Treasurer’ s Report
2025
— Anthea Chung, Treasurer
The Mountain View Historical Association is a nonprofit organization, and we are grateful for the continued support of our members, donors, and community. In 2025, the Association received: $ 6,202 in total income, including $ 1,275 membership dues, $ 1,135 walking tour fees, $ 2,190 interest income from cash on hand, and $ 1,602 merchandise sales and donations. $ 5,637 Total expenses for the year: $ 2,383 supporting newsletters and events, $ 1,833 insurance, and $ 1,421 other administrative costs. Careful financial management resulted in a net surplus of $ 565, strengthening the Association’ s ability to continue its work. As of year-end, the Association held $ 79,456 in cash $ 15,210 checking accounts $ 64,246 Certificates of Deposit. Interest earned in these funds helped support ongoing operations while preserving the Association’ s reserves for the future.
Membership Report
Happy New Year! It’ s membership renewal time. Thank you to those of you who have already renewed!
You can mail in your form( see page 9) with a check or visit www. mountainviewhistorical. org / memberships /
Please consider becoming a lifetime member. It’ s easy and you won’ t have to remember to send your dues each year!
Membership dues help with our ongoing expenses— hosting meetings, newsletter production, mailing costs and insurance.
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Mountain View Family History Spotlight
by Robert Cox, MVHA Vice President
The known family history of former Police Chief and Mayor Robert Schatz begins in the German village of Ehlenbogen.
Hanss Shatz, Robert’ s seventh great-grandfather, was born here in 1608. The village is situated in a mountainous area at the bend in a small stream. The geography gave rise to the village’ s coat-of-arms, which depicts a bent man’ s arm in a blue sleeve. One might even think that this coat-of-arms foreshadowed Chief Schatz’ s career with the Mountain View Police Force!
The people of Ehlenbogen and the surrounding district of
Official Photo of Wuerttemburg, including the Schatz family, were primarily Police Chief Protestants. Records show that five generations of Robert’ s Robert Schatz
Schatz ancestors, from 1600-1800, were all named either Johannes or Hanss( both German variants of“ John”). Around 1800, Robert’ s third great-grandfather Andreas Schatz lead his family to the Banat area of Hungary, and with a number of other Germany families founded the village of Liebling.
But less than a generation later, the family relocated to an area near Odessa, Russia( now Ukraine), called Neu Freudental. Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, was of German origin. She was eager to see more of her countrymen settle in Russia, and granted them privileges such as the free exercise of their religion and language within their communities, as well as exemption from military service and taxation. Germans living in these communities were known as Black Sea Germans.
After Catherine’ s reign, Russians were less kind to the Black Sea Germans living on their territory. Many, including Robert’ s great-grandfather Johannes Schatz, immigrated to the USA. Johannes and his bride Katharina set sail on the ship Augusta Victoria from Hamburg, Germany, and arrived in New York City in 1889. From there, they found their way to South Dakota and then North Dakota, to where many other Black Sea Germans had come. It is estimated that about one-third of North Dakotans today are descended from Black Sea Germans.
Johannes and Katharina Schatz, Robert Schatz’ s immigrant great-grandparents
Ehlebogen Coat of Arms
A cemetery in New Freudental, Russia
Around 1920, Johannes’ s son, also named Johannes, resettled his family in Idaho, to take up potato farming. In fact, Robert Schatz was born in 1927 in Pocatello, Idaho. A few years later, Robert’ s father, John, followed some cousins to Oakland, California, to work as a grocery manager. Robert would spend most of his childhood years in Oakland.
After graduating from San Jose State University in 1955, Robert was first a seaman in the US Navy and then a captain in the US Army. In 1950, he began a 34-year career as a Mountain View police officer, becoming Police Chief in 1971. He was Mountain View’ s first police chief to earn a college degree and the initiator of Mountain View’ s progressive policing policy.
Robert Schatz also served eleven years on the city council, with two terms as mayor. During that time, the city gave Shoreline Park the form it has today. He was instrumental in the design and approval of Mountain View’ s current police and fire building, which bears his name.
Schatz, continued on page 7
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