Bio
Carl Raschke was born in New York City and moved with his (fraternal) twin brother Curt to the American Southwest when he was a little over a year old. He started school in Oklahoma City, then moved to Denison, Texas at age 7 and later the San Francisco Bay area at 15.
He graduated from Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California. At Pomona College in Claremont, California he first majored in chemistry and physics, then decided his calling was the field of philosophy in which he received his B.A. degree. After college he worked a year or so as a daily suburban newspaper reporter in the Bay Area, then went back to graduate school and received his M.A. in historical studies (special emphasis on American history) from the University of California, Berkeley.. During the late Vietnam War era he attended and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
His first full-time academic job was with the University of Denver, where he has taught ever since. In the 1990s for family reasons he moved part-time back to Texas, where he meet his current wife Sunny (Kalivoda) Raschke, a visual artist employed at the time in the women’s fashion industry. They currently reside in the Texoma region on the border between Texas and Oklahoma just north of Dallas, from which they have shuttled back and forth to Colorado.
Raschke has one son Erik, who is an educator, author, journalist, and published novelist. Erik writes a column for Psychology Today, and has authored various op-ed pieces for international publications. With an MA from City College of New York, he also teaches creative writing at the University of Amsterdam. Erik currently lives in the Netherlands with his wife Jikke – a Dutch television producer – and two of his sons, Casjen and Falk. The third son Kes, now an adult, currently resides in the New York City suburban area. Erik and all three sons are dual U.S.-Dutch citizens.
His brother Curt Raschke (PhD Cornell University) worked for three decades as a research physicist and engineer for Texas Instruments in Dallas. Curt’s daughter and Carl’s niece (Kimberly), who is now deceased, had a career as a financial development executive for various non-profit organizations in North Texas.
Ancestry
Great Grandfather Wilhelm Raschke (Paternal)
Wilhelm Raschke was a conscientious objector from the Prussian military who arrived from the then German (now Polish) region of Silesia somewhere between 1868-1870. Ironically, when he arrived in American he could not land a job because the early 1870s was an era of economic depression, so he joined the US army. After his decommission he started his own roofing business. He married Emma Schnaderer.
Great Uncle Henry Bean and Wife Helen Bean (Paternal)
“Uncle Henry” inherited Carl’s grandfather’s printing business when the later died during the 1930s. The business flourished until Henry’s death in the late 1960s. Carl remembers visiting their home in Philadelphia and taking a tour of the establishment.
Grandmother Minnie Van Nostrand (Maternal)
Minnie was a mother, suffragette, and ambulance driver during World War I. Born Minnie Voebel, she grew up in Sea Cliff, New York on Long Island and married Abraham Van Nostrand. She had two children, Allan and Grace (Carl’s mother). Carl’s cousins Allan Jr. and King Van Nostrand were professional tennis players, and one of their daughters Molly Van Nostrand played in Wimbledon.
Great Grandmother Emma Schnaderer (Paternal)
Not much is known about Emma other than she married Great Grandfather Wilhelm. It was an arranged marriage, as was common among immigrants in those days. Family lore says she came from a prominent German family in Philadelphia, but there is no hard evidence for that claim. Her religious affiliation was Church of Christ, and Wilhelm apparently changed to that denomination from Lutheranism. Emma and Wilhelm had several children, including Carl’s grandfather Charles, who died before the former was born.
Grandfather Abraham Van Nostrand (Maternal)
Not much is known about Carl’s grandfather Abraham except that he was a small businessman in Sea Cliff, New York who was wiped out financially during the Great Depression. He died early from arterialsclerosis because he believed (falsely) like many in his day that a milk shake a day was healthy. According to Carl’s mother, he was a kind man and a wonderful father. He was Methodist.
Mother Grace Van Nostrand Raschke
Carl’s mother Grace was descended from the original Dutch settlers of Long Island and New York state in the early 17th century. The name Van Nostrand was invented by the original settlers. The many Van Nostrands in the US, primarily the Northeast, with that surname are all descended from the same couple. Grace graduated from Mount Holyoke College and earned her MLS from Columbia University. She worked for many years before and during World War II in various New York libraries.
Grandmother Helen Bean (Paternal)
Wilhelm and Emma’s son Charles married Helen Bean, who was of Scotch-Irish descent. They lived in northeast Philadelphia, where Carl’s father Charles, Jr. grew up. Northeast Philly was predominantly German through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. She is shown here with Carl’s father Charles Jr., or “Charlie”, and his sister Helen, who died of rheumatic fever at age 12. After that traumatic loss Helen Bean Raschke became a Christian Scientist. She lived into her mid-80s and was known to Carl during his childhood as “Nana”.
“Aunt” Catherine Hayward (Maternal)
Carl’s “Aunt” (actually his mother’s cousin) Cathy was a Broadway actress who retired to Atlanta and was one of his most familiar and beloved relatives during his growing up. She married several times, but never had children.
Father Charles (“Charlie”) Raschke Jr.
Charles Jr. (“Charlie”) was the first in his family to receive a college education. He attended Rutgers and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in chemistry. He worked his entire life in the food processing industry and at the very end of his relatively short life he rose to a Vice President position with Safeway Stores. He served as a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II and in the US Naval Reserve for a decade thereafter.