Alfred Bruno Raupach

Born on December 11, 1924 in Gladbeck, Germany to Alfred and Elisabeth (“Else”, nee Rogal) Raupach. Alfred was the middle child with older sister, Irene, and younger brother, Artur. They had to grow up under the ever strengthening regime of Adolf Hitler.

Forced to join the Hitler Youth, Alfred believed he had it easier than others because he could play the violin. As a result, he was affiliated with the musical arm of the youth movement and felt he escaped a lot of the military indoctrination and overall brainwashing that the other boys suffered.

Alfred was drafted into Hitler’s army in 1942 before his 18th birthday. He was assigned to the 37th Artillery in Zinten, East Prussia where he trained until he was sent to Russia near Lake Ilmen. This was the sight of a major military battle in 1941(Staraya) when Germany prevailed and took control of the area until they lost it in 1944. Alfred had been an artillery observer and was wounded in October 1944. He remained in a military hospital in Poland until the German army lost control, he received his “walking papers” and was told to get back home the best way he could. He was able to jump onto a train taking German women and children back to Germany. Alfred made it all the way back to Essen and then walked the remaining miles back to his parent’s home. He remained hospitalized in Germany until he was taken prisoner by the American military in April of 1945.

Alfred was rounded up with several hundred thousand other German soldiers and placed into Rheinberg, one of 19 prisoner of war camps built in the Allied-occupied part of Germany. Eisenhower hated the Germans so much that he refused to allow the captured troops be called prisoners of war. Instead, they were designated as disarmed enemy forces, thereby denying them the accommodations mandated by the Geneva Convention. As a consequence, many of the prisoners died of starvation, dehydration and exposure because there were no structures built inside the prison walls. They had to dig holes in the ground with their bare hands to have a place to sleep. Alfred was one of the lucky ones to survive his time there. In September 1945 he was turned over to the French.

Charles de Gaulle wanted 1.75 million prisoners of war for forced labor in France. Once again, Alfred was lucky. He was assigned to a family in Laon who had a small farm and hotel where he eventually became a member of their family. He gave their son, John Jacques, violin lessons and worked out a deal with the patron about who would get up early to milk the cows (and it wasn’t Alfred)!! He was held in captivity until March 1948, at which time he returned to the loving arms of his family in Gladbeck.

The family business in Gladbeck, since the early 1900s, had been a laundry and dry cleaning business. Alfred’s grandmother perfected a method of laundering the detachable mens shirt collars that were the norm at the time. That expanded to a larger business of cleaning and laundry that resulted in a fleet of business vehicles and a large laundry facility employing many people. Having grown up in this environment it was only natural that Alfred would learn all aspects of this business. After his release from captivity, Alfred took some time to find himself and regain a sense of normalcy before he returned to school and an apprenticeship in the laundry and dry cleaning business which he completed in three years (1951-1954), with a year break to come to the United States.

In 1952 Alfred arrived in the United States as an exchange student at Northwestern University. There he learned the “American ways” of business workflows and efficiencies. While on a break, he and a friend transported a car from Chicago to Los Angeles. They traveled as quickly as possible because they wanted to see what California had to offer and soak up as much of the west coast American culture as they could.

Upon returning to Germany and completing his certificate in the cleaning industry, Alfred wanted to implement some of his new found American ideas into the family business. His father was resistant and told him that one day it would be all his and he could do with it whatever he wanted to do then. This didn’t set well with Alfred and he decided he would set off on his own. In 1954 he saw an advertisement in a German newspaper for a position with the American military in Wiesbaden. His fluency in German, French and English turned out to be a real asset. He interviewed and got the job! Alfred worked for them for two years. During this time he rose to the position of Assistant Manager of the Services Branch that covered the laundry and dry cleaning operations in various parts of Germany as well as in Italy and Holland. It also included numerous concessionaire activities in France. By this time, Alfred was feeling the itch to return to the United States and California on a more permanent basis.

