Rudolph Gabriel Tenerowicz (June 14, 1890 – August 31, 1963) was an American physician and politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He served two terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1939 to 1943.

Early life

Tenerowicz was born in 1890 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(then a part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

). His parents, John (a Polish diplomat in Hungary) and Antoinette (Gall) Tenerowicz, immigrated with their family to the United States in 1892 and settled in

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Armstrong County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,558. The county seat is Kittanning. The county was organized on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Lycom ...

. Tenerowicz had five siblings: Sr. Mary (Tenerowicz) Bernadine C.S.S.F Felician order, Edward Tenerowicz, Stanley Tenerowicz, Anthony Tenerowicz, and Caroline (Tenerowicz) Osikowicz. He attended the

parochial schools A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The w ...

in Adrian,

SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary was a four-year private Polish seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan, United States. The seminary, taking its name from Saints Cyril and Methodius, was founded in 1885 in Detroit, Michigan, to prepare candidates for ...

Orchard Lake, Michigan The City of Orchard Lake Village is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Orchard Lake Village is located roughly from downtown Detroit, and about southwes ...

;

St. Bonaventure's College St. Bonaventure's College (commonly called St. Bon's) is an independent kindergarten to grade 12 Catholic School in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is located in the St. John's Ecclesiastical District, adjacent to the Roman Cath ...

(Now

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

) in

Allegany, New York Allegany is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 7,493 at the 2020 census. The Town of Allegany is on the south border of the county, west of the City of Olean. There is a village named Allegany inside ...

; and St. Ignatius College (now known as

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

) in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He graduated in medicine from the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery (now the

Stritch School of Medicine The Stritch School of Medicine is the medical school affiliated with Loyola University Chicago. It is located at the heart of the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. The medical campus includes Foster G. McGaw Hospital, Ca ...

) in 1912, and practiced medicine in Chicago from 1912 to 1923. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Tenerowicz served from September 10, 1917, as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in the

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

until his discharge on December 26, 1918. He was captain in the

Medical Reserve Corps The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed at meeting the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Administration for Strategic ...

from 1919 to 1934. He received a postgraduate course in surgery at Illinois Post Graduate School at Chicago. He moved to

Hamtramck, Michigan Hamtramck ( ; ; ; ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Hamtramck is located roughly north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a po ...

, in 1923 and continued the practice of medicine.

Politics

Tenerowicz served as mayor of Hamtramck from 1928 to 1932. In 1931, Tenerowicz and twelve others, including two named Jacob Kaplan and Isaac Levey, were indicted for bribery. He was tried and convicted on vice conspiracy charges and freed from prison when pardoned by Democratic

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

William A. Comstock. Despite the conviction, Tenerowicz returned to serve as mayor from 1936 to 1938. He was member of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors for seven years. While serving as Mayor, and in an effort to eliminate youth crime in the City of Hamtramck, Tenerowicz worked with Mrs. Jean Hoxie to implement a tennis programs to keep kids off the streets. Kids who participated in the tennis program were offered a meal at the end of the day for their efforts. The program was an overwhelming success and resulted in Michigan tennis champions at local, state and national levels, while reducing juvenile crime. According to

Richard Rothstein Richard Rothstein is an American academic and author affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute, and a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His current research focuses on the history ...

's 2017 book, '' The Color of Law'', Tenerowicz, "persuaded his colleagues that funding for the agency (Federal Works Agency) should be cut off unless (Clark) Foreman was fired and the Sojourner Truth units were assigned only to whites." (pg. 26) Rothstein adds, "The director of the Federal Housing Authority supported Tenerowicz, stating that the presence of African Americans in the area would threaten property values of nearby residents. Foreman was forced to resign. The Federal Works Agency then prepared a different project for African Americans on a plot that the Detroit Housing Commission recommended, in an industrial area deemed unsuitable for whites." In 1938, Tenerowicz was elected, without challenge, as a Democrat from

Michigan's 1st congressional district Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States congressional district that fully contains the 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and 20 counties of Northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. The district is currently represen ...

to the

Seventy-sixth Congress The 76th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 193 ...

and reelected in 1938 to the Seventy-seventh, serving from January 3, 1939, to January 3, 1943. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1942 and for election as a Republican in 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, and 1954.

Family

In 1937, Tenerowicz married Margaret Agnes McGuire in Bowling Green Ohio. They had one child together, John Francis Tenerowicz of Hilton Head, SC, and a blended family with Margaret's children from a previous marriage, Marjorie Kanterman Paynter of Dearborn, Michigan, and William G. Tenerowicz, of Great Falls Virginia, and 12 grandchildren.

Retirement and death

Rudolph Gabriel Tenerowicz resumed practice in Hamtramck, Michigan. Rudolph died at the age of 73, on August 31, 1963, at St. Francis Hospital in Hamtramck, and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. Margaret, his wife, died at the age of 88 in Howell, Michigan, and was buried with her husband Rudolph in Arlington National Cemetery. File:Doc & Roosevelt.jpg, Rudolph Gabriel Tenerowicz with President Roosevelt in Hamtramck, Michigan File:rudyike.jpg, Rudolph Gabriel Tenerowicz with President Eisenhower

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenerowicz, Rudolph G. 1890 births 1963 deaths Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States St. Bonaventure University alumni Loyola University Chicago alumni 20th-century mayors of places in Michigan Mayors of Hamtramck, Michigan American Roman Catholics Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Army Medical Corps officers United States Army personnel of World War I American politicians of Polish descent Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons Michigan Republicans Michigan politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives