Located at King William Park on Turner at King William.
Many of you have browsed through the commemorative pins, T-shirts and fiesta collectables under the tent in the King William Park on Fair Day. This is the King William Association (KWA) store, and it’s called “Ilse’s Attic” in honor Ilse Griffith, who lived at 422 E. Guenther from 1973 until she died in 1999 at age 99. During those years, she took her turn as KWA board president (1974-1976) and served as KW Fair Chair when she was 75. (She’s thought to be the first Fair Chair to serve for two consecutive years – 1973 and 1974). You might have run into Ilse at Bonham Elementary when you went to vote because she served as our precinct judge for over 20 until she retired the year before she died.
Ilse attended Bonham Elementary and graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1916 with the school’s very first graduating class.
After retiring from her years with Groos Bank, she became active as a volunteer with The San Antonio Conservation Society, San Antonio Herb Society, Institute of Texas Cultures and Texas Folklore Society, to name a few. Her interests were varied and far-flung but history and politics were her two main passions. She could talk endlessly about early Texas politics, especially political scandals such as the election of Lyndon Johnson and the lost ballot box, and the Parrs of Duvall County.
Her bookcases were crammed with history books and news articles. She held membership in several historical societies. She was also a collector of cook books (although she rarely cooked), old post cards and Mexican folk art collected from the family’s many trips to Mexico.
She had a sense of humor until the very end. When Ed Day received the call that she had fallen at her home and had been taken to Nix Hospital for her final trip (insisting all the while that she didn’t need medical attention), her last words to him were, “Ed, thank you for helping a fallen woman.”