Thomas Strohm

The family emigrated to America in 1852, crossing from Le Havre, France, to New Orleans and thence by river boat to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father, a master mason and contractor went into business.

[1][2] He was married to Emily Schubnell of Oregon; their children were Louis Robert (or Lew), Walter Thomas, Benjamin Clarence and Anna Barbara (Mrs. George O'Donnell).

[1][3][4] Strohm was "a leader in affairs concerning the Germania Turn-Verein[,] around which centered much of the civic, social and recreational, and municipal activity of pioneer Los Angeles.

"[6] At the time of his death on March 22, 1929, he was the oldest Knight Templar in Los Angeles, and he had also been past master of Masonic Lodge No.

[12][13] He suffered a fractured foot, and his symptoms included nausea and sleeplessness, as well as a deafness in his left ear, the side opposite the injury to his head,[14] He resumed work after about six weeks, and "in a few days met with another accident, in which the muscles in his right arm were torn from their fastenings.

He was taken out of bed and driven to the scene of the blaze and, though unable to stand, directed the movements of his department from the wagon in which he had been carried to the fire.

[17] In June 1905, the Board of Fire Commissioners denied Strohm's application for a pension after he had been examined by five doctors, "three of whom declared he was physically incapacitated and the other two agreeing he was in ill health.

[18]In 1906 Strohm was serving as a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles Superior Court,[6] and the next year he was a city meat inspector.