Résumé

Summer Worker, Massman and Hutton Construction Company, Eline Ordnance Factory, Glendale, WI, 1942. In 1942, Donald Knorr was a student at the University of Illinois, but on June 30th of that year, he had a summer job working at the Massman and Hutton Construction Company’s huge Eline Ordnance Factory. at 4650 North Port Washington Road. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Wisconsin, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 36, accessed 03/27/2020.) This factory had been built c. 1920, by the Uihlein Family, owners of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. During Prohibition, the family turned to making candy at the new Eline factory, but this endeavor failed within 8 years, and the plant was leased for other purposes, including for ordnance production during World War II. It was largely demolished during the 1970s. (See Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.com, “Glendale historic offices plan to add housing,” published 12/29/2017, accessed 03/27/2020.)

Lieutenant, Junior Grade, United States Navy, 1942-1945.

Draftsman, Eero Saarinen and Associates, Architects, Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Architect, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM).

Principal, Donald Knorr and Associates, San Francisco, CA, 1951-1957. He worked with his wife, Ann, who was an interior designer in the firm of Knorr Interior Planning. In 1957, Knorr Associates specialized in interior design and had an office at 716 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1957, p. 176.)

Partner, Knorr-Elliott and Associates, San Francisco, CA, 1958- .Knorr designed furniture for at least two large companies. In 1948, he developed his Chair Model #132 that was later produced for two years (1950-1952) by Knoll Associates of New York, NY, a enameled sheet metal loop on legs, that attracted considerable attention. It was awarded a shared first prize in the seating unit category in the Museum of Modern Art's Low Cost Furniture Competition of 1950. (Knorr shared first prize with George Leowald, and came in ahead of Charles and Ray Eames whose molded, fiberglass-reinforced polyester chair received a shared second place. See Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Prize Designs for Modern Furniture from the International Competition for Low-cost Furniture Design, [New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1950], pp. 13-15.) The architect also designed the book jacket for the Low Cost Furniture catalog.

Knorr became an important designer for Cal-Vista, Los Angeles, CA, during the 1950s. He produced a number of rigorously minimal designs for this company that marketed its furniture under the "Vista of California" brand.

In 1987, a Don R. Knorr had a business address at 600 Barrow Street, Suite #201, Anchorage, AK, 99501-3643. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information: U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 03/27/2020.)

Lecturer, California State Polytechnical University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 1969-1970;

Joined the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1960; registered architect in AK and CA in 1970;

Professional Awards

Honor Awards for Excellence in Residential Architecture, Architectural Record, 1958 and 1963; American Institute of Architects citation for the Dux Office and Manufacturing Facility, Burlingame, CA, 1963; American Institute of Architects merit award for Dental Plaza, Stanford, CA, 1963; environmental award for the Koret Manufacturing Facility, South San Francisco, CA, 1968;

College

Coursework, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, 1940-1943. In 1942, Knorr was a sophomore at the University of Illinois. (See University of Illinois Yearbook, 1942, p. 446.)

Coursework, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, 1943-1944; Lieutenant (j.g.), United States Navy, 1944-1946;

B.Sc., University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL,1947.

Coursework, Cranbrook Art Academy, Bloomfield Hills, MI, 1947.

Relocation

Donald Robert Knorr was born in Chicago, IL, but moved to Fond du Lac, WI, by 1924. where the Knorrs had a dwelling at 305 South Park Avenue. (See the Wright Company's Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1924, p. 326.) They relocated to Milwaukee, WI, during or before 1927, where their house was situated at 612 54th Street. (See Milwaukee, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1927, p. 1043.)

Donald lived for much of his childhood in Wauwatosa, WI, a western suburb of Milwaukee. The Knorr Family resided at 554 4th Avenue in Wauwatosa by 1929, if not a year earlier, and continued to reside there in1930, when the US Census was done. The census valued the Knorr Residence at $9,000, a considerable sum for the time.(See Wright Directory Company's Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1929, p. 161 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Page: 29A; Enumeration District: 0370; FHL microfilm: 2342333, accessed 03/27/2020.)