On April 7, 1954 with glowing references in his portfolio and 250 German Marks ($150 US) in his pocket, Alfred boarded the Cristoforo Colombo in Genoa, Italy and headed for New York. While on this passage Alfred met an American woman, Delores Panikis, who was returning to the United States (Chicago) from a European vacation with her family. Delores would eventually become Alfred’s first wife.

When he got back to California, Alfred found a room to rent with a Swedish family who was living in Van Nuys. He managed to secure a job with a big corporation but, after 6 weeks, decided that wasn’t the type of career he wanted. Alfred then started going to many small manufacturing businesses surrounding the Van Nuys airport and neighboring areas. He asked to evaluate their workflows for efficiency and said to the owners, “If I can’t save you X amount of dollars by my improvements, then you don’t have to pay me.” Alfred said only one business owner didn’t pay him!

In 1957 Alfred married Delores. They purchased a home in Northridge and set up housekeeping. During the next few years Alfred travelled extensively for business. He represented companies who sold laundry and dry cleaning equipment. His territory included 11 western states and Hawaii. Even though Delores would sometimes accompany him and he attempted to set her up in helping with the management of his cleaning businesses, the separation from her family in Chicago and Alfred’s long absences took its toll on the marriage. They divorced in 1971.

Alfred was miserly about the money he earned and spent and was an incredible saver. With his earnings he began to buy run down laundry and dry cleaning plants. He would improve their way of conducting business and upgrade their appearance. Eventually, he would sell and finance the business to a long time employee that he had kept on when he bought the business. He did this with plants he bought in Fullerton, Woodland Hills, Burbank, Encino and Oxnard. The income generated from these transactions allowed Alfred to expand into the acquisition of residential rental properties and the ability to make small business and 2nd trust deed loans.

After his divorce and success in business, Alfred was living the good life. He was no longer traveling for business and enjoying more free time to play. Having been a lifelong tennis player and snow skier, he pursued these activities with great enthusiasm. Set up on a “blind date” through a tennis travel agency, Alfred met Bill Meade (their friendship endured until the time of Alfred’s passing). They started going to Mazatlan, Mexico twice a year (May & November) to play tennis, drink beer, enjoy the beach and party with all the single women! Those were wild and crazy times. Alfred also joined a ski club and enjoyed ski trips to many different locations. He was very social and had a wide group of friends of varying ages. Most of his friends were younger in age because he felt both mentally and physically younger than his birth certificate claimed and Alfred didn’t like hanging around with “old” people.

Alfred’s passion for tennis and skiing resulted in his having knee injuries which led to multiple surgeries over the years. Finally, in 1989, he had his first knee replacement —actually insisted that both knees be replaced in same surgery because he didn’t want to be off the tennis courts for a full year! He was extremely faithful when it came to physical therapy and was back to playing tennis within 6 months. Skiing would never happen again. He would ultimately go on to have both knees replaced for a second time, one after 9 years and the other after 20.

In June of 1990, at what Alfred referred to as his local “watering hole” (was Ottavio’s in Westlake Village, a restaurant and bar with live music and dancing), Alfred met Joan Kleban on a Friday night. She was there with friends to “decompress” after a week of work. They talked and danced and had a good time. She gave him her business card and he promised he would call her the following week. He never called. Joan was then sidelined with a couple of surgeries and didn’t get back to Ottavio’s again until October. Guess who approached her again? It was Alfred who professed to have lost her business card because it was in his money clip that he lost while he was doing repair work around one of his laundries. Alfred asked her out again. This time she gave him her home phone number and directions as to when he should call her. He agreed and he did and they had their first date on October 28, 1990. They went out again two days later and then Alfred left for his November trip to Mazatlan with his friend, Bill and Bill’s new girlfriend and future wife, Peggy.

