Kunz, Emil Jr.

Description

Emile Kunz was born on August 2, 1914, in New York to Emile Kunz (1885-1944) and Alice Sofia Anderson (1883-1971). His father was employed as a chauffer and in Rye his family lived on Pine Island and were members of the Presbyterian Church. Emile was a graduate of the
Rye High School, and the New York
State Merchant Marine Academy.

Emile served as an officer in the Merchant Marines during World War II. He served as ships master of the Liberty Ship SS Peter Minuit. Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program.

Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.

Emile married Emily Ida Walz June 2, 1945 at Rye Presbyterian Church.

After the war, he worked as a machinist at Remington Rand in Norwalk, CT, and later at Excelsior Hardware in Stamford, CT, until retiring in 1974.

Emile was remarried to Ruth Van Wagener on June 16, 1956, in Stamford, CT.
He was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in White River Junction and an associate member of the Vermont 1918 Club.

Emile Kunz, 89, died March 22, 2004, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

The funeral service was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, with burial in Hartford Cemetery, both in White River Junction.