A Fortean who was mostly off the reservation, though central to one of the key Fortean Society issues of the mid-1940s.
Benjamin (or Binjamins) Walter Dunkelberger was born 14 March 1913 in Sanborn, North Dakota. His parents, Benjamin Walter Dunkelberger (Sr.) and Ethel Griesel had come from Indiana. According to on-line genealogy pages, they were married 25 September 1907, when Sr. was 23 and Ethel 20. In 1910, Walter, as he was often known, was proprietor of a barbershop. The Fargo city directory of 1917 has him in the same occupation. But by 1918, he’d made a career change, going to work as a storekeeper for Union Light Heating and Power. Benjamin Walter, Jr., also often known as Walter, was Walter and Ethel’s only child. They both stated in North Dakota for the rest of their lives, as would their son.
Walter Jr. attended Fargo Central High, where he was in the a cappella chorus, the orpheus club (a musical club)—he was an award winning “low voice” singer, the band orchestra, theater, and science club. He then attended North Dakota Agricultural College—now North Dakota State University—where he his musical extra-curricular activities, joining the glee club and gold star band. He performed in plays, was part of “Bison Brevities”—the school’s Vaudeville troupe—and belonged to the Faust Club, YMCA, Atelier Chat Noir (architectural club) and engineer’s club. He majored in electrical engineering graduating in 1937. According to online genealogical sites, he married Lorraine Marian Hendrickson on 2 July 1935, when he was 22 and she was 21. Her family had come from Minnesota.
Benjamin (or Binjamins) Walter Dunkelberger was born 14 March 1913 in Sanborn, North Dakota. His parents, Benjamin Walter Dunkelberger (Sr.) and Ethel Griesel had come from Indiana. According to on-line genealogy pages, they were married 25 September 1907, when Sr. was 23 and Ethel 20. In 1910, Walter, as he was often known, was proprietor of a barbershop. The Fargo city directory of 1917 has him in the same occupation. But by 1918, he’d made a career change, going to work as a storekeeper for Union Light Heating and Power. Benjamin Walter, Jr., also often known as Walter, was Walter and Ethel’s only child. They both stated in North Dakota for the rest of their lives, as would their son.
Walter Jr. attended Fargo Central High, where he was in the a cappella chorus, the orpheus club (a musical club)—he was an award winning “low voice” singer, the band orchestra, theater, and science club. He then attended North Dakota Agricultural College—now North Dakota State University—where he his musical extra-curricular activities, joining the glee club and gold star band. He performed in plays, was part of “Bison Brevities”—the school’s Vaudeville troupe—and belonged to the Faust Club, YMCA, Atelier Chat Noir (architectural club) and engineer’s club. He majored in electrical engineering graduating in 1937. According to online genealogical sites, he married Lorraine Marian Hendrickson on 2 July 1935, when he was 22 and she was 21. Her family had come from Minnesota.