Menger Family photograph collection

In 1859, William Menger, a Hessen immigrant, opened the Menger Hotel near the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. The Menger Hotel became one of the most well-known hotels in the Southwest and is currently one of the oldest hotels in Texas. William Menger’s wife, Mary Menger, helped establish St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, one of the oldest parishes in San Antonio. The Menger’s son, Louis William Menger provided financial backing for the Southern Messenger Newspaper, the first Catholic newspaper in Texas, in 1893. Louis William Menger and Bernardine Boelhauwe’s son, Henry Joseph Menger, became editor of the newspaper and in 1957, the family sold the newspaper to the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

In 1926, Henry Menger and his wife, Eleonore “Ella” Menger welcomed a son, Henry “Hank” Menger and in 1929, another son, Matthias “Matt” Menger, was born. Both Menger sons were ordained in the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate order and attended seminary in Rome. In 1956, Father Hank Menger was killed in a car accident with his mother and Matt Menger became a missionary in Laos that same year. During his career, Father Matt Menger, served in various Catholic organizations including Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Internationalis before passing away in 2017.