When they returned from Mazatlan, Alfred invited Joan, Peggy and Bill over to his home for dinner. Peggy told Joan that all Alfred did was talk about her while they were in Mexico. He was definitely smitten. Joan had some concerns because Alfred was 27 years older than she was but, he was so sweet and so funny and entertaining and he made her laugh all the time. He was so incredibly nice and caring, she couldn’t resist. Alfred and Joan were a couple from that time on.

Life was full of fun, tennis and travel. Alfred got Joan back into tennis on a full time basis. They went, as spectators, to professional tournaments and traveled to Mexico to play on the semi-annual trips. He took her to Europe to meet the members of his family living there.

In 1993 Alfred wanted to retire more than he already had and sold his last remaining laundry business. They bought a home in La Quinta, Joan quit her job and they moved to the desert. They joined PGA West for the tennis club and made many new friends who shared similar interests. To escape the heat in the summer they would travel to Europe and Hawaii. They took cruises: Alaska, Panama Canal, Spice Islands, Caribbean, Nordic countries and Russia, and a Transatlantic crossing to England.

In August 2001, Alfred suffered a stroke which hospitalized him for two weeks. He had been in such good shape that it left him with no apparent deficits. Unfortunately, the stroke had been caused by an enlarged heart that wasn’t working efficiently. His doctor had been given a copy of his medical records but didn’t bother to review them and get Alfred on a new regimen that would have protected him from future strokes.

Knowing that he would probably be needing someone “who could still see to drive at night”, Alfred proposed marriage to Joan. They married on May 14, 2002 in Honolulu, Hawaii with Bill and Peggy by their sides.

Alfred suffered a 2nd stroke in February 2003. This stroke left him with some noticeable weaknesses. He got new doctors and new medications that allowed Alfred to continue to play tennis and enjoy life but, Joan had to take on more of the responsibilities that he could no longer manage.

As the years passed it became apparent that Alfred was suffering with some dementia issues. He was eventually diagnosed with vascular dementia. Living such a long time can mean that one is faced with new and unexpected obstacles. Alfred remained a sweet man and always kept his sense of humor. He attended the Eisenhower Memory Care Daycare Center which provided him with stimulation and socialization. Dementias of any kind are hard on families. Spouses become full-time caregivers and isolation is a likely reality. The more your loved one becomes less of the person you originally knew, the more isolated you feel.

In the summer of 2019 Alfred survived a life threatening bout of sepsis that put him in the hospital and rehab for more than a month. He was markedly weaker after this. In 2020 he suffered two bouts of pneumonia brought on by congestive heart failure. On March 15, 2020 he suffered a third stroke that hospitalized him and left him with left-sided weakness. Unable to visit him in the hospital or a potential rehabilitation facility due to the Corona virus, plus, the fact that he had underlying major heart issues and advanced dementia, Joan made the decision to bring Alfred home and put him into hospice care. He was very happy to be home with his wife and two little doggies. He remained comfortable and had no pain. He passed away with his 3 loves by his side.

Alfred is survived by his wife, Joan, stepson, Jason Steele, grandchildren, Tyler, Victoria and Tristan Steele, Sisters-in law: Cheryl Kleban (and family), Jane Redmond (and family) grandniece: Katharina Suhm (and family), nieces and nephews in Germany: Annette Dominioni, Susanne Raupach, Christiane Raupach, Oliver Raupach and Stefan Raupach (and their families) and his niece in France: Anke Kirschbaum-Zelee (and family).

The family would like to thank Reliance Hospice for providing Alfred’s end of life care and private special caregiver, Dorina Boanta, who helped Joan keep her head above water during that trying time.

A celebration of Alfred’s life will be held at a later date when people are once again allowed to congregate. Anyone wishing to make donations in memory of Alfred may do so to the Eisenhower Memory Care Center, c/o Brian Hess, 42201 Beacon Hill, Suite A, Palm Desert, CA 92211-5121. It’s an awesome place.