Theodore Peter Greven
S/SGT in 3133rd Signal Service Co
ASN#36307880
Born 1920 in MT, Died 1991
County of residence at enlistment: Cook County, IL
Other residence(s): Cicero, IL; San Diego, CA; Escondido, CA
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: hotel and restaurant managers
Theodore Greven was born on April 9, 1920, in Butte, MT, the third of four children born to Greek immigrant parents. (Grevenitis was his father's last name which was shortened to Greven somewhere along the way.) The family was living in Kansas in 1922 when Theodore's youngest sibling was born, and later in the 1920s they moved to Cicero, IL. His father was a restaurant cook who died when Theodore was 13. By the time of the 1940 census, he and his two older brothers were all working as counter clerks in the Acme Confectionary Company (which later became the family-owned Acme Grill) near Midway Airport; possibly this had been their father's business.
Theodore registered for the draft on July 1, 1941 and enlisted on December 6, 1941. At the time he stated that he had completed two years of high school, and that his occupation was "restaurant manager." He was eventually promoted to Staff SGT and assigned to the 3133 Signal Service Company. However, he was discharged from the Army on December 12, 1944 with a peptic ulcer, so he did not see service in Europe with the unit.
After the war he married Virginia Sarros, also born of Greek immigrant parents in the restaurant business. They had a daughter, Christine.
Little else is known of his life or work. At some point in the 1970s he moved to San Diego, CA and in 1976 to Escondido, CA. He and his wife seem to have divorced along the way. Most of his family had also moved to Escondido—his mother, both sisters, and one of his two brothers all lived there.
His obituary says he was a retired restaurant manager and the co-owner of the Acme Grill in Chicago, so he obviously stayed in the restaurant business. He was a parishioner at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA.
He died on April 4, 1991 and is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park in Escondido, CA.
Sources:
1930 census
1940 census
1941 draft card
1941 enlistment record
1944 WW2 hospital admission card files
1949 marriage record
1991 obituary in the Times-Advocate (Escondido, CA)
1991 VA death record
1991 Social Security applications and claims index
1991 Find a Grave record
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88673594/theodore-p-greven