Celebrant Pam Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Customcraft: Built from the ground up
Contributed by: Pam Vetter

10/28/06 Valley News Article

1989 Mike and Christine Pfaff at Customcraft Headquarters.
Provided by: The Pfaff Family

A Chatsworth resident who grew up in Austria, found his way to America, and married the love of his life, built a company from scratch with his wife. Mike and Christine Pfaff worked together to create a successful custom furniture company in San Fernando known as Customcraft.

The road for Mike Pfaff has not been an easy one, but he remains resilient and strong because he is a self-made man, who has shared his kindness and generosity with others along the way.

When you talk to George Pfaff about his brother, tears build in his eyes. "I love the guy. He's the best big brother anyone could have. I've always wanted to be like him. He was the driving force for us coming to America," George said. "I am so proud of Mike. He and Christine earned it all by themselves. No one handed them anything. I mean, when we came to this country, he still had salt on his shoes."

The Pfaff children were raised in a small town in Austria by their parents Anton and Maria Pfaff. The family of seven, lived in one room without indoor plumbing. The family melted snow on the stove to have water. It was a difficult time in history.

Mike had an aunt and uncle who owned a little furniture shop. He visited them regularly and liked to watch as they built furniture. When he graduated from high school at 16, he became an apprentice furniture maker in a three year program. Mike was soon a journeyman. When his aunt and uncle moved to Brazil and opened a furniture factory, Mike was given the opportunity to join them with a guaranteed job.

"My father told me, 'Son, you're not going to Brazil. We're going to North America. We're going to the United States.' My father's priority was to keep our family together," Mike said.

With only a crate of belongings, the family boarded a Navy Ship to the United States. During the fourteen day trip, some people died on board. They were buried at sea. The family arrived in New Orleans in March of 1952 and took a train to Chicago. Organized by a Catholic organization, there were jobs waiting for the older family members. His father got a job working construction. For the children, school was arranged. For the families, they were provided with furnished apartments. Ten months after arriving, Mike was drafted into the U.S. Army, even though he was not yet a citizen.

"In January of 1953, I received a letter signed by the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, for my service. It was a shock, but I flew to Camp Roberts in California for boot camp, where I tested to be an interpreter. Then, I was sent back to Europe on a Navy Ship, much like the one that bought us to America," Mike said remembering his history in full detail. "I ended up in Berlin. At that time, we were surrounded by Russians in Berlin. I was supposed to be an interpreter, but instead, I issued breakdowns charts of weapons for the soldiers. Hitler had dug tunnels everywhere under Berlin and you could drive cars through these tunnels. I worked in a building which had four floors below ground. Because I was fluent in German, I played cards with the Germans on post. I was still building things. I cut one of the doors in half, so I could see who was at the door without letting them inside. I also remember building crates for officers to send clocks home for their families. Coo-coo clocks were big then."

Mike went to German places which were not normal hangouts for U.S. soldiers. It was at one of these places where he asked Christine Perlow to dance. The couple spent time going to German movies and Christine would bring her little brother Arno Perlow along. Other times, they'd watch American movies in the Army building. Arno especially liked watching the American cowboy movies. Christine made the effort to learn English.

One day, while on the job, Mike was summoned to headquarters. When he arrived, he and others were made U.S. citizens, because POW's in Korea were being mistreated if they were not U.S. citizens. Not long after, Mike learned that his 11-year-old brother, Tony Pfaff, was accidentally shot and killed by a friend. The boys were playing with a gun and it went off. Mike had planned to marry Christine, but the wedding was now on hold. He spent many evenings with Christine and her father often joined them for a beer and conversation. Mike was not given permission to go home to Chicago to be with his own family and mourn his brother's loss, until after his tour of duty was completed.

He left Christine behind, but once arriving home, he immediately applied for immigration for Christine. It took six months, but she came alone with the intent of marriage. When she arrived in New York, she needed 38 cents to transfer by bus to another airport. That's exactly the amount she had in her pocket, no more, no less. She flew into Chicago on September 29, 1955, where Mike met her. Their special song that represented their relationship was "Little Things Mean A Lot," by Kitty Kallen. The couple was married October 22, 1955, in a beautiful church wedding. In 1957, Mike sponsored Christine's remaining family and they joined them in Chicago.

