Jose Alves

José Alves died peacefully on Friday, October 23rd from complications following surgery.

José Alves was born 16 December 1938 in Hamburg, Germany, to Bertha Ida Johanna Borstelmann Alves and Raul Alves. In 1943, during the heavy bombardment of Hamburg, José with sister Renate and niece Jenny were sent to a children’s home in Reinfeld near Lübeck, Germany. They lived there until the end of 1943, after which they settled in Kutenholz, Germany since the family home had been destroyed by bombing. They were joined in Kutenholz by Bertha’s sister Hermione Fromann. Known as Tante Minnie, she was a great help to José’s family bringing in income as a seamstress. José’s father Raul was a Portuguese merchant marine working on American ships on the New York – Hamburg route. After the outbreak of World War II, he was not allowed to return to Germany, so he remained in America, becoming a naturalized US citizen. Since there was no contact between Raul and his family, he thought that none of them had survived. However, Raul managed to find his family in 1946 with the assistance of a tracing service. José’s parents were reunited briefly in Kutenholz in 1948, but his father decided to return to the US.

José went to school in Kutenholz and neighboring Stade and spent his teenage years there. He left school after 10 ^th grade and started an apprenticeship as an electrician in Kutenholz. Later, the family moved back to Hamburg and lived in an apartment provided for them by the government because they had been displaced during the war. In the late 1950s, he found that he could claim American Citizenship By Derivation due to his father’s naturalization. He decided that America held more opportunities for him than Post-War Germany. In 1959, he came to the US and joined the US Army. In the army, he learned English and took courses to bring his schooling up to par by American standards. Most of this time he was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

After leaving the army, José followed some of his buddies to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and then to San Francisco, California. He enrolled in Golden Gate College on the G.I. Bill and graduated in 1967 with a BA in Economics. In San Francisco, he met Joanna Winchester (née Maurer). They married in March 1967. After graduation, the couple moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he had been accepted into the graduate program at Simon Fraser University. He earned his MA in Economics in December 1968.

In January 1969, José and Joanna went to Hamburg to visit family and took a nine-week-long trip through Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, and northern Italy. José then went to work as an auditor for Price Waterhouse in Hamburg, Germany. In June 1970, son Michael was born, and in January 1971, the family decided to return to the US and settled in Austin, Texas. In April 1972, daughter Karin was born.

After returning to the US, José had several jobs, including working for the City of Austin and painting houses. Through the mid 70s and early 80s, he owned and operated Great Southwestern Pest Control and eventually returned to work full time for the Army National Guard, obtaining the rank of Master Sergeant.

In 1991, he and Joanna divorced, but they remained friends throughout his life. José took the opportunity to retire early from the army in the mid 90s and worked as a Special Education teacher at McNeil High School in Pflugerville, Texas, for a number of years. He also volunteered as a docent at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.

After full retirement, José moved to Dallas, Texas, and then to Plano, Texas, to be closer to his son Michael and family. He spent his retirement volunteering at Plano’s Interurban Railway Museum as a docent and at The First Unitarian Church of Dallas. José loved travel and history and took many trips to Europe with ElderHostel.

José was especially proud of the education and careers of his children. His daughter, Karin True, is a medical doctor practicing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His son, Michael Alves, teaches high school in Plano, Texas.

José is survived by son Michael Alves, daughter-in-law Lynn Tanksley, daughter Karin True, son-in-law Nicholas True, and granddaughters Phoebe Alves, Molly True, and Lucy True. He is also survived by niece Jenny Heidenriech of Greenwich, Connecticut, and sister Renate Soetbehr of Hamburg, Germany.