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The Kunkles of Northwest Ohio
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Theodore Wesley Kunkle (1945 - 2008)
Theodore Wesley Kunkle > Wesley Greek Kunkle > Henry Phillip Kunkle >
John Calvin Kunkle > Henry Stone Kunkle > George Heinrich "Henry" Kunkle
Autobiographical Sketch
My given name is Theodore, but I went by the name of Teddy when I was a youngster and by Ted since I was a teenager. I was born June 27, 1945 in Bryan, Ohio. My mother is Rosana Romelia (Black) Kunkle of West Lebanon, Indiana and my father is Wesley Greek Kunkle of Kunkle, Ohio. My father Wesley, or Pete as he was nicknamed, was accidentally killed in 1946 while working electrical construction in the Fort Worth, Texas area. I therefore never had the opportunity to get to know my father. I've been told that I take after my dad to some degree in both looks and mannerism. After his death, my mother returned to Bryan, Ohio, where she and my step-father Russel Avon Weber raised my sister Leah and me until we graduated from high school and went off to college.
While growing up in Bryan, I was an active (some may say over-active) child. Mischief, mostly harmless, seemed to follow me around all the days of my youth. I received many a spanking in those days (from my mother and teachers alike) and made more than one trip to the principal's office for disrupting class. It all started in the first grade when I received a spanking on the very first day from the teacher because I wouldn't (couldn't) stop laughing. It continued all the way through my senior year of high school when I, along with a few other students and our parents, was hauled into municipal court by the State Liquior Board because a few of us senior boys got caught raffling off a case of beer in the high school. As a youngster I loved baseball and was an avid baseball player -- playing second base in Little and Pony League and making the "All Star" team in both leagues in most years. My claim to fame in Little League was that, in my first year (then 8 years old), I had the fewest "official" times at bat but scored the 2nd most runs in the league. Obviously, I walked a lot! They didn't called me "little" Teddy Kunkle for nothing. I was just a little guy with no strike zone. I also participated in other sports, most notably golf. I tried track and field when I was in junior high school but the only thing I accomplished in track was breaking off a piece of my front tooth while attempting to pole vault. (See my 8th Grade photo with a metal capped tooth). I tried other high school sports like football and basketball, but there wasn't much call for players of my stature in those sports. In addition to sports, I was also active in other areas. I did what most boys did back in the 1950s. I mowed lawns, had a paper route, went swimming at the city pool, became a boy scout, etc. Learning to play music was another one of my activities. I started taking piano and trumpet lessons at a reasonably early age. By the time junior high school rolled around, I was ready to play in the school band. First, the junior high band and later the high school marching and concert bands. This of course made my Uncle Frank happy because, at the time, he was the high school band, orchestra and choir director at a neighboring high school. I also played in the high school dance band which played for some school dances, the annual school music program called the "Panorama of Music", and the occasional non-school related, non-paying gig. Golf was then and still is my sport. I've played it pretty well all my life . I competed on the high school golf team, had a few holes-in-one during my life and won the regular and senior club championships at my golf club on a number of occasions. From 1995 through 1997, on a "lark", I tried to make it on the Senior PGA Tour (later the Champions Tour) when the tour took its swing through Florida every spring. After many failed attempts and an ever increasing awareness that I was just wasting my time and a lot of money, I quit that foolishness. I attended The Ohio State University, The University of Toledo, and Ashland College (now a University). After what seems like forever to both me and my parent's pocket book, I received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Economics and Statistics. I also received a Masters of Business Administration -- at my own expense. I taught Economics part-time at the college level for Ashland College and Marion Technical College while living in Ohio. I began my career with the Bell Telephone Company in Cleveland, Ohio. I then transferred to General Telephone Company (later GTE). Besides Cleveland, in my career I've lived in Marion, Ohio, three different suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana, the town of Colleyville, Texas (mid-cities between Dallas and Fort Worth), and upon semi/full retirement in Bradenton, Florida. For most of my career I work as a Business Economist, responsible for large segments of GTE's service costing and pricing. In this capacity, I was required to set those "nasty" telephone rates and then testify on the company's behalf before a number of state regulatory commissions and the occasional state senate committee. Additionally, I would sometimes be required to meet and negotiate with the Federal Communication Committee (FCC) staff in Washington, D.C. Later in my career I branched into the sales arena where I had national sales responsibility for one of GTE's major marketing distribution channels. I met my first wife, Joyce Ann (Jacobs) Kunkle while attending The Ohio State University. We had two daughters -- Laura Ann and Leslie Diane. We were amicably divorced in 1983 after sixteen years of marriage. I married Peggy Lynn Miller in 1988. I taught Peggy how to play golf in 1990 while living in Texas and much to my chagrin, she (as of the latest count) has 7 holes-in-one to my 3. I have a number of hobbies besides golf -- family history and genealogy (duh), fishing, songwriting and playing music with others. I formed my own bluegrass band, "The Mud Creek Ramblers", which plays various venues on the west coast of Florida. I'm hoping to add further to this autobiography for many years to come. Check back in a couple years. If there is nothing more written, you can add another date next to my name in the title line above. After a prolonged illness, my beloved husband Ted passed away on August 11, 2008. This website was a labor of love and hopefully will be enjoyed by all who visit it. I know it would be his hope that one day another Kunkle will pick up where he left off and continue the research of the Kunkles of Northwest Ohio. Ted's other pasion was his music. I am thankful that he recorded many of his songs and take comfort in listening to them. He sang every day, made me laugh every day, and I miss him everyday. Photo Gallery   
  
 
 
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