Dick's Father, Oscar W. Burg and Copelin House

Drawing of 3207 Copelin Ave. St. Louis, MO. by Dick Burg dated 1984.


Next on the list was to see Copelin Ave. We took Russell Ave. in Compton Heights, and went north on Compton Hill Pl. right next to Reservoir Park. Bob told me that Eloise (Dick’s younger sister and Bob’s mother) learned how to play tennis there and how he played there as a young boy. Also told me how , during World War II, soldiers were stationed there to prevent Germans from poisoning the water supply.
We preceded on to Copelin, which is now more a culdesac rather than an Avenue due to the construction of I 44. He explained that the south side of Copelin Ave. was where my father’s house, or rather Oscar W. Burg house, was situated. The address was 3207 Copelin Ave. (Oscar and wife, Ella had four children, Mildred, Dorothy, Richard, and Eloise.) He mentioned about how all the houses had small alleys behind them where the garages were located. We wove in and out of Copelin twice and entered several of those alley ways so I could get a feel for the lay of the area and observes the neighboring homes. The day was beautiful and all the little gardens were lush with greenery and flowers. I was trying to imagine my dad as a kid roaming the streets there.
After Copelin Ave. Bob told that the Engelsmann and Pommer lads lived in a more up scale neighborhood and some how hooked up with the Burg gals. This was the area of Longfellow Blvd. and Hawthorne Blvd. All the houses in this area were of very high architectural quality and lovely design with considerable German influences. In our ramblings Bob relayed information regarding Oscar Burg’s employment. First in the prosperous shoe business. Oscar was a partner and manufacturers’ Agent, located in the Leather Trades Building at 1602 Locust Street, St. Louis, MO. During that time there was a disagreement which lead to his leaving the company and then into the insurance field.
Our next destination was to Roosevelt High (Home of the Roughriders) Just off South Compton Ave. where my father, Richard, attended school. It is an imposing edifice with its copper domes oxidized green…

Oscar W. Burg 1938 at 3207 Copelin Ave. St. Louis, MO.

I only remember meeting my Grandfather one time. I must have been 5 or 6 years old. Oscar was visiting from St. Louis and was staying at the Miramar Hotel on Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica, California. My parents were there to pick him up and I remember he came out and walk down the steps wearing a black suit and tie. He lived to be 92, passing away in 1963.





This photograph was sent to Dick by his sister, Dorothy Englesmann of the Coplan house as it looked in 1949.