rheiny and Annie, 1955 Wedding.

Gottlieb A.E. and Anna Muecke, 1874, San Francisco
Gottlieb A.E. and Anna Muecke Family, 1874. Family moved from Northern California to Aurora, Ore. The youngest child is Annie Fraunfelder's father, Hugo Muecke. The oldest child, Eddy, became postmaster in Aurora Mills, Ore. in 1898.


At Home in Whitewater, Wisconsin

A greenhouse for Papa and his orchids - 1946

Fraunfelder Home, Whitewater, WI Papa and His Orchids






Elm Grove, Wisconsin

Elm Grove House  This was the Fraunfelder home

while they were working for Schlitz.

Special thanks to Richard Buckley for the location.
Unidentified Fraunfelder Home

Fraunfelder Home





Papa Fraunfelder Birthplace in Switzerland


 Birthplace of Papa Fraunfelder

Birthplace of Papa Fraunfelder, a Chalet in Wildegg, Switzerland, circa 1998. Papa was born here in 1895, 120 years ago.  We don't know the age of the Chalet. This is a town of about 4,000 people with a history that dates back to 1200 A.D. and a history of settlement to 1050 B.C.  (Photo courtesy of Fritz & Yvonne Fraunfelder, Lake Oswego, Ore.)