By 1932, they had moved to a new house at 554 North 72nd Street in the same city (renumbered in 1932 to 2208 North 72nd.) (See Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1932, p. 150.) This North 72nd Street house had a value of $10,000 in 1940, again about double what the average would have been in Milwaukee at the time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Roll: m-t0627-04502; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 40-58, accessed 03/27/2020.)

In 06/1942, Knorr lived with his parents at 2208 North 72nd Street, Wauwatosa, WI, during a summer job working at an ordnance factory in Glendale, WI. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, IL, in 1941-1942.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Draft Registration Cards for Wisconsin, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 36, accessed 03/27/2020.)

While a student at the University of Illinois, he was part of the Chi Psi Fraternity, that had its house at 912 South 2nd Street, Champaign, until 1943. (It relocated to 408 E. John, Champaign during 1943-1944, but returned to South 2nd in 1945.)

Knor served as a Lietenant, Junior Grade, in the US Navy during World War II, joining on 11/12/1942 and serving until 11/01/1945.

The architect and his wife, Anne, lived in San Rafael, CA, between 1953 and 1957. (See San Rafael, California, City Directory, 1952-1953, p. 696.)

Between 1966 and 1968, he and his wife had a house at 14 Entrata Avenue, San Anselmo, CA. (See San Rafael, California, City Directory, 1966, p. 209 and San Rafael, California, City Directory, 1968, p. 206.) They divorced in 1975.

He lived at 888 Francisco Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, nearby to Russian Hill Park. By 1980, this had become a very affluent section of the city. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 03/27/2020.)

In 1994-1999, Knorr had a dwelling in San Francisco, CA. His last residence was in the 94111 zip code of San Francisco. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, accessed 03/27/2020.)

Parents

His mother was Esther Sternbeck (born 10/27/1896 in Louis Corners, WI-d. 09/05/1959 in WI), his father, Arthur Herman Knorr (born 06/26/1894 in Kiel, WI-d. 03/30/1974 in WI). They wed in about 1920, when he was 25 and she, 22. Esther Sternbeck managed the household as noted in the US Censuses of 1930 and 1940. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Page: 29A; Enumeration District: 0370; FHL microfilm: 2342333, accessed 03/27/2020.) The latter census reported that Esther had completed high school, while Arthur had an undergraduate college degree.

Esther's parents were Rudolph Sternbeck (born 10/11/1872-d. 09/28/1942 in WI), a blacksmith, and Emma Krueger (born 09/06/1872 in WI -d. 05/28/1926 in WI), a dressmaker, American-born children of German immigrants living in an area heavily populated with their countrymen and women. Esther was the eldest of five children and grew up in Schleswig, WI, a small agricultural town in southwestern Manitowac County, WI.

In 1929, his father worked as an auditor in Wauwatosa, WI. (See Wright Directory Company's Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1929, p. 161.) The 1930 US Census indicated that he worked as an auditor for the State of Wisconisin. In 04/1942, Arthur continued to work for the State of Wisconsin Department of Taxation. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of Wisconsin; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M2126; Box or Roll Number: 160, accessed 03/27/2020.) In his later years, Donald's father worked as a certified public accountant in Wauwatosa. (SeeMilwaukee, Wisconsin, City Directory, 1955, p. 608.)

Arthur Knorr served in the US military during World War I, between 11/17/1917 and 06/24/1919.

Arthur and Esther Knorr had two sons, Donald, and his elder brother, Warren Arthur Knorr, (born 10/07/1921 in Chicago, IL).

Spouse

He wed Anne H. Hall (born 1923), in 1949. She worked as an interior designer for Knorr Interior Planning in 1957. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1957, p. 736.) They divorced in 05/1975. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, Divorce Index, 1966-1984 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007, accessed 03/27/2020.)

Biographical Notes

A Donald Reed Knorr, (born 10/01/1924 in Fort Wayne, IN-d. 1987) could be confused with Donald Robert Knorr. Donald Reed Knorr resided in Orange, CA, and also served in the US Navy during World War II.

At age 19, Knorr stood 5-feet, 11-inches tall and weighed 175 pounds, He had brown hair, blue eyes and had a light Caucasian complexion. His World War II draft registration card indicated that he had a “faint scar on forehead.”

SSN: 392-16-5485.

• Chicago, IL (Architect's Birth)
  Chicago, IL

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