Wife named homestead road to Tucson to honor husband, George H. Anklam

George H. Anklam was born on Nov. 1, 1890, in Pigeon, Mich., to August and Lena (Fettig) Anklam.

After attending public school in his hometown, George Anklam was appointed Pigeon's postmaster in 1913 by Woodrow Wilson. He stayed in the position until after the election of President Warren G. Harding in 1921.

In 1917, he entered the First World War, spending half of his 18 months in the American Expeditionary Forces. He was under the command of John J. Pershing, who just a year earlier, in 1916, was pursuing Pancho Villa. Anklam's wife, Perle, filled in as postmaster during his time in the service.

In about 1918, after George's brother Joe and his wife died in a flu epidemic, their son Ralph came to live with George and Perle, who didn't have children.

In 1925, George Anklam moved to Tucson, hoping the dry climate would relieve some of the health problems that had plagued him since the war. His family soon followed. He homesteaded property a few miles west of Tucson, built a cabin and had a shallow well drilled by Ed Wetmore Jr.

In order for the homesteading contract to be fulfilled, a road was built into Tucson. It was named Anklam because Perle walked into the Pima County Board of Supervisors office and asked that it be named after her husband.

Anklam Road went right through the middle of the homestead, and through land that Ralph owned, where the Starr Pass Marriott Resort and Spa sits.

George at one point owned the old Pioneer Taxi Co. He was chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 1933 and '34. He was a member of several Masonic organizations throughout his life and was active in the American Legion.

Perle was a teacher who ran for county clerk in Huron County, Mich., in 1924 and later was president of the Arizona Federation of the Democratic Women's Club.

Ralph served in the Second World War and later did some work with Comstock Children's Hospital in Tucson.

George Anklam died in 1939 at the U.S. Veterans Hospital.

Sources:

Interview with Richard and Markie Anklam

Unknown author, "George Anklam taken by death," Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 24, 1939

Unknown author, "Perle Anklam, Tucson pioneer, dies," Arizona Daily Star, Nov. 27, 1979

Ruth Wallace, "Tribute to Perle Anklam, a worthy Tucson pioneer," Tucson Citizen, Dec. 27, 1979

Office of Vital Records, death certificate

Ed Smith file (Arizona Historical Society)

Editor's note

Each week the Star tells the stories behind Tucson street names. If you have streets to suggest or stories to share, contact writer David Leighton at streetsmarts@azstarnet.com