Search


Advanced Search
Nenad Bach - Editor in Chief

Sponsored Ads
 »  Home  »  In Memoriam  »  In Memoriam: Paul Unger, a great friend of Croatia
In Memoriam: Paul Unger, a great friend of Croatia
By Frank Mustac | Published  01/29/2009 | In Memoriam | Unrated
A citizen of the world and a bridge linking Croatia and Cleveland
Paul A. Unger, citizen of the world

Paul A. Unger's small idea to help his beloved wife's Croatian homeland acquire a better understanding of democracy kept getting bigger until it became a truss on the bridge of people linking Cleveland with the world.

Unger, who died Friday at the age of 94, translated experiences as a U.N. resettlement official during and after World War II into peacetime outreach. His passions and investments helped put Cleveland on the world stage, and vice versa. Head of a family bakery packaging business, he was one of many internationally-minded Clevelanders whose vision spanned oceans.

After Croatia became independent in the 1990s, Unger launched seminars for Croatian political elites at Harvard University and for midlevel functionaries at Cleveland State University. The Unger International Center at CSU continues his idea of outreach with programs in both Croatia and Slovenia, hoping to become a go-to learning center for new democracies.

Unger also endowed the Cleveland in the World forum at the Cleveland City Club, and was a past president of the pioneering Council of International Programs in Cleveland. Unger's many friends in Croatia and Cleveland will be toasting him and his dedication to others. With them, we say, "Zivjeli!"

Source: http://blog.cleveland.com/pdopinion/2009/01/paul_a_unger_citizen_of_the_wo.html



Paul A. Unger, 94, ran family business, loved global affairs -- obituary

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter


With Slivovitz, money and energy, Paul Unger promoted bakery bags, public housing, Croatian democracy, Democratic candidates, Shakespeare and more.

"I often marveled that somebody who was sort of an overgrown baker had such a wonderful engagement with the rest of the world," Dick Celeste said Monday about a key supporter of his Ohio gubernatorial victories.

"He understood soft power and became a champion of advancing Croatia through education," said U.S. Sen. George Voinovich.

 "He was always insightful, pressing to make changes," from better food to more foreign speak ers, said Jim Foster, head of the City Club of Cleveland, where Unger founded the Cleveland in the World forum.

Unger died Friday in his Shaker Square home at age 94 from prostate cancer.

Unger helped early federal housing efforts and resettled refugees in the Balkans after World War II. He helped promote Carl Stokes and John Glenn. After the Soviet empire fell, he founded programs bearing his name at Harvard and Cleveland State University to train Croatia's fledgling leaders.

As an East Side liberal fluent in Croatian, he helped the Democrats fuse key constituencies. He loved to bring people together from different cultures and countries to share pastries, brandy and plans for a better world.

His pet phrase was "Eatin' is easy."

Unger was born in San Diego but raised in Cleveland and Cleveland Heights. He got a bachelor's degree at Harvard and worked in the New Deal administration, developing recreation programs and promoting early public housing.

During World War II, Unger joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. He helped evacuate people from North Africa and resettle them in the Balkans, where he fell in love with Sonja Franz, a Croatian architect and engineer designing refugee housing. Her family reopened a Catholic church closed by the Communists to marry them.

Back in the United States with his wife, Unger led the National Urban Rat Control program, keeping the rodents from destroying wheat needed in hungry Europe.

He returned to Cleveland in 1953 to lead the Unger Co., a family bakery packaging business. He helped develop waxed bags, promoted recyclable packages and found new customers in several countries.

Among dozens of civic efforts, Unger helped his wife lead the Neighborhood Centers Association. He also became a national trustee of the English Speaking Union, known for Shakespearean contests.

Unger was a founder and president of the Council of International Programs, a nationwide program based in Cleveland to train foreign professionals. He led several state and federal trade missions and was a delegate for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Diplomacy ran in the family. His brother, Leonard, was an ambassador to three countries.

Until about a year ago, Unger remained active, keeping score at Indians games, toasting with Slivovitz before every lunch and dinner, checking out new restaurants and visiting the City Club's third-story quarters weekly by RTA rapid and foot.

In his final week, his attention was unsteady, but he seemed to enjoy a Democratic inauguration.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1233048766242240.xml&coll=2

Formatted for CROWN by   Marko Puljić
Distributed by
www.Croatia.org This message is intended for Croatian Associations / Institutions and their Friends in Croatia and in the World. The opinions / articles expressed on this list do not reflect personal opinions of the moderator. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please delete or destroy all copies of this communication and please, let us know! Or simply...enjoy and spread the word and good vibrations.


How would you rate the quality of this article?

Verification:
Enter the security code shown below:
imgRegenerate Image


Add comment
Related Links
Comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by Vesna Vojvodic Valcic)

    If anyone knows anything about the family of Mr. Paul Unger, I'd kindly request them to send me an e-mail to the given address. It is a private matter and I'm seeking contact with the family of both Mr. and Mrs. Unger. Thank you in advance,
    Vesna Vojvodic Valcic
    Zagreb
     
Submit Comment


Article Options
Croatian Constellation



Popular Articles
  1. Dr. Andrija Puharich: parapsychologist, medical researcher, and inventor
  2. (E) Croatian Book Club-Mike Celizic
  3. Europe 2007: Zagreb the Continent's new star
  4. (E) 100 Years Old Hotel Therapia reopens in Crikvenica
  5. Nenad Bach singing without his hat in 1978 in Croatia's capital Zagreb
No popular articles found.