From time to time in these columns about Alpine County, that California county that rests comfortably on the upper reaches of the Carson River drainage, you'll hear about some of its citizens. With the smallest population of any county in California, Alpine County is unique and so are some of the people who live there. Actually, if you think about it, everyone is unique in his or her own particular way, but Gunter Kaiser, a member of our board of supervisors, is unique in more ways than most.
His name tells you something about him. There is a lot of German in this guy and why not? He was born three years before the start of WWII in a region of Europe that was part of Germany at the time. His life as a child during and immediately after the war years was chaotic as the German nation first aggressively expanded its orbit, then retreated back toward its borders under the Allied assault, and succumbed at last in 1945. He and his family were forced to move to East Germany from their home town after the area was transferred to Poland following war's end. All their belongings were left behind. His birthplace, Beuthen, Germany, is now Bytom, Poland. Uprooted once, the family moved again, to West Germany, before the new communist government of East Germany got around to closing its borders. There, with the best of the old fashioned Germanic values still intact in his psyche, Gunter undertook the challenge of making up for three lost years of elementary school education and of learning a trade, a way to make his way in the world.
At the age of 20, seeking adventure and at the urging of a brother-in-law who had immigrated to Canada, Gunter crossed the Atlantic to the United States' northern neighbor. He had learned the trade of toolmaker and acquired a pilot's license before he left Germany, but he still had not found a home, that place where a man settles down, where his dreams can be realized and his talents put to good use, where a man can be comfortable with the land and the people. But, no matter, he was still on an adventure at the time.
After three and half years, he came to the U.S., with a green card, and followed the lure of California, like a latter day 49er. Before he could really get his bearings, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. And where was he assigned? Germany. A German national in the U.S. Army. The Army wisely assigned him to teach German to the American soldiers.
Back in the U.S., he became an American citizen and set about furthering his education and utilizing his skills as a toolmaker to begin a long climb into the upper levels of manufacturing. After attending Fullerton Junior College and Cal State University at Fullerton, he graduated with a degree in....philosophy? Becoming a college professor was not to be, but work in manufacturing a variety of mechanical and electronic devices, including biomedical devices, brought him eventually to the position of manager of a large plant in Tijuana, Mexico. He got a master's degree in management along the way, and met his lovely wife, Lois. And, oh yes, also a license to fly gliders.
At retirement he sought out a good place to enjoy his hobby of soaring in his glider. He found that to be Carson Valley, so he and Lois moved north and settled in Alpine County.
Gunter is a hard working member of the Alpine County Board of Supervisors and applies his management skills to good effect.
The county has no county manager, so the board members divide up the responsibilities of keeping track of the various departments. Gunter is liaison with seven different departments and serves as a director on the Carson Water Subconservancy District and the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District. Here are some of things he told this columnist:
The board's biggest challenge is managing the county's financial affairs and its employees.
The county government's greatest assets are its employees, the volunteers that serve the community, and the environment.
He doesn't think the county will experience significant growth in the next 20 years, except for that occurring in Kirkwood and Bear Valley.
If he wasn't working as a county supervisor he would be doing more flying in his glider and be developing his skills further in woodworking and traveling around the U.S. with Lois.
He would tell someone who is thinking of moving to Alpine County that "it would be the greatest lifetime experience ever."
And his proudest achievement? "After 60 years of moving from place to place, I've found a place I can call home."
-- Bill Morgan is a Markleeville resident.
