Emil Stohler

Emil was born in St. Louis, Missouri about 1887.  His parents were Frederick and Marie Stohler. He finished school in St. Louis and moved with his family to California.  He lived in the San Francisco area for a while and later moved to Southern California.  Emil served in the U S Navy during World War I

Emil was a big man standing over 6 feet and weighing about 275 pounds.  He was a great cook and had a short order grill at one time in Southern California.  He also managed a beer garden at different times.  He was trying to separate two drunks from fighting in one of the beer gardens when one hit him over the head with a beer bottle.  He lost an eye and wore a black patch over his eye for the rest of his life.

Emil's greatest love was gambling. My mother told me at one time he was quite wealthy and had two bank accounts.  One was for gambling and other was for saving.  He ended up with nothing. He bet on horses, played cards or whatever the casinos had to offer.

Emil was married twice.  Nothing is known about either one except they were both schoolteachers and both weighed not much over 100 pounds or they both died of TB.

Emil was a happy man and always laughing.  He seemed to find something funny or amusing in everything that happened.  He told me about an incident that happened in the early 1920's.  He was aboard a rumrunner boat and they had just finished picking up the rum from a ship off the coast of San Francisco when the shore patrol spotted them. Emil said the boat they were in out ran the shore patrol and he did not ever participate in rum running again.  Another time while in San Francisco at one of the bars on the waterfront he was shanghaied and the family did not hear from him for over a year.  This is how many ships at that time found help by having someone slip strong men a knock out pill or "Mickey" in their drink.  They would then be kidnapped and put on ships to work.  The ships usually went to China and they would be gone about a year.

Emil took care of his mother until she died.  They had a small home in Huntington Park in Southern California and Emil came home every night to prepare his mother's meal.

Sometime in the late 1950's my family heard that Emil had diabetes and went to a Veterans Hospital in Southern California. He lost a leg and he died and it is believed he is in a pauper's cemetery.