Résumé

Enlisted man, US Coast Guard (USCG), Kansas City, MO, 1946- . (See Kansas State Historical Society.org, "World War II Selective Service Records: Benjamin A., Jr. Bieri," accessed 10/02/2020.)

Principal, Bieri Studio Pottery, Kirkland, WA, c. 1967.

Principal, Bieri Studio Pottery, Black Diamond, WA, c. 1968- .

Professional activities

He was appointed to the King County Landmarks Commission, along with architect, Jean Alice Young (1922-1997), in 12/1985.

College

Coursework, Kansas City Junior College, Kansas City, KS, c. 1945.

Bieri trained as an architect but worked as a potter.

Relocation

Bieri was born in Burns, KS, on 11/17/1927.

Ben resided with his parents at 2718 North Mill Street in Kansas City, KS, on 11/20/1945. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Kansas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 30, accessed 09/04/2020.)

Bieri enlisted in the US Coast Guard on 02/15/1946, in Kansas City, KS. (See Kansas State Historical Society.org, "World War II Selective Service Records: Benjamin A., Jr. Bieri," accessed 10/02/2020.)

He remained in KS until about 1953, when he relocated to the Seattle area.

He resided in Kirkland, WA, c. 1967 and moved to the town of Black Diamond, WA, by about 1968. (See Black Diamond History.com, “Craft scene comes to Black Diamond,” published originally 10/28/1973, put online on 10/28/2017, accessed 09/04/2020.) He lived in that spot until at least 2002, where he produced a range of studio pottery items, including vases, covered vessels, plates, cups, and other dinnerware. Bieri was a contemporary of the great UW ceramicist, Robert Sperry, (1927-1998), in the local Seattle studio art scene.

Parents

The family of his father, Benjamin A. Bieri, Sr., (born 07/27/1901 in KS-d. 09/29/1994 in Kansas City, KS). immigrated to the US from Switzerland. Ben, Sr., the youngest of nine children, had been born in Bern, KS, a town in north central part of the state founded by Swiss immigrants in the 1880s. The Bern area was also known as "Washington" late in the nineteenth century, and it had, since 1875, at least, attracted a great number of Swiss immigrants by 1875, as noted in the Kansas State Census of that year. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1875 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1875_14; Line: 31, accessed 09/04/2020.) His paternal grandparents, Nicklaus Bieri, (1847-1923), and Anna Marthaler, (1858-1928), migrated to the US in 1871 and 1881, respectively, and were naturalized in 1886.(See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Nemaha, Kansas; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0128; FHL microfilm: 1240492, accessed 09/14/2020.)

His mother was Ruth Irene Andrews, (born 09/09/1901 in Bern, KS-d. 10/12/1997 in Kansas City, KS). Her parents were Frank Andrews and Adelaide German of Bern. Ruth spent her whole childhood in this small agricultural town in north central KS, graduating from Bern High School. She went on to earn a teaching certificate from the Kansas State Normal School (renamed the Kansas State Teachers College in 1923) and taught grades 1-6 in a one-room school house during the 1920s.

Ruth and Ben, Sr., married in 1926, and continued living in rural KS until 1942, when they moved to Kansas City, KS. Here, Ruth worked as a seamstress on her own and was employed by Woolf Brothers Clothing Companyin Kansas City until about 1963. Ben, Jr., was blessed with genes for long life, his father reaching the age of 93, his mother making it to 97.

His siblings included Sherri Bieri Ricketts and Stephen Bieri.

Biographical Notes

As noted on his World War II draft registration card of 1945, Bieri stood 5-feet, 11-inches tall, and weighed 138 pounds. His eyes were blue and hair brown. He had a light Caucasian complexion. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Kansas, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 30, accessed 09/04/2020.)