Day-after feature article on Theodore J. Menger (1895/96–1987), published the day of his funeral and one day after the short [1 April 1987 death notice]({% post_url 1987-04-01-san-antonio-express-news-theodore-j-menger-obituary %}). Where the death notice flagged him as “the last survivor of the original owners of the H & H Coffee Co.,” this feature supplies the dates that anchor several knowledge-base records:
- T. J. Menger joined H&H Coffee Co. as treasurer in 1921 after resigning from the Alamo National Bank (where he was bookkeeper from 1912, interrupted by WWI infantry service as a corporal).
- He remained at H&H until 1962, when the company was sold to Continental Coffee of Chicago — the exact wording the article uses for the Continental Coffee Company acquisition is: “He remained there until 1962, when the company was sold to Continental Coffee of Chicago. He retired at that time.” This is the primary-source citation for the 1962 Continental purchase that earlier KB stubs had recorded only approximately.
- Family context: grandfather William A. Menger came to Texas from Germany in 1847; the Menger Hotel opened 1 February 1859 “at ‘early candle lighting time’”; his paternal grandfather Simon Menger founded the Menger Soap Works, “the first manufacturing concern in Texas.” His mother Mary Menger was born in the Menger Hotel; she later married Dr. Rudolph W. Menger, a native San Antonian physician unrelated to the Menger family by blood.
- He was the youngest boy in a family of eight children, and in 1937 built a home for his mother in Alamo Heights (per nephew Albert G. Menger, quoted in the article).
Transcription
Menger, descendant of famed hotel family
Theodore J. Menger, 91, was a descendant of the pioneer Menger Hotel family.
His grandfather, William A. Menger, came to Texas from Germany in 1847. The hotel opened Feb. 1, 1859, at “early candle lighting time,” according to a newspaper report.
Theodore Menger died with heart failure Monday. He was the last survivor of the original H&H Coffee Co. owners. His mother, Mary Menger, was born in the Menger Hotel.
She married Dr. Rudolph W. Menger, an early San Antonio physician not related to her family, who was also a native San Antonian. Dr. Menger’s father, Simon Menger, was the founder of the Menger Soap Works — the first manufacturing concern in Texas.
Theodore was the youngest boy in a family of eight children. In 1912 he became bookkeeper at the Alamo National Bank. During World War I he was a corporal in the Infantry. He returned to the bank after the war.
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.
“He built a home for his mother in Alamo Heights in 1937,” said his nephew, Albert G. Menger of San Antonio. “He and his mother lived there with two of his brothers and a sister. None of the siblings ever married.”
Survivors are four nieces, Charlotte Belcher and Barbara Ann Ernst, both of San Antonio, Rose Marie McClung of Round Rock and Mildred Holliday of Lake LBJ; and another nephew, Stephen G. Menger of Canyon Lake.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in Zizik-Kearns Riebe-Saunders Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Conor McGrath officiating. Burial will be in Mission Burial Park South.
Source
- “Menger, descendant of famed hotel family,” San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, Tex.), Thursday, 2 April 1987, p. 35.
- Digital clip: Newspapers.com image 1278971625 (accessed 20 May 2026).
- Archived PDF: /assets/pdfs/1987-04-02-san-antonio-express-news-theodore-j-menger-feature.pdf.
- Gallery: Newspaper Clippings (HH-CLIP-1987-0002).
- Companion: [1 April 1987 short death notice]({% post_url 1987-04-01-san-antonio-express-news-theodore-j-menger-obituary %}) (HH-CLIP-1987-0001).