Re: 1938 Astoria Violin Maker
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In reply to:
1938 Astoria Violin Maker
david grant 12/29/08
The Astoria city directories for 1934, 1936, 1938, and 1940 call him "F. Norman BEHNKE".(Judging only from who he is living with at 69 Dresden, Astoria, his mother's name was Lottie BEHNKE, his late father was Frank BEHNKE, and his brother was George Seymour BEHNKE.)Norman is variously described in these city directories as a dockworker, longshoreman or stevedore at the Port of Astoria.
There is a newspaper article about him and his violins in the Portland Oregonian, 26 Apr 1942, page 18, column 6, where he is called Norman "Dutch" BEHNKE, and is described as a farmer and ex-professional wrestler.
(I would also expect there to be a similar article in the Astoria newspaper, but the Astoria paper is not indexed and a quick look in the period around 26 Apr 1942 didn't yield anything.)
If Norman died in Oregon his obituary can probably be found.