The Finkle Family Album
Second Generation
Frederick C. Finkle (1865-1949)
Fred Finkle, age 8, 1872
Fred's business card ca 1890

 

Fred Finkle ca 1888

 

Louisa Thoma (Beckstead) Finkle and Fred Finkle Sr. ca 1889

 
Henrietta Catherine Billette
Fred and Henrietta - 1916
Fred was born on May 3, 1865 in Viroqua, Wisconsin. He moved to California in 1887 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin.
He held several positions as Chief Engineer of a number of California companies. His specialty was geology and hydraulic engineering. He was preeminent in his profession. One notable achievement was predicting the failure of the San Francisquito Canyon Dam in Southern California which did fail and took the lives of several residents.
His father Thurston and mother Amalie moved to California in the late 1890s, residing in San Bernardino. Both were originally from Norway and emigrated with their families to Wisconsin in the 1850s. Thurston died in 1920 and Sophie died in 1928.
He was married a number of times. His first wife was Louisa Thoma Beckstead by whom he had two sons, Roy and Bill. He then married Priscilla Jones, a light opera singer who sang under the name of Ann Rutherford and who was the mother of Fred Jr. We never knew our biological grandmother, Priscilla. Fred's last wife, Henrietta, or, as we called her, Billie was the only grandmother we knew. Henrietta was born on February 5, 1882 in Xenia, Ohio.
Fred and Henrietta married in 1916.
Fred died in 1949 and Henrietta died in 1973.
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