Los Angeles
County
Biographies
COLONEL WINFRIED B. ARENS
(Deceased)
Some
forty years in the service of his country both as a combat officer and as a
reserve officer left a subtle mark on the bearing of Colonel Winfried B. Arens,
which the years of civilian service to his community did not erase, but rather
enhanced.
A
respected and well loved man, known by most people in Monterey Park as Colonel,
“Bob” Arens was described as, “…a serious man but with gentle humor which came
through with a broad grin and smiling eyes.
With the Colonel honesty, integrity, and straightforwardness were a way
of life.”
Colonel
Arens, who served in both world wars, was commander of Fort Weaver in the
Hawaiian Islands at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He directed the first anti-aircraft fire
against the enemy and came under enemy fire when he crossed the harbor in the
midst of the attack. As Chief of Staff
of anti-aircraft in the Central Pacific Theater of operations, his command
consisted of “up to 21,000 enlisted men and 1,100 officers, with direct
supervision and responsibility for the administration and tactical functioning
of a general and a special staff of forty-five officers and two headquarters
detachments of 228 enlisted men,” a statement taken from the official United
States Army record.
Colonel
Arens was also commander of the defenses of San Francisco at the time of the
formulation of the United Nations. He
retired from active service in 1947 due to physical disabilities. He was a member of the Reserve Corps for over
thirty years and his last service for his country was with the 4th
Air Force Command in San Francisco.
Following
his retirement Colonel Arens devoted his energies to civic work and to the real
estate business in Monterey Park. A
charter member of the Rotary Club of Monterey Park, of which he was a past
president, he was also commander of American Legion Post Number 397 in Monterey
Park.
Born
Winfried Bernard Arens, on December 17, 1892, in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was
the son of Franz Xavier Arens and Emma Louise Arens. His father was the conductor of The People’s
Symphony Orchestra in New York City, and as a guest conductor in continental
European cities, he conducted programs of American songs and other music. F. X. Arens was also a choral and voice
coach.
Young
Winfried Arens attended public schools in New York City, the University of New
Mexico, and was an honor graduate of Oregon State College, where he received
his Bachelor of Science degree in horticulture.
While attending Oregon State College he was a cadet major in the
R.O.T.C. He was awarded a captain’s
commission in recognition of his services in the Reserve Corps and was assigned
as an instructor at the second training camp at the Presidio in 1917. He was affiliated with Phi Delta Theta, Alpha
Kappa Psi and Sigma Tau.
On
November 27, 1917, at the Presidio in San Francisco, Winfried B. Arens was
married to Miss Treasure Winifred Hartman, the daughter of Chauncey Lewis and
Cora Alice (Gibbs) Hartman. Colonel and
Mrs. Arens became the parents of two sons, Windom Gibbs Arens and Wade Hampton
Gibbs Arens.
Colonel
Arens lived for a time in Texas engaged in real estate, following World War I,
and prior to his arrival in California in 1927.
In California he again engaged in the real estate business in addition
to growing xerophytes, wholesale and retail, and making window and interior
store displays.
A
gentleman who could have headed any list of distinction, Colonel Arens was
intensely patriotic to his country, the United States of America, and to his
country’s flag, which he loved.
Throughout his life, he was admired as a person, as well as on the basis
of scholarship, military proficiency and his qualities of leadership.
A
love for active sports would be fitting to a military man; Colonel Arens was an
excellent horseman and often served as a judge in army shows. At the University of New Mexico he engaged in
swimming, track, and football. In Oregon
he skied, snow-shoed, and won trophies for canoe racing, as he had done in New
York and nearby lakes.
His
hobbies included wood carving, silver smithing, stamp
collecting, and fashioning beautiful things from plastics.
Colonel
Arens was an Episcopalian. He died in
1956 of a heart attack and is interred at the Presidio in San Francisco. His memory will linger, with those who knew
him, for many years to come.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 780-783, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES