Creitz family

Biographical notes:

Captain William F. Creitz was born October 5, 1829 in Jacksonville, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry Creitz and Elizabeth Follweiler Creitz. William served in the Civil War as a Captain in the Fifth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. He married Melissa Jane Watters in 1864, and their son Louis Albert Creitz was born December 25, 1866. In 1875 the family moved to Portland, Oregon. Louis Albert Creitz became a concert violinist, and at age 21 he traveled to Leipzig, Germany, where he studied at the Royal Conservatory for five years. He married Anna Huber in 1897 and had four children: Albert F., Russell, William, and Helen. Albert began studying the violin at age six and became the youngest member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra in 1915. He attended the Institute of Musical Art from 1918 to 1920 in New York City (later the Julliard School) and he performed and taught violin at different venues around Portland. On October 31, 1930, he married Lenore Tamiesie, daughter of Dr. George W. Tamiesie and Theresa Reiling Tamiesie of Portland. In 1929 Lenore Tamiesie had been employed at the office of the Northwestern Electric Company when she was elected Queen of the Portland Rose Festival, and she was the last Queen to serve prior to a change that required Queens to be selected only from local high schools. Albert's sister, Helen Creitz, also became a professional violinist. She served as the head of the violin department at Pacific University.

From the guide to the Creitz family collection, 1823-2007, (Oregon Historical Society)