Fonds 2018.38 - Hauptman family fonds

Antoni Hauptman (b. 1876, d. 1942) and Katarzyna Mielniczek (b. 1880, d.1933) lived in Poland and had twelve children, including sons Stan (Stanislaw) (d. 27 May 1963), Kelly (Kazimierz) (d. 21 Feb 1956), Joseph (Joe) (d. 27 Oct 1985), Walter, Ted (d. 21 May 1978), and Karl (Karol) (2 Jan 2017), and daughters Maria (d. 29 Aug 1996) and Antonina. Joe Hauptman married Bernice (Bronislawa) Palonek in 1936; their son Adam was born 15 Jun 1939.

In 1940, at the outbreak of the Second World War, the Hauptman family was deported to Kotlas, in far northern Siberia. One son, Frank, died of dysentery at the camp. In 1941, at the declaration of Amnesty, the Hauptman family arrived at Samarkand. The men in the Hauptman family, John, Joe, Walter, Ted and Karl, joined the Polish Army in 1942. Sadly, John did not survive the war and their elderly father, Antoni, became ill and died in Uzbekistan. Two of the brother’s wives, along with Joe’s two-year-old son, Adam, eventually travelled to Uganda where they spent the rest of the war. Several years before the war, the two oldest Hauptman brothers, Stan and Kelly, had already emigrated to Canada. They married two Ukrainian sisters from Lamont and began the first of many businesses that the family would be involved in.

Stan Hauptman moved to St. Albert and became part owner of the Bruin Inn in the late 1940s. In 1953 he opened the St. Albert Drive-In. When the Karl and Ted arrived in St. Albert, they moved into the Bruin Inn and Ted began to work in the bar. After six years of separation Joe’s wife Bernice and nine-year-old Adam finally arrived in 1948. Bernice became the cook at the Bruin Inn where she stayed until her retirement.

Ted Hauptman went on to open the Dairy Star drive-in and the very successful Klondike Inn restaurant on St. Albert Trail.

Joe Hauptman’s son, Adam Hauptman, grew up to own his own school bus business and later, he and his wife Pat bought out Lefebvre’s jewellery store in 1968 renaming it “Sweetheart Jeweller’s”.

Karl Hauptman got a job in the aircraft industry and later started his own business, “Karol Radio Repair Service”. He opened the first drive-through restaurant in St. Albert, the Klondike Inn. Karl also served on the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce, St. Albert Parish Finance Committee and as a member of the Knights of Columbus. In 1951, Karl was married to Annette (d. 18 Sep 1981) and had sons Richard (b. 24 Jul 1953) and John, and daughter Katherine (b. 18 Nov 1958). After the death of Annette, Karl remarried in Jun 1986 to Kathy Engley.