by Robert Cox, MVHA Vice President
Mountain View Los Altos School Board Trustee Catherine Vonnegut hails from a prominent Indianapolis, Indiana family which valued both business acumen and education. Interestingly enough, Catherine’ s father, George Lewis Vonnegut, was a second cousin to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., best-selling author of Cat’ s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five.
Catherine’ s and Kurt’ s common ancestor, Clemens Vonnegut, was born in Muenster, Germany, in 1824. Originally apprenticed to an importing and banking house in Muenster, he later became a traveling salesman, and in 1851 he was entrusted with establishing trading posts in America. On one trip to America, he decided to visit an old friend, Charles Volner, who had immigrated to Indianapolis. Charles persuaded Clemens to settle down in Indianapolis.
In 1853, Clemens married Katarine Blank, a German immigrant from Baden. Then in 1857, Clemens
founded the Vonnegut Hardware
Clemens Vonnegut and Katarina( Blank) Vonnegut
Company. Clemens and his four sons were to make their living in this business. A man of broad interests, Clemens also founded the Indianapolis Free Thinkers’ Association, the Indianapolis Turner Verein( an athletic association), and the German-English School Society, which promoted the teaching of German in the local schools. Catherine’ s great-grandfather George, and her grandfather Carl, the son and grandson of Clemens Vonnegut, also worked in the family hardware business. Tragically, Carl died at the age of 36, leaving a widow Marjorie, and two children George( Catherine’ s father) and Nancy. Carl’ s surviving brothers Erwin and Ralph, helped support Carl’ s family. Financial hardship helped cement George’ s reputation as a frugal man. He also became a metallurgical engineer, after having graduated from Purdue University.
George married Jean Ann Bates, a Butler University beauty queen. They had two daughters, Catherine and Marjorie. Noticing Catherine’ s aptitude in math, George proposed that Catherine attend his alma mater,
Purdue. Catherine earned a B. S. in math, then an M. S. in Computer Science. It was in grad school that she met her future husband, Gary Winiger. Gary and Catherine relocated to the Bay Area, where Catherine worked at Control Data and Argo Systems. Gary and Catherine married in 1979. Their son Evan was born in 1987.
George Lewis Vonnegut and Jean Ann( Bates) Vonnegut, Catherine’ s parents
Catherine’ s first foray into volunteering in local education came when she helped establish the computer lab at the old Mountain View High School on Castro Street. She later became a leader in the Mountain View High School Parent Teacher Student Association.
She has been serving as a Mountain View Los Altos Trustee since 2018, and is now running for a third term in District 3. She is proud of the school board’ s recruitment of top-notch staff and establishment of wellness centers for the students.
Catherine, her son Evan,
Catherine’ s advice to young people is to
and author Kurt Vonnegut
get a foundation in academic fundamentals while growing into a thriving, successful person in all aspects of your life.
Mountain View Family History Spotlight
A lock from the Vonnegut Hardware Store
MVLA Trustee Catherine Vonnegut
4