Conrad Francis Praetzel, Jr.

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, Conrad Francis Praetzel, Jr., passed away peacefully at age 99 in his Redwood City home surrounded by loved ones. Conrad was predeceased five years ago by his beloved wife of 64 years, Mary Louise (Jungjohann) Praetzel, whom he missed.

Conrad was born on October 5, 1919 to Conrad Praetzel and Kathleen (McInerney) Praetzel in Saint Francis Hospital, San Francisco. He lived as a child in San Francisco’s Richmond District where he attended school and often walked to Sutro Baths with friends. Conrad Praetzel, Sr., lost his job in the Great Depression; it was a hardship for the family. They moved frequently but ended up back in San Francisco where Conrad attended Lowell High School.

Conrad always loved sports. He started playing basketball in grade school and added tennis, baseball, and golf not long after. He caddied during high school at Lincoln Park, one regular customer being a local jazz musician, which may have partly inspired Conrad’s lifelong love of music. Conrad graduated from Lowell High in 1936, went to Marin Junior College, then to UC Berkeley, where he graduated with a BA in Chemical Engineering in 1941. While in junior college, Conrad competed in junior golf tournaments and excelled, so much so that some complained he should be excluded from competition, that as a paid caddy, he was actually a “pro!”

Conrad enlisted in the armed services at the start of World War II. He was accepted to the Meteorology School at UCLA in 1942 and graduated the following year. Conrad received tropical storm training in Hawaii, prior to being stationed on Canton Island, near the equator, a communications and weather station on an atoll where pilots stopped on their way to and from New Caledonia. He managed the weathermen’s baseball team on the island.

Conrad’s next stop was Saipan, a three-week voyage by boat. When they landed on the beach, the men disembarked with all their gear. Conrad famously didn’t bring his shovel and when the sirens went off, had to wait patiently until the soldier next to him had dug in, before borrowing his shovel. Conrad later flew reconnaissance missions with the crews to better chart future weather patterns, including flying into the eye of a typhoon. Conrad was awarded the Air Medal for these missions and local newspapers referred to typhoons as “Praetzel Twisters.” Conrad remained in the Air Force through the Korean War; he left the service as a Lt. Colonel. Conrad worked for the US Weather Bureau until he retired in January 1976.

While working a brief job at the C&H sugar refinery in Crockett, Conrad was spied by his future wife Mary Louise. Circumstances kept Mary Louise and Conrad from connecting for years until Conrad returned briefly to Crockett after World War II and played tennis with her twin brother Ken. Fate had reconnected the two and, while an excellent tennis player, Conrad was no match for Mary Louise. Mary Louise broke off her engagement to another to become available, the two courted and married on October 2, 1948. Within five years, the couple had four children, with two more spaced at greater four-year intervals. Not enough for a baseball team, but plenty when the neighborhood kids were included.

Conrad loved music, sports, and family. He treasured friends and could remember by name his many childhood playmates—even those kids with whom he had the occasional fist fight—never serious and always resulting in a “draw.” In later years, Conrad became a “Red Morton Regulars” (a group of retirees who play tennis at the rec center in Redwood City). He played tennis into his late 80s— ever the keen competitor. When he could no longer play, he enjoyed Wednesday lunches at Wendy’s with his tennis buddies.

Conrad maintained his gentle, upbeat persona until the end. Joking with the priest at the anointing of the sick and with the hospice nurse who visited. He led a life to be proud of: “…the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs” (George Elliot, Middlemarch). A life well lived is its own reward, but it accrues benefits to others. Conrad’s was a life to emulate.

Conrad is survived by three siblings Bob Praetzel (Nancy Praetzel), Lola Saylor, and Patrick Praetzel; his six children and their partners: Mary Praetzellis (Adrian Praetzellis), Conrad Praetzel III (Cheryl Itamura), Thomas Praetzel, Mollie Brinkley (Bob Brinkley), Doug Praetzel (Sharon Praetzel), Eloice Helms (John Helms); seven grandchildren and their partners: Maria Praetzellis, Jessica Wood (Benjamin Wood), Devin Brinkley (Jennifer Coca Brinkley), Danielle Brinkley (David Miller), Jack Praetzellis (Denise Cho), Meghan Helms, Natalie Helms; and eight great-grandchildren: Hayley Brinkley-Westley (Colton Westley), Nataley Wood, Ayden Wood, Sydney Wood, Diana LaCalle, Xavier LaCalle, Kingston Brinkley, and Kai Brinkley.