Kansas · Germany · A shared life
Gordon “Opa” Clumsky
An American airman, a meeting in northern Germany, and the beginning of the family they would build together.
Gordon belongs in Brigitta’s story as her husband, the father of their daughters, and Opa to later generations. The family’s memories connect a young man from Kansas with a young woman from Germany—and, eventually, with the weekend table where their growing family gathered.
Family recollection
From Kansas to Germany
The family gives Gordon’s birth date as May 24, 1935, and his birthplace as Seward County, Kansas. They remember his service in the United States Air Force during the Cold War as a telegraph or Morse intercept operator.
In the family’s account, his work involved listening to intercepted transmissions and gathering clues from them. His exact duty title, rank, service dates, and assignments still need confirmation from his military records.
Family recollection. Gordon’s birth and service details have not been independently verified.
Historical context
The Cold War setting
The National Security Agency dates the creation of the United States Air Force Security Service to October 1948 and identifies it as the beginning of the Air Force’s signals-intelligence legacy.
That history offers context for the kind of listening work the family associates with Gordon. It does not establish his personal assignment or the communications he handled.
Source: National Security Agency — Armed Forces Week: Air Force
Family recollection
The Bremerhaven connection
The family’s research points to the 41st Radio Squadron Mobile and its connection with the 6913th Radio Squadron Mobile at Bremerhaven. The supplied account places the change of designation in 1955 and recalls the name “Bremerhaven Boys.”
These are useful leads. A service record, a roster entry, or a captioned photograph is still needed to confirm Gordon’s own squadron and dates. The family also recalls the nickname “ditty boppers” for Morse intercept operators.
Family research lead; the precise unit lineage and Gordon’s membership remain to be confirmed.
Historical context
A documented unit, an open personal connection
An official Air Force biography places John T. Randerson with the 6913th Radio Squadron, Mobile, in Bremerhaven in July 1960. This provides an independent reference for the unit at that location.
It is a record of another airman’s service, after the period associated with Gordon in the family account. It does not verify Gordon’s membership or the reported 1955 reorganization.
Family recollection
When Brigitta met Gordon
The family has identified a photograph of Hotel Waldschlösschen in Schleswig, the hotel and dance parlor where Brigitta met Gordon, known to later generations as Opa. The building gives a visible setting to the beginning of their shared story in northern Germany.
The date of their meeting and the details of that evening are still hers to tell: who approached whom, what language they spoke, what music was playing, and what first caught her attention.
Brigitta likely met Gordon in her late teens, with roughly eighteen to twenty as a working estimate. That estimate assumes a meeting a year or two before the reported February 1958 newlywed visit. Because the clipping and meeting date remain unconfirmed, this is an estimate rather than an established age.
Source: Hotel Waldschlösschen — hotel history and address
The family identifies this as the place Brigitta met Opa. The hotel identification is based on the canopy signage and matching entrance photographs; the meeting date remains unconfirmed.
Still to be remembered
A clue to their first years together
The family’s research notes describe a February 10, 1958 newspaper item reporting that Gordon and his German-born bride visited his parents in Liberal, Kansas, after his separation from the Air Force.
The clipping itself has not been supplied or checked. It is a lead for the family archive, not yet a verified quotation or evidence of an exact wedding or immigration date.
Family recollection
The Opa the family remembers
At home, the family remembers Gordon’s prime rib and the sayings they called Gordonisms. Brigitta made the table beautiful; together they made room for their daughters, sons-in-law, and the generations that followed.
The exact Gordonisms still need to be collected. Their wording, the occasions when he said them, and the different versions relatives remember are part of what will make his portrait personal.
Historical context
A dance hall in the 1950s
A published account offers a connection to the place the family remembers. In a March 2020 article, writer Andrea Ullius recounts hotel owner Hans-Werner Behmer’s history of Waldschlösschen: Behmer’s parents opened an establishment with a large dance hall in 1955. The article describes a later shift toward running a hotel.
This is a retrospective account, rather than a document from the 1950s. It supports the history of dancing at the venue; the memory of Brigitta and Gordon meeting there comes from the family.
Source: Andrea Ullius, March 22, 2020 — Schleswig: Geschichtsträchtig und gerne vergessen
From the family collection
Places and keepsakes
Family recollections, with separately cited historical context. Individual biographical and service details remain open to family verification.
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