Edward C. Biele Jr. 1917-2012

On November 3, 2012, Edward Casper Biele Jr. passed away.  He was 95 years old and the last Biele of his generation in my family branch.  Edward was born on June 29, 1917 in Hackensack, NJ to Edward (Eduard) Casper Biele and Edith Lankenau.

I first met Edward via email just over 14 years ago.  I had sent out a note to a number of “Biele” email addresses I had found in internet directories looking for “lost” family members and he was the first to respond.  The text of his email response from November 1, 1998 is as follows:

I am indeed one of Bieles you seek.  My grandfather was Charles F. Biele who was in the business of making showcases in New York City.  The family business was Charles F. Biele & Sons, Inc. My father Edward and his brother Carl (your great grandfather) took over the business but it got away from them in the 1930s. During the Vietnam War I spent much time in Washington negotiating with the Navy on behalf of a client. Several times during my time in Washington I visited your grandfather (my cousin) who was retired from the Navy and living Silver Springs, MD

I graduated from Columbia College in 1939 and Columbia Law School after World War II although my original class was 1942. From 1950 to 1983 I practiced admiralty law in Seattle after a couple of years at it in New York. I did teach admiralty law at the University of Washington Law School after my retirement from active practice.  My two sons went to Columbia College and my daughter went to Vassar. My wife  graduated from the University Of Michigan.

Purely by coincidence, last month I was in New York and visited my cousin Alma Stucker, the daughter Frieda (Fredricke) Biele Helbing, my father's sister.  She showed me a family history started by my aunt Alma Biele Leber, my father's other sister.

 

Edward and I only met once, but for 14 years we kept in regular contact via email sharing information about the Biele family.  Every time I would find some new information about the family or the former showcase business, I would send it his way and he would usually follow up with a story from his memory that never seemed to fade.

More to come….