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| La señorita Lawton Filer, 1926. |
El 1 de marzo de 1902, en Salt Lake City, Utah, nació Lawton Filer, hija única de Walter George Filer (1870-1943), ingeniero de minas, y su esposa Esther Freed (1878-1967). Los Filer se mudaron a California poco después del nacimiento de su hija. Lawton Filer se educó en la escuela de Miss Shimm en San Mateo y luego asistió a la escuela de Miss Spence en la ciudad de Nueva York.
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| La señorita Lawton Filer, 1921. |
En 1916, Goodwin's Weekly of Salt Lake City (volumen 27, 17 de junio de 1916, pág. 9) contenía esta entrada: “ Después de pasar el invierno en este estado durante varios años, el Sr. y la Sra. Walter Filer han llegado a la conclusión de que California es el lugar ideal y, para demostrarlo, han comprado la residencia de George A. Newell en la finca Newell cerca de Burlingame. El Sr. y la Sra. Filer están seleccionando los muebles de su casa y esperan mudarse a principios del otoño. Los Filer tienen una hija, la señorita Lawton Filer, una hermosa joven, que debutará en varias temporadas ”. Los Filer se convirtieron en miembros de la sociedad de San Francisco. La Sra. Filer y la señorita Lawton Filer se iban los fines de semana al lago Tahoe, asistían a bailes de disfraces en la ciudad y se mezclaban con otras personas adineradas de San Francisco durante las cenas en el Hotel St. Francis en Union Square. En agosto de 1918, Esther Filer organizó un baile para su hija y sus amigas en La Cumbre County Club en Santa Bárbara. En 1921, Lawton Filer ocupó su lugar como debutante de la temporada. En octubre de 1924, Lawton Filer fue dama de honor en la boda de James Athearn Folger III (de Folgers Coffee) y Jane Carrigan, que tuvo lugar en la Catedral de Santa María en California y Grant.
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| Conde Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. |
Lawton Filer’s marital stakes were cemented during a 1925 trip to Europe with her mother. Esther and Lawton made their headquarters in Paris; from this base, mother and daughter spent a good deal of time in Rome and on the French Riviera. The Filers then made their way to Vienna. While in the Austrian capital, Lawton made the acquaintance of Count Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. Born on 17 July 1893 at Schloß Krummnußbaum, Count Degenhard Gundaccar Adolf Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach was the second child and eldest son and heir of Count Wilhelm von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (1862-1927) and Margarethe von Schenk (1872-1957). The engagement between Count Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach and Miss Lawton Filer was announced from Vienna in April 1926.
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| Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach, mid-1930s. |
Lawton and Degenhard’s romance must have been a whirlwind. A month after their engagement, the couple were married in Paris on 15 May 1926. They divided their time between the Wurmbrand estate in Vienna and the family’s apartment in Paris. The count and countess traveled to New York City in December 1926 in order to spend the Christmas holidays with Mr. and Mrs. Filer. The Wurmbrand pair settled in New York City in January 1927. On 11 April 1927 in the Big Apple, Lawton gave birth to Countess Leonora “Lori” Huberta Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach, who would be Lawton and Degenhard’s only child. In September 1927, Degenhard and Lawton spent a spell in Burgliname, where they were hosted by the Filers and entertained by the family’s friends. In January 1931, the Wurmbrand-Stuppachs moved to San Francisco with their daughter.
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| Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (née Filer) and Herbert Fleishhacker. |
On 10 December 1935, Count Degenhard and Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach were divorced in Reno, Nevada. Custody of their eight year-old daughter Leonora and property rights were settled out of court. Lawton Filer von Wurmbrand-Stuppach married San Francisco banker Herbert J. Fleishhacker Jr. (1907-1968) on 20 March 1936 in the Filer residence at Burlingame. The bride carried an orchid bouquet and wore “pale shell pink lace and chiffon” in a “filmy creation with a full skirt and cape sleeves.” The groom was a Stanford graduate who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall. Superior Judge Timothy Fitzpatrick performed the service at high noon, which was followed by a wedding breakfast. Afterwards, the newlyweds motored to Palm Springs for their honeymoon. After returning to the city, they took up an apartment on Green Street.
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| Walter George Filer. |
On 3 April 1943, Walter G. Filer passed away in San Mateo. Having became a successful businessman, Mr. Filer left 1/2 of his assets to his widow; the other half of the estate went to his only child Lawton. Lawton Filer Wurmbrand Fleishhacker’s mother Esther Freed Filer died on 13 July 1967. The estate of Mrs. Filer was worth $2.5 million at the time. Esther bequeathed 1/3 of her assets to her granddaughter Leonora as well as Leonora’s three children: Therese, Paul, and Albert. The remainder went to Esther’s daughter Lawton.
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| Countess Leonora von Wurmbrand-Stuppach and Robert Folger Miller, 1947. |
Lawton’s only child Countess Lori von Wurmbrand-Stuppach wed Robert “Bob” Folger Miller on 9 August 1947 at St. Catherine’s Church in Burlingame. Lori had attended Vassar and studied at Radcliffe College. Bob was the son of Robert Watt Miller (1899-1970) and Elizabeth Jane Folger (1898-1994). After their marriage, Lori and Bob Miller lived in Boston, where Bob was completing his studies at Harvard University. The couple had three children: Therese Marie Miller (b.1949), Paul Michael Miller (b.1950), and Albert “Albie” Watt Miller (1951-1974). In 1963, the Millers moved to Europe; their daughter Therese was enrolled in a French school and their sons attended a Swiss school. Alas, all was not well in the Miller marriage. In October 1964, the Robert Folger Millers were divorced; Lori charged Bob with extreme mental cruelty. The couple shared joint custody of their three children.
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| Countess Leonora von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. |
Lori Wurmbrand-Stuppach Miller was not to remain single for long. On 21 December 1965, she married Thomas-Alfred “Tommy” Wertheimer Edler von Wertheimstein at the Chelsea Registrar’s Office in London. The couple’s witnesses were Lord Ashcombe and Kelpie Buchanan. Lori’s ex-husband Bob Miller had remarried the month prior, in November 1965, to family friend Maryon McGuire Funsten in Carson City. Lori and Tommy Wertheimer honeymooned at Gstaad; Bob and Maryon Miller were vacationing on the Swiss Alps at the same time with Lori and Bob’s three children.
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| Herbert J. Fleishhacker Jr. |
Un año después de la muerte de su madre, Lawton enviudó cuando su marido Herbert Fleishhacker Jr. murió el 18 de diciembre de 1968. Herbert sufrió un ataque al corazón mientras cazaba patos cerca de Maryville, California. El Sr. Fleishhacker tuvo una carrera empresarial inmensamente exitosa; había ascendido hasta convertirse en el vicepresidente del Crocker-Anglo National Bank. Desde el apartamento de San Francisco en el que él y Lawton habían comenzado su vida matrimonial, la pareja había pasado a vivir en una mansión en 15 Woodgate Court en Hillsborough. Los Fleishhackers también tenían una casa en Oregón, donde se entregaban a su mutuo amor por la pesca. Herbert y Lawton volaban con frecuencia a Alaska, donde Herbert podía disfrutar de su pasión por la caza mayor. Lawton y Herbert no tuvieron hijos.
El 30 de diciembre de 1998, a los noventa y seis años, la señora Lawton Filer Wurmbrand Fleishhacker falleció en Hillsborough (California). Fue enterrada junto a su marido Herbert en el Cypress Lawn Memorial Park de Colma.
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