You may have heard the name Kronkosky mentioned in conversation around Boerne — in reference to The Center perhaps, or the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation. Maybe you’ve driven by the old Kronkosky estate, which still sits regally atop a hill off Main Street, now occupied by the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne. But do you know the history of this incredible philanthropic family?
By:
Kimberly Suta
Photography courtesy of:
Paul Barwick, City of Boerne
Paul Barwick, the Special Projects Director for the City of Boerne, has been with the city for 17 years and is a board member of the Old Jail Museum. He is also an amateur historian who’s been fascinated with the Kronkosky family and the far-reaching impact they’ve had on Boerne. He was kind enough to share his knowledge on the family’s legacy.
The Kronsoskys settled in New Braunfels in 1850, where Albert Kronkosky Sr. was born before the family eventually moved to San Antonio. At the age of 16, he started off as a grocery clerk and then became a retail clerk for the San Antonio Drug company, working his way up through the ranks until eventually he owned the company. “He knew how to grow and run a business, and made his money from the San Antonio Drug Company,” explained Paul.
Albert Sr. is also responsible for the success of the Gebhardt Chili Powder Company, which was founded by his brother-in-law, William Gebhardt. According, to Paul, the company was worldwide at one point. Although it was sold in 1960, you can still buy their seasonings to this day.
Many folks believed the majority of the Kronkosky wealth stemmed from Gebhardt but, in fact, there was another key source that made the Kronkoskys truly one of the more wealthy families in the Texas Hill Country. It all started with an act of kindness. Albert Sr. was friends with George Merck, who was an original investor in one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, Merck & Co. “When George got sick while visiting San Antonio, Albert Sr. took care of his friend, and to thank him, George gifted Albert Sr. with a bunch of stock in the company. He then started buying even more stock. The stocks split and doubled and he was the single largest shareholder at one point. That was the corpus of funding for the Foundation,” said Paul.
Albert Sr. and his wife, Augusta, had a son they named Albert Kronkosky Jr. According to Paul, Albert Jr. was a private man and married his wife, Bessie Mae, later in life. “He was humble, very down to earth and thrifty. He liked cars and had a collection of vehicles stored out on the Kronkosky ranch, 3,800 acres of property, which has been gifted to the Parks and Wildlife for the Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area,” shared Paul. Located off State Highway 46 just west of Boerne, the natural area is scheduled to open sometime in 2026.
Evidently, Albert Jr. also loved hamburgers. After selling the family house and property at a bargain sale price to the Order of the Benedictine Nuns, the sisters would make him hamburgers, but he was known to happily wash the dishes afterwards.
The estate, approximately 40 acres, was purchased in 1911, and the style and decor of the main home was greatly influenced by both Albert Sr. and Junior’s travels to the Pacific Rim, where they would go to search for new herbs and medicines for the company.
“They loved the Asian culture,” said Paul. “Many of the structures have a pagoda-stye roofline, and the house has all sorts of little flourishes like cedar posts, stone walkways, a koi pond. Inside is incredibly wonderful woodwork, beautiful stained glass and furnishings and traditional Japanese paintings on the walls. It was built with some real craftsmanship.”
Back in the day there was a large pavilion on property where the family would host dances for the soldiers from the Leon Springs Military Reservation, which is now Camp Bullis. Albert Sr. would also invite his entire staff from the San Antonio Drug Company, around 300 people, to visit the Kronkosky estate for a company picnic. At the Old Jail Museum, you can see a vintage panoramic photograph of them lined up against the passenger train at the Boerne depot.
You can still see remnants of the 200-foot-long bridge that stretched across the valley below and linked the Kronkosky’s house to his brother-in-law’s house, which still remains on a large portion of tract purchased by St. Peter’s Catholic Church. “It’s interesting to imagine what it would have been like. It’s such a scenic piece of property,” pondered Paul.
Albert Sr. died in 1944 and his wife shortly after, but it wasn’t until after Albert Jr.’s death in 1997 that the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation was born, funded with an initial gift of $295 million. When Bessie Mae died in 2010, another $75 million was added to the Foundation.
Because the family was so private and more interested in doing good deeds rather than receiving praise for them, today the Kronkosky family name may not be a household word, but the influence they have had on our local communities is beyond comprehension. According to J. Tullos Wells (who wrote the introduction for the book “The Kronkosky Foundation Story: Creating Profound Good Through Community Philanthropy”), their donation is “the largest single, most profound, philanthropic gift to the greater San Antonio area.” It specifically affects nonprofits in Bexar, Bandera, Comal and Kendall counties.
The Foundation gives to organizations focused on caring for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, individuals with disabilities, treatment and prevention of blindness and hearing loss, treatment of cancer, mental health conditions and substance use disorders, as well as celebrating cultural vibrancy through the arts, preservation of nature, museums, libraries, parks and zoos.
According to Julie Bedingfield, the Director of Community Engagement at the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Albert and Bessie Mae wanted to ensure that the investments they had made would be used for good once they were gone. Every dollar put into this Foundation is meant to do good in perpetuity. “Their impact is immeasurable. When this Foundation opened its doors, the amount of wealth that funded the trust was unheard of. This was a couple that knew what they were leaving behind and knew what they cared about. It’s easy to look around and see where those touches have been,” said Julie.
The more you look, the connections to the Kronkoskys are all around us, from the aforementioned State Natural Area to The Center, which received a significant award of $4.5 million dollars from the Foundation to help build their current building, Kronkosky Place, which opened in 2010. Largely, thanks to the Foundation, The Center is able to continue to offer services and programs for older adults, enabling them to stay active and engaged.
As is always the case, the influence of the Kronkoskys ripples through time and space and can be seen, not just in the structures and spaces, but in the smiles and warm hearts of an infinite number of people who have been blessed by their generosity.
