Early Years & Personal Life
Robert “Bob” Carl Zuppke was born July 2, 1879 in Berlin, Republic of Germany. His parents were Francis (Franz) S. Zuppke and Hermine Bocksbaum and he had two younger brothers: Paul and Herman. In 1882, the Zuppkes immigrated to the United States where Franz opened a jewelry business in Milwaukee, WI. Zuppke and his brothers attended school and were all able to read and write.
Robert attended West Side High School in Milwaukee and then went to art school at Milwaukee State Normal in 1898. After graduating in 1901, Zuppke taught grade school for two years. After saving some money, he decided to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison where he graduated in 1905 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.
Throughout his education, Zuppke was active on the school sports teams. At West Side High School, he was a part of the school’s football team. In their inaugural game, they lost 69-0 and Zuppke suffered a broken collar bone. This decisive defeat led the school principal to banish football at the school. Zuppke made the team at Milwaukee State Normal, but did not play much due to his collarbone. He also played basketball and was center fielder for the baseball team.
In Madison, Zuppke was unable to make the football team, but was a regular at games and practices and was a self-described “tackle dummy”. Zuppke was more successful at basketball, where he was a substitute in 1903-04 and a starting guard the following year when they won the conference championship.
After graduating from Madison, Zuppke moved to Muskegon, Michigan for work. Here he met his first wife Fannie T. Erwin, whom he married in June 1908. In July 1936, Fannie died at the age of 63. Of her death, Zuppke remarked that he was deprived of, “the only pal I ever had.” The same year of Fannie’s death, Zuppke took on a housekeeper named Leona Ray. Despite their age gap, Leona and Zuppke grew close and she came to travel with him on off-season trips, including his adventure to Cuba in 1946. In 1956, Zuppke and Leona officially wed, just one year prior to his death.