Paul Unger

Paul Unger was born on September 10th, 1914, as the son of Louis and Rachael Unger in San Diego, California. However, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio as his father was from Zanesville. Mr. Unger graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1932 he was inducted into their Hall of Fame later in life, then got a bachelor's degree in history, economics and government at Harvard College in 1936. Following his graduation, he left Cleveland for Washington D.C. where he worked handling public relations for the U.S. War Housing Authority. Towards the end of WWII, Mr. Unger was hired by UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, a civilian UN agency, which had been formed by Churchill and Roosevelt to give relief to countries being liberated. He was assigned to the Middle East UNRRA mission in Egypt as commandant of a camp for Croatian refugees. A short time later, he met his wife, Sonja Franz, and they were married in 1947 in the King's Chapel of St. Mark's Cathedral in Zagreb, Croatia. Returning to the U.S., Mr. Unger took over his father's business, the Unger Co., as it had expanded nationwide and into Canada as a leading developer of packaging products for the bakery industry. In service to his country, Paul Unger had served in the Department of Commerce bureau helping prepare for U.S. trade negotiations during the Kennedy administration. Later, he headed a trade mission of U.S. CEOs to Australia and New Zealand for the Secretary of Commerce to promote the export of American-made products. In Ohio, Paul Unger was chairman of the International Trade Council for the Governor, founding chairman of the Cleveland International Volunteer Organizations and Chairman of the Urban Renewal Task Force for the Mayor of Cleveland. Mr. Unger was also a former Vice President of Cleveland's Council on World Affairs as well as the English Speaking Union of the United States. His achievements included conducting the first U.S. Civil Rights Commission Hearings in a northern city, restoring public health services in western Ohio counties, persuading the communist government of Hungary to permit the creation of a private organization and to sponsor The International Biennial Conference in Budapest. Paul Unger and his wife, Sonja, have been honored as a "Who's Who in the World", as well as elected to the Hall of Fame for the Cleveland City Club. He received an International Exchange Award for the "Enhancement of World Peace" by the Council of International Programs, and was also awarded by the Rotary Club for "Outstanding Accomplishment in International Service". In 2004, he received USAID's highest award for international volunteerism, the Outstanding Citizen Achievement Award". Cleveland State University awarded Paul Unger with an Honorary Doctorate degree in 2007. On January 23rd, 2009, Paul Unger passed away at the age of 94. He is survived by his beloved wife and three loving children. The oldest, Alan F. Unger and his wife, Ruby, are from Mill Valley, California. Together, they produce educational videos that are distributed to hospitals, schools and health clinics. Gerald F. Unger Diane of Bratenahl, Ohio, has been working at the Unger Co. fulltime since 1974. Tamara "Mara"" Unger Adrian, of Sonoma, California, is a potter who has been teaching ceramics for over 20 years. He was also a dear brother of Ambassador Leonard Unger Anne of Sebastopal, California, a United States Ambassador to Thailand, Laos and Taiwan. The family prefers that those who wish may make contributions in his name to The Unger Foundation - c/o UBS, 600 Superior Ave, 27th floor, Cleveland, OH 44114.


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