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| Mademoiselle Lawton Filer, 1926. |
Le 1er mars 1902, à Salt Lake City, dans l'Utah, Lawton Filer est née. Elle était la fille unique de Walter George Filer (1870-1943), ingénieur des mines, et de son épouse Esther Freed (1878-1967). Les Filer ont déménagé en Californie peu après la naissance de leur fille. Lawton Filer a fait ses études chez Miss Shimm à San Mateo et a ensuite fréquenté l'école de finition de Miss Spence à New York.
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| Mademoiselle Lawton Filer, 1921. |
En 1916, Goodwin's Weekly of Salt Lake City (Volume 27, 17 juin 1916, p. 9) contenait cette entrée : « Après avoir passé l'hiver dans cet État pendant plusieurs années, M. et Mme Walter Filer sont arrivés à la conclusion que la Californie était l'endroit idéal, et pour le prouver, ils ont acheté la résidence de George A. Newell sur le domaine de Newell près de Burlingame. M. et Mme Filer choisissent l'ameublement de leur maison et prévoient d'emménager au début de l'automne. Les Filer ont un enfant, Mlle Lawton Filer, une belle jeune fille, qui sera une débutante dans plusieurs saisons d'ici. » Les Filer sont devenus membres de la société de San Francisco. Mme Filer et Mlle Lawton Filer partaient en week-end au lac Tahoe, assistaient à des bals costumés en ville et se mêlaient à d'autres noms aisés de San Francisco lors de dîners à l'hôtel St. Francis à Union Square. En août 1918, Esther Filer organisa un bal pour sa fille et ses amis au La Cumbre County Club de Santa Barbara. En 1921, Lawton Filer prit sa place comme débutante de la saison. En octobre 1924, Lawton Filer fut demoiselle d'honneur au mariage de James Athearn Folger III (de Folgers Coffee) et Jane Carrigan qui eut lieu à la cathédrale Sainte-Marie sur California et Grant.
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| Comte Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. |
Lawton Filer’s marital stakes were cemented during a 1925 trip to Europe with her mother. Esther and Lawton made their headquarters in Paris; from this base, mother and daughter spent a good deal of time in Rome and on the French Riviera. The Filers then made their way to Vienna. While in the Austrian capital, Lawton made the acquaintance of Count Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. Born on 17 July 1893 at Schloß Krummnußbaum, Count Degenhard Gundaccar Adolf Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach was the second child and eldest son and heir of Count Wilhelm von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (1862-1927) and Margarethe von Schenk (1872-1957). The engagement between Count Degenhard von Wurmbrand-Stuppach and Miss Lawton Filer was announced from Vienna in April 1926.
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| Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach, mid-1930s. |
Lawton and Degenhard’s romance must have been a whirlwind. A month after their engagement, the couple were married in Paris on 15 May 1926. They divided their time between the Wurmbrand estate in Vienna and the family’s apartment in Paris. The count and countess traveled to New York City in December 1926 in order to spend the Christmas holidays with Mr. and Mrs. Filer. The Wurmbrand pair settled in New York City in January 1927. On 11 April 1927 in the Big Apple, Lawton gave birth to Countess Leonora “Lori” Huberta Maria von Wurmbrand-Stuppach, who would be Lawton and Degenhard’s only child. In September 1927, Degenhard and Lawton spent a spell in Burgliname, where they were hosted by the Filers and entertained by the family’s friends. In January 1931, the Wurmbrand-Stuppachs moved to San Francisco with their daughter.
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| Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (née Filer) and Herbert Fleishhacker. |
On 10 December 1935, Count Degenhard and Countess Lawton von Wurmbrand-Stuppach were divorced in Reno, Nevada. Custody of their eight year-old daughter Leonora and property rights were settled out of court. Lawton Filer von Wurmbrand-Stuppach married San Francisco banker Herbert J. Fleishhacker Jr. (1907-1968) on 20 March 1936 in the Filer residence at Burlingame. The bride carried an orchid bouquet and wore “pale shell pink lace and chiffon” in a “filmy creation with a full skirt and cape sleeves.” The groom was a Stanford graduate who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall. Superior Judge Timothy Fitzpatrick performed the service at high noon, which was followed by a wedding breakfast. Afterwards, the newlyweds motored to Palm Springs for their honeymoon. After returning to the city, they took up an apartment on Green Street.
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| Walter George Filer. |
On 3 April 1943, Walter G. Filer passed away in San Mateo. Having became a successful businessman, Mr. Filer left 1/2 of his assets to his widow; the other half of the estate went to his only child Lawton. Lawton Filer Wurmbrand Fleishhacker’s mother Esther Freed Filer died on 13 July 1967. The estate of Mrs. Filer was worth $2.5 million at the time. Esther bequeathed 1/3 of her assets to her granddaughter Leonora as well as Leonora’s three children: Therese, Paul, and Albert. The remainder went to Esther’s daughter Lawton.
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| Countess Leonora von Wurmbrand-Stuppach and Robert Folger Miller, 1947. |
Lawton’s only child Countess Lori von Wurmbrand-Stuppach wed Robert “Bob” Folger Miller on 9 August 1947 at St. Catherine’s Church in Burlingame. Lori had attended Vassar and studied at Radcliffe College. Bob was the son of Robert Watt Miller (1899-1970) and Elizabeth Jane Folger (1898-1994). After their marriage, Lori and Bob Miller lived in Boston, where Bob was completing his studies at Harvard University. The couple had three children: Therese Marie Miller (b.1949), Paul Michael Miller (b.1950), and Albert “Albie” Watt Miller (1951-1974). In 1963, the Millers moved to Europe; their daughter Therese was enrolled in a French school and their sons attended a Swiss school. Alas, all was not well in the Miller marriage. In October 1964, the Robert Folger Millers were divorced; Lori charged Bob with extreme mental cruelty. The couple shared joint custody of their three children.
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| Countess Leonora von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. |
Lori Wurmbrand-Stuppach Miller was not to remain single for long. On 21 December 1965, she married Thomas-Alfred “Tommy” Wertheimer Edler von Wertheimstein at the Chelsea Registrar’s Office in London. The couple’s witnesses were Lord Ashcombe and Kelpie Buchanan. Lori’s ex-husband Bob Miller had remarried the month prior, in November 1965, to family friend Maryon McGuire Funsten in Carson City. Lori and Tommy Wertheimer honeymooned at Gstaad; Bob and Maryon Miller were vacationing on the Swiss Alps at the same time with Lori and Bob’s three children.
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| Herbert J. Fleishhacker Jr. |
Un an après la mort de sa mère, Lawton se retrouve veuve lorsque son mari Herbert Fleishhacker Jr. décède le 18 décembre 1968. Herbert est victime d'une crise cardiaque alors qu'il chasse le canard près de Maryville, en Californie. M. Fleishhacker connaît une carrière commerciale extrêmement réussie ; il est promu au poste de vice-président de la Crocker-Anglo National Bank. Après l'appartement de San Francisco dans lequel Lawton et lui ont commencé leur vie conjugale, le couple s'installe dans un manoir au 15 Woodgate Court à Hillsborough. Les Fleishhacker possèdent également une maison dans l'Oregon, où ils s'adonnent à leur passion commune pour la pêche. Herbert et Lawton se rendent fréquemment en Alaska, où Herbert peut profiter de sa passion pour la chasse au gros gibier. Lawton et Herbert n'ont pas d'enfants.
À l'âge de 96 ans, Mme Lawton Filer Wurmbrand Fleishhacker est décédée le 30 décembre 1998 à Hillsborough, en Californie. Elle a été inhumée aux côtés de son mari Herbert au Cypress Lawn Memorial Park de Colma.
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