Theodore J. Menger

Theodore J. Menger (c. 1896 – 30 March 1987, age 91; cause of death heart failure). Brother of Minnie Menger Schlosser, Gustav P. Menger, and Rudolph W. Menger. Son of Dr. Rudolph W. Menger, M.D., Pioneer Physician of San Antonio. The 2 April 1987 San Antonio Express-News feature article identifies him as “the last survivor of the original owners of the H & H Coffee Co., and the last survivor of the pioneer Menger Family, the original owners of the Menger Hotel.”

Early life and military service

Born c. 1896, the youngest boy in a family of eight. Per the 1987 feature, none of his siblings ever married. Became a bookkeeper at the Alamo National Bank in 1912. Served in the U.S. Infantry as a corporal during World War I, returning to the bank after the war. In 1937, T. J. built a home for his mother in Alamo Heights.

The Alamo Heights house is on Primrose — confirmed by Nancy Draves’s family memory (28 May 2026 listening session and 30 May 2026 email): Ted “had built a beautiful house on Primrose for their mother Catherine Barbara Menger.” Nancy attempted (and failed) to get the Conservation Society to save the house after Ted’s 1987 death; it was levelled.

Role at Hoffmann-Hayman (1921–1962)

The 2 April 1987 feature gives the tenure as a clean span: “Menger resigned from the bank in 1921 to join the H&H Coffee Co. as treasurer. He remained there until 1962, when the company was sold to Continental Coffee of Chicago. He retired at that time.”

A 41-year tenure (1921→1962). The 1962 end-date is the most important data point — it is the primary source for the year H&H was acquired by Continental Coffee of Chicago.

Role-title note

The 1987 feature says he “joined… as treasurer in 1921,” but contemporary letterhead and 1923 Light clippings document him at H&H as Credit Manager (1923). Treasurer is confirmed by the October 1934 officer roster. Either (a) he joined in 1921 as treasurer and shifted to Credit Manager by 1923, then reassumed Treasurer by 1934, or (b) the 1987 article — published 66 years after the fact — compressed his role progression and labeled his final senior role retrospectively. Treat the 1921 year as primary-source-confirmed and the role title at entry as uncertain pending earlier letterhead/directory evidence.

Officer-table progression: (entry 1921) → Credit Manager (1923) → Treasurer (by Oct 1934) → Secretary-Treasurer (1960 leadership transition under his nephew Albert as president) → retired 1962 at the Continental sale.

Family

At his 1987 death, survivors included nieces Charlotte Belcher (San Antonio), Barbara Ann Ernst (San Antonio), Rose Marie McClung (Round Rock), Mildred Holliday (Lake L.B.J.); nephews Albert G. Menger (San Antonio) and Stephen G. Menger (Canyon Lake). The nieces and nephews through Albert and Steve are children of his brothers Gus and Rudolph respectively.

301 Primera residency and the ceiling-rail rig

Ted spent most of his later life at his brother Rudolph W. Menger’s house at 301 Primera rather than at his own house on Primrose. Per Nancy Draves’s 30 May 2026 email, Ted moved in after Great Grandma Malone died (she had been caring for Rudolph and Charlotte’s children at Primera after Charlotte’s 1935/1936 death). Ted occupied the first bedroom down the hall on the right — the same room Great Grandma Malone had used, and later the room Nancy’s parents took as their master bedroom after they inherited the house.

The ceiling rails. When Nancy’s parents renovated 301 Primera after Rudolph’s 1985 death, they discovered “rails or something” in the ceiling that Ted had rigged “as a way of moving things across a room.” Nancy’s mother said Ted had installed them “to move things around.” The rails likely ran through the two right-side bedrooms (with shared bathroom between) where both Great Grandma Malone and John Menger (Rudolph’s son who predeceased him) had occupied during long illnesses ending in their deaths in the house. Nancy speculates the rig’s purpose was end-of-life-care logistics — possibly an overhead patient lift, a transport rail for medical equipment, or a privacy-curtain track.

The rails were removed during the renovation and have not been documented mechanically. The episode places a previously-undocumented mechanical / inventive aptitude on Ted’s record. Combined with his having built the Primrose house himself for his mother, the pattern is consistent — Ted was the family fixer / builder / engineer alongside his bookkeeping and credit-management role at H&H.

Full account: 301 Primera § Ted Menger ceiling rails.

H and H Coffee