The Proeger Family · Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents

William Leonard Proeger

The elder · 1876–1955

William Leonard Proeger

PennsylvaniaConfirmed

The elder · 1876–1955

Born
22 March 1876, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died
14 December 1955, Los Angeles County, California
Buried
Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood
Sources
10

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1876
Born 22 March 1876, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NUMIDENT, drawn from his own SSA application filed at Los Angeles on 14 March 1947 S13
Death1955
Died 14 December 1955, Los Angeles County, California S13S14
Burial
Buried Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, Block D, Section 3357, Lot 5. Unmarked grave. S14
Death1942
🆕 Her 1942 death notice names her “loving wife of William L. Proeger”, of 2123 Lemoyne Avenue, Los Angeles S1175.
Death1955
🆕 His own death notices, December 1955: he died on Wednesday 14 December, aged 79, of 1540 Ewing Street, Los Angeles. Services were held on Friday 16 December at Utter-McKinley's Jewel City chapel, Glendale, and he was buried in Valhalla Cemetery. He left a daughter, Queen Anne Helgedalen; three sons, Richard F., William H. and Julius K.; and two sisters, Carrie Ross and Gertrude Murfin. Neither notice names a wife S1176S1177. See Jane Bell for the unproven later wife.
Residence1880
Residence trail: Pittsburgh 1880 → Rochester, Beaver Co., PA 1910 → Allegheny Co. draft registration 1917–18 → Cincinnati 1920 → Chicago 1935 → Dunkirk, New York 1940 → Los Angeles 1949–1955. Probable confirm or correct →
a FamilySearch event list, individually unverified S12
Military1918
🆕 Registered for the draft on 12 September 1918 at Tarentum, born 22 March 1876 in his own hand, a mechanic at Allegheny Steel Co., Brackenridge, with his wife Anna as nearest relative S381. In 1940 a glass worker at 414 Park Ave., Dunkirk, New York, with Anna, after Chicago in 1935 S382; added 24 September 2026.
Census1895
🆕 On 1 July 1895, aged 19, he enlisted as a private in Co. I, 10th Infantry, Pennsylvania National Guard. His residence was Greensburg and he was a glass worker, the family trade. He was discharged on 10 February 1898 for “Removal from city” and had no federal service S442. added 25 September 2026.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents1800
His father is named on that death record: JULIUS PROEGER. California, County Birth and Death Records 1800–1994
death 14 December 1955 at Los Angeles, birth 1876, parents: Julius Proeger S44. Confirmed — a government record, not a user tree. Until 13 September 2026 this page carried the join between him and Julius Karl Proeger as Probable (strong), resting on FindAGrave, FamilySearch and two of his brothers' Social Security entries. The state death record states it outright, and the link is upgraded.
Marriage1908
Married Anna B. Roberts in 1908, Ohio County, West Virginia S13
Children1911
Children: William Harry (1911), Richard Frederick Sr (1913), Julius Karl (1917), Queen Anne (1919) S12S14

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Open question
⚠️ FindAGrave gives 22 March 1878 S14. Same day and month, conflicting year; the NUMIDENT year is the better source.

In the record Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents

William Leonard Proeger · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

10 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S12FamilySearch Tree public pages, no login required for deceased persons — William Harry Proeger KC1N-799, Aileane Marie Silva L9GZ-NDP, William Leonard Proeger L7GK-VBK, Queen Anne Proeger LHQW-W1L — ancestors.familysearch.org. User-contributed; event lists are treated as PROBABLE unless separately sourced.
  2. S13US Social Security NUMIDENT / Death Master File, republished verbatim — see S2. A government record; the parent-name fields come from the person's own SS-5 application.
  3. S14FindAGrave memorial 298908619, William Leonard Proeger (1878–1955), Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood — findagrave.com/memorial/298908619.
  4. S44California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800–1994, via FamilySearch — William Leonard Proeger, death 14 December 1955, Los Angeles; birth 1876; parents: Julius Proeger. A state vital record, not a user tree. It is the document that promotes the join between Earl's great-grandfather and Julius Karl Proeger from Probable to Confirmed. The separate California Death Index 1940–1997 entry for the same man gives the same death date and a birth of 22 March 1876 in Pennsylvania, but abbreviates the parent field to the surname alone.
  5. S381World War I draft registration card — William Leonard Proeger, Local Board No. 15, Tarentum, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, 12 September 1918. Ancestry record 10212496. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed William Leonard Proeger, Maple Ave., R.F.D. #1 Tarentum, age 42, born March 22 1876, native born; mechanic at Allegheny Steel Co., Brackenridge; nearest relative Mrs Anna Proeger, wife; tall, medium build, brown eyes, dark brown curly hair. Also Ancestry record 110212496 (the same card, filed under Anna). His own signed statement of 1876, against a 1878 on a memorial site.
  6. S3821940 U.S. Federal Census — William Proeger household, 414 Park Ave., Dunkirk, Chautauqua Co., New York (ED 7-29, sheet 13A, lines 16–17). Ancestry record 9706875. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed William Proeger, 64, born Pennsylvania, glass worker, $1,248 wages in 1939; wife Anna, 49, born Ohio, the informant; both living in Chicago in 1935; renting, no children at home.
  7. S442Pennsylvania, U.S., Veterans Card Files, 1775–1948 — Proeger, L. William, Pvt., Co. I, 10th Infantry, Pennsylvania National Guard. Ancestry record 117476. Image examined, read 24 September 2026. Confirmed “PROEGER L WILLIAM PVT CO I 10TH INF P.N.G.”: enlisted 1 July 1895, residence Greensburg, age 19, 5 ft 8 in, glass worker; no promotions; discharged 10 February 1898, “Removal from city”; federal service: none. The card has no birthplace or parents. It is taken as William Leonard (b. 1876) because of the rare surname, the initial, his exact age, the town and the family trade. The only other L. Proeger son was 14 in 1895. His discharge came before the 10th Pennsylvania entered federal service in 1898, so he is not credited with the Spanish–American War.
  8. S1175Los Angeles Examiner, Wednesday 19 August 1942, page 32 — paid death notice, PROEGER, Anna Blanche. Newspapers.com image 1345687044. Page read (OCR) 1 October 2026. Confirmed “PROEGER. Anna Blanche of 2123 Lemoyne ave., Los Angeles, loving wife of William L. Proeger.” The OCR breaks off at the services line, so the services and burial are not read from this notice.
  9. S1176Los Angeles Times, 15 December 1955, page 61 — death notice, PROEGER, William Leonard. Newspapers.com image 380962183. Page read (OCR) 1 October 2026. Confirmed “PROEGER, William Leonard, late of 1540 Ewing Street, Los Angeles, loving father of Queen Anne Helgedalen, Richard F., William H. and Julius K. Proeger, brother of Carry Ross and Gertrude Murfin.” Services Friday, Utter-McKinley's Glendale mortuary. It names no wife, living or late.
  10. S1177Los Angeles Mirror, 16 December 1955, page 27 — funeral notice, William Leonard Proeger. Newspapers.com image 694257945. Page read (OCR) 1 October 2026. Confirmed William Leonard Proeger, 79, of 1540 Ewing St., died Wednesday [14 December]; services at Utter-McKinley's Jewel City chapel; burial Valhalla Cemetery; he leaves a daughter, Queen Ann Helgedalen, three sons, Richard, William and Julius, and two sisters. It names no wife.

Know something this page doesn't? Send it to Earl — corrections, names, dates, documents. Nothing appears here until he has reviewed it.

Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear in full, on the same terms as everyone else here: what the records say, each claim cited. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

Know something this record doesn't? Send it to Earl.

Top