Résumé

Lieutenant, United States Navy, 1942-1946, 1951-1954. Kober entered the US Navy on 09/23/1942. He re-enlisted on 07/05/1951. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Select Military Registers, 1862-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: United States Military Registers, 1902–1985. Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library. accessed 09/30/2021.)

Partner, Burke, Kober and Nicolais, Architects, Los Angeles, CA.

Partner, Burke, Kober, Nicolais and Archuleta, Architects, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1968.

Partner / President, Charles M. Kober and Associates, Los Angeles, CA. Kober's firm had an address of 19782 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite #300, Irvine, CA, 92612 in 1994.

Joined the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1960; Registered Architect in CA, 1962;

High School / College

Graduate, South Pasadena-San Marino High School, South Pasadena, CA, 1941. (San Marino High School separated to establish its own high school in 1952.)

A.B., Economics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1946. (See Stanford Alumni Directory, Centennial Edition, [Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Association, 1989], p. 702.) Kober was matriculated at Stanford on 06/31/1942 when he filled out his World War II draft registration card. He was a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity at Stanford. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 979, accessed 02/11/2022.)

Coursework, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 1949-1952.

Relocation

Charles Kober was born in Grand Rapids, MI, in 1923 to Edgar and Helen McChesney Kober. Edgar was an interior designer, a field that would become important for his son.

Charles's parents resided in Michigan for a period between at least 1923 and 1928, where both he and his sister Marcia were born.

Kober's family moved across the country to Seattle, WA, by 1930, where they lived in the comfortable Mount Baker neighborhood at 2704 34th Avenue South. They rented this Swiss chalet residence at a monthly rate of $85. This house backed onto Mount Baker Park and was immediately surrounded by other dwellings valued between $10,000 and $15,000, well above average in cost. The Kobers were sufficiently wealthy to employ a servant, Barbara Spranger (born c. 1901 in VA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0193; FHL microfilm: 2342236, accessed 02/11/2022.)

By 1935 and perhaps earlier, the Kober Family had relocated to the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. They remained here for a few years, before moving again. Between 1935 and 1940, the Kobers relocated to San Marino, a wealthy city incorporated on 04/25/1913. In 1940, they occupied a large, two-story, Colonial Revival house at 1857 Euclid Avenue. This dwelling had an estimated value of $10,000, above average for Los Angeles at the time. The household included Charles's parents, his sister Marcia and his widowed, maternal grandmother, Maude R. McChesney. At this point in his career, Edgar had developed a specialty in the retail store design, according to the 1940 US Census. His parents remained in this house until 1951, at least.

In 1942, Kober had matriculated at Stanford University, where he resided in the Sigma Nu Fraternity house on campus. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 979, accessed 02/11/2022.)

In 1951. Charles Kober and his wife Adra lived with her parents in San Marino, at 1235 Adair Street. (SeePasadena, California, City Directory, 1951, p. 403.)

In 1989. they lived at 15 The Colonnade, Long Beach, CA 90803. (See Stanford Alumni Directory, Centennial Edition, [Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Association, 1989], p. 702.)

Kober lived in Irvine, CA, in 1994. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010, accessed 09/30/2021.)

Parents

Charles's mother Helen Louise McChesney (born 10/02/1896 in Chicago, IL-d. 01/1978 In Pasadena, CA) grew up in Chicago, IL, as one of three childen. In 1900, her father Charles Dietz McChesney (born 03/12/1862 in Frankfort, NY-d. 07/21/1922 in Chicago, IL) sold crockery according to the US Census. Charles married her mother Maude Rebecca Warner (born 09/24/1861 in IN-d. 11/24/1952 in Los Angeles County, CA) c. 1888. Maude worked in the home, and had had three children by 1900, two of whom survived in that year. Helen had an older brother, Warner Reuben McChesney (born 04/08/1891 in Chicago, IL). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: Chicago Ward 30, Cook, Illinois; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0940; FHL microfilm: 1240283, accessed 09/30/2021.)

His father Edgar Irving Kober (born 11/10/1894 in Charles City, IA-d. 03/02/1974 in Los Angeles County, CA) had German grandparents who settled in IA. His family moved Charles City, IA, to Waterloo, IA, between 1900 and 1910, and they remained there during his childhood and young adulthood. William Kober (born c. 03/1872 in IA), Edgar's father, worked as a wood machinist in 1900, and wed Edgar's German-born mother Anna Kathryn Zeis (born c. 05/1871 in Hesse, Germany-d. 1958 in IL) on 02/01/1894 in DuPage County, IL. William and Anna had one other child Frances Emma Kober DuMond (born 04/16/1898 in Charles City, IA-d. 01/17/1990 in Los Angeles, CA).

Edgar became an interior designer and achieved some financial success in the field. He designed fixtures while living in Waterloo, IA, in 1920, and became an interior designer working in Seattle by 1930. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Waterloo Ward 4, Black Hawk, Iowa; Roll: T625_478; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 31 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0193; FHL microfilm: 2342236, both accessed 09/30/2021.) In 1942, Edgar Kober had his own design office in Room #402 of the Architect's Building in Los Angeles. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 09/30/2021.) The 1951 Pasadena city directory listed Edgar as an architect, so it is possible that he became a registered architect in CA by this time. (See Pasadena, California, City Directory, 1951, p. 403.)

Helen and Edgar had one other child, Marcia Helen Kober Jacobi ((born 01/03/1926 in MI-d. 11/20/1998 in Orange County, CA). She atended South Pasadena-San Marino High School, garduating in 1943 and would marry Kurt E. Jacobi (1911-1994) on 09/14/1974 at age 48.

Spouse

He married Adra Grace Merrill (born 08/16/1923 in Los Angeles County, CA-d. 05/11/2009 in CA) on 07/06/1948. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 02/11/2022.) Adra attended South Pasadena High School and Stanford University. She graduated with a A.B. in Economics from Stanford in 1945. (See Stanford Alumni Directory, Centennial Edition, [Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Association, 1989], p. 702.)

Her mother was Emily Wilhelmina Barkway (born 03/1899 in CA-d. 06/1967 in CA), her father, Paul Carver Merrill (born 09/04/1897 in Los Angeles, CA-d. 07/02/1985 in Los Angeles County, CA). In 1940, Adra's family lived in San Gabriel, CA, (aka San Marino), at 1235 Adair Street. The household included Adra's parents, her two brothers, maternal grandmother and a servant. Paul Merrill worked as a chemical engineer at soap manufacturing plant. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California; Roll: m-t0627-00254; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 19-866, accessed 09/30/2021.)

Biographical Notes

According to his 1942 World War II draft registration card, Kober was Caucasian with a dark complexion. At age 19, he stood 5-feet, 11-and-1/4-inches tall and weighed 165 pounds. He had brown eyes and hair. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 979, accessed 02/11/2022.)

SSN: 550-24-8257.

• Grand Rapids, MI (Architect's Birth)
  Grand Rapids, MI

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