2E.  Conrad Innocent Linz was born in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., on Thursday, August 3, 1922, and died in Baltimore on September 14, 2001. He and Clara are twins. Mary Margaret Bindel was born in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, March 25, 1926. They were married in Sacred Heart Church, Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, January 24, 1948. She took the name Mary Margaret Linz. He is the son of Conrad Julius and Anna Mary (Telljohann) Linz. She is the daughter of Ferdinand Albert and Margaret Ann (Kealy) Bindel. They had three children:

Conrad Linz, West Virginia, 1987

The twins, Clara and Conrad, were born in Johns Hopkins University Hospital. He was called Coonie to distinguish him from his father. The pronunciation, as in Kunigunda, came from this grandmother Linz who lived next door (the "oo" pronounced as in foot). He attended Sacred Heart School across the street from their house at 3509 Foster Avenue. On the second day of summer vacation after the second grade, Conrad was hit by a trolley then run over by an automobile, breaking his right leg in four places and fracturing his skull. He had been carrying a large stack of cigar boxes home and did not see the trolley as he crossed Eastern Avenue at Conkling Street. He was in City Hospital all summer. It was feared that his head injuries had resulted in some permanent brain damage; he could not concentrate and had to repeat both the third and fourth grades. Fortunately there was no permanent damage and he went on to successfully graduate from the eighth grade.

Starting in the seventh grade, Conrad worked for Berman's Grocery at noon and after school. His pay was $10 a week and food for the family which, at that time, consisted of 14 children at home. Often the Berman sons would give Conrad four chickens to take home, two for the family and two to be prepared and returned since this type of cooking was not permitted in their family's kosher home.

After graduation, Conrad worked for two years for Seipp Seafood on Clinton Street. He was reduced to a part time when Mr. Seipp had to give his own brother a job, but at a higher hourly rate, Conrad suffered no loss of income.

In 1940, at age 18, Conrad served his apprenticeship as a loftsman at the Fairfield Shipyards. As a loftsman he made the templates for the shell plates and deck plates of ships. His brother, Walt, also worked there as a layout man.

Private Conrad Linz

In January of 1943 Conrad was drafted. He spent three months in Texas in basic training, followed by six weeks at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he trained as an orderly. He was assigned to the 413 Medical Collecting Company and sent to Sharon, Pennsylvania, to await going overseas. In September he and 5000 other troops left New York City on the USS America, a converted luxury liner. Seven days later they landed in Liverpool, England, where they were put on trains and transported under black-out conditions to South Hampton. Here they were put aboard a ship with an Indian crew and send to Cherbourg, France. Their food was offered Indian-style, in a large communal bowl; he chose to exist on his candy bars and K-rations.

He first helped set up a field hospital near St. Lô. Then he crossed France to Luxemburg and the Battle of the Bulge. He served primarily as a litter bearer. Next came several months in Trier, Germany, then Würtzburg, Nürnberg, Munich, and into Czechoslovakia.

Once, while driving an ambulance through Munich, he saw a Notre Dame nun on the street. He knew from his twin, Clara, herself a Notre Dame, that the world headquarters of the order (Generalate) was in Munich. The nun was very apprehensive about Conrad, but softened when he showed her a picture of Clara (Sr. Conrado). He went to the Motherhouse where he spoke with the Mother Superior's assistant who spoke English. One of the nuns' greatest concerns was their inability to contact their sisters in the United States because the mail was censored. He told them to assemble a package to be send to the States and he would pick it up in a few days. He had the mail cleared (censored) by the chaplain and sent to Clara in Baltimore. This was the first communication since 1939. Soon there was a return package. Conrad handled this exchange for four or five months.

After the war he went to Starnberg, south of Munich, for a six-month rest. Then he was assigned to a hospital for displaced persons in Augsburg for a year. He was responsible for providing supplies and materials from wherever they could be found. During this time he managed to briefly meet his brother, Walt, through information provided by the Red Cross. He also briefly met his brother-in-law, Vernon Walatka, in Strasbourg.

Conrad returned to Baltimore in February, 1946. His old job as loftsman had changed so much he could only get temporary work at the shipyard. He then found a job through his uncle Ben (Innocence) at Standard Oil Company as a boiler maker. Conrad worked for Standard Oil for ten years, then started his own business as an appliance repairman. He did this for eight years, then took a job with Green Contractors as a pipe fitter. He worked with them until 1982 when he was laid off as the company's jobs dwindled during a recession.

Conrad and Mary Margaret Linz Wedding

Conrad and Mary Margaret first met at a party being held for Mary Ann (Linz) Baker, who was returning to Oregon. At the time, Mary Margaret was engaged to a marine, but this was soon broken off and she and Connie began dating.

After their marriage, which took place during a snow storm, Coonie and Mary moved to an apartment on Chesterfield Avenue where Tom was born. Needing space, they bought a two-bedroom house at 3115 Kenyon Avenue where they lived for six years and Kathy and Pat were born. Then they bought the three-bedroom house at 3412 Woodstock Avenue.

Conrad was very active in boy scouts with his son and even after he had married and moved away.

After their youngest child, Pat, was married and left home, Conrad and Mary separated. She continued to live in the Chesterfield Avenue house while Conrad eventually returned to his grandparents home at 3509 Foster Avenue where he lived in the upper apartment.

Mary Margaret worked for Sears Roebuck for many years taking telephone orders. She retired in 199_. In 2001 she moved to an assisted care facility.

Conrad died peacefully in his sleep while watching television in his apartment. While he appeared to be the healthiest of his surviving brothers (Joe died earlier), he did have nitroglycerine pills beside his chair when he died indicating that he was probably experiencing chest pains that he had not told his family about.

• Personal knowledge and interviews.