After his discharge from the service, Mike saw an ad for furniture makers a few blocks from his apartment. "The owner asked when I could start and I looked at my watch and said, 'Right now.' Christine got a job that way as well. She was walking past a dress shop and saw a sign in the window. She walked in and got the job that day," Mike said with pride.

When Mike's boss decided to open a business in California, Mike jumped at the chance. He loved the weather in California verses several feet of snow with Chicago winters. In May 1959, they packed up their Chevrolet and drove to California via Route 66. When they arrived in Los Angeles, the business was an empty warehouse and it took a lot of hard work to get his boss's business up and running. He was used to hard work. Meanwhile, the couple started out in a bachelor's apartment but later that same year, they bought their first home in North Hollywood. The home was a fixer-upper, so Mike would work in the furniture business during the day and they both worked on their home at night. Later, they bought a new tract house in Canoga Park on the GI bill with only 3 percent interest.

"We only had the one car at the time, so we took turns with it. Eventually, we bought another station wagon and later a 1960 T-Bird, which was white with red and white interior," Mike explained. "Christine was expecting and one night she said, 'It's time to go to the hospital.' I told her I wanted to watch the news first," Mike said with a laugh, remembering. "We went to the hospital instead, where, many hours later, she delivered our oldest daughter, Jeany. Life was good."

Christine was very supportive of Mike opening their own furniture business because he was already running another company and earned great respect from everyone. With Christine's encouragement, on April 1, 1963, the couple bought a small furniture factory in Van Nuys and called it Customcraft.

"We had already come up with the name Customcraft. But, it turned out the company before us had a sign hanging in front of the location that said, 'Customcraft Enclosures.' So, we just painted over the word 'Enclosures' and opened our business," Mike said. "As we were building the business, we both knew we'd have to tighten the belt. We worked together and never spent money in a frivolous manner. We were working hard. Through interior designers, we gained leads for custom designed furniture. Soon, we took on another 3,000 square feet and then 2,500 more at the same Van Nuys location."

In 1965, when another child was about to arrive, Christine woke in the middle of the night ready to deliver. She didn't want to wake Mike, who was working so hard, so she called herself a cab in the middle of the night. He received a phone call the next morning saying he was a father again. "I looked next to me and I couldn't believe she went to the hospital without me. Lorie was our second born," Mike said smiling.

As the business was growing, by 1970, the couple bought a 15,000 square foot factory nearby in Van Nuys and it was more than double their space. They also bought a bigger house in Chatsworth. In 1977, they invested in some industrial property in San Fernando. Later in 1982, on that same property they built a brand new factory where Customcraft remains today. At the height of the furniture business in High Point, North Carolina, the company was extremely well-known with show rooms around the country. They also had 120 employees at the factory and offices in San Fernando. Throughout their success, both Mike and Christine shared a sense of gratitude and never forgot their history. Over the years, they gave to their employees, helping some buy their first homes and helping others get back on their feet. They were always there to support their many friends.

When Christine was diagnosed with cancer, the couple's lives changed. For fifteen years, they battled cancer together. Christine was always surrounded by a loving family. She loved her life, her home, and enjoyed her pets over the years. She also retained her sense of humor and spirit of adventure, but as their lives were changing, Mike considered selling the company.

"By 1992, we were going to dissolve Customcraft, but I couldn't do it. Customcraft was something Christine and I built together. We struggled to create it and I couldn't let it go like that," Mike said. After Christine lost her battle with cancer in August 2005, Mike brought two key employees into the partnership so Customcraft would live on to create fine furniture and most importantly, remain intact in memory of the wife he loves so much.

"It was always the two of us, me and Christine. We had a great marriage," Mike said with tears in his eyes.

Friends and family worried what would happen to him after suffering the loss of the greatest love of his life. Mike traveled for a while, visiting family and friends. But, he was lonely. This summer, when he organized a family reunion in Chicago, only because of a missed ferry, he met a new lady friend, Anita Gordon. A smile has returned to Mike's face that has been missing since his wife passed away. After sharing the news with his family, his daughters, Jeany and Lorie, told their father, "We're happy for you. Mom would be happy, too."

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