Christian Edward Mohr1

M, #103, b. 29 April 1877, d. 8 March 1939
Father*Christian Mohr
Mother*Female Unknown
     Christian was born in Millstadt, St Clair County, Illinois, USA, on 29 April 1877.2,1 He was the son of Christian Mohr and Female Unknown.
     Christian was confirmed at St John's Church, Moro, Illinois, USA.
     Christian Edward Mohr was a parachial school teacher.
     Christian Edward Mohr married Frieda Stoerker, daughter of Conrad Friedrich Stoerker and Wilhelmine Cuno, in Addieville, Washington County, Illinois, USA, on 27 June 1901.3,4,5

     Photo of Frieda and Waldemar Mohr Wedding Picture on 27 June 1901. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)



     Photo in 1912. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130). Stoerker Family 1912 -- Back: Fred, Hilda, Theophil, Flora, Alma, Frieda Mohr, Julia, Christian Mohr -- Front: Waldemar Mohr, Conrad, Wilhelmine, Gottlob.

Stoerker Family 1912 -- Back: Fred, Hilda, Theophil, Flora, Alma, Frieda Mohr, Julia, Christian Mohr -- Front: Waldemar Mohr, Conrad, Wilhelmine, Gottlob

     The start of World War I caused the United States to institute a draft registration. As the war continued to drag on, they instituted their third and final draft registration. This added men who were between the ages of 18 and 21, and 31 to 45 years of age. It included younger men than the previous registrations, those who were born between September 12, 1897 and September 12, 1900; and added an older group of men, born between September 12, 1873 and September 12, 1888. Christian Edward Mohr filled out a draft card on 12 September 1918 in Higginsville, Lafayette County, Missouri, USA. He was employed as a parochial school teacher and organist at Salem Church. He was described as medium height and slender build, with dark blue eyes and dark hair.1


     Photo of Christian and Frieda Mohr. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)


     He attended Elmhurst College from 1893 - 1897 and then took up the calling of parochial school teacher. He served in that capacity for 25 years at Zion Church in Addieville, Illinois; St. Peter's Church in Washington, Missouri; Salem Church, Higginsville, Missouri; and St. Stephen's Church in Merrill, Wisconsin.

In 1922, he was forced to take up other occupations due to so many parochial schools closing. In 1925 began serving as organist for St. Paul's Church in Denver, Colorado. He continued playing their until his death on Wednesday, March 8, 1939.

At the time of his death, Christian was living at 5225 Clay, Denver, Colorado.

Christian died suddenly from a stroke.

Services were conducted by the local pastor, Rev. K. M. Jeschke. Additional words of comfort were given by Rev. Frederick Stoerker (#61) and Rev. Theophil Stoerker (#64), both brothers of Frieda Mohr (#56). Rev. H. R. Gebhardt, of Denver, also brought a message of comfort on behalf of the Colorado District.

The following obituary appeared in the March 10, 1939 issue of the "Rocky Mountain News".
          
MOHR -- Christian E. Mohr of 5225 Clay; husband of Frieda Mohr, father of Waldemar F. Mohr. Services Drawing Room, 16th at Boulder, Saturday 10 a.m. to Crown Hill.

ME by John Altenbernd

Trip to Colorado


     I was little, four years old maybe. I look about that age on a snapshot taken on that trip. So this would have been the summer of 1933.
     My mother's oldest sister, Frieda, and her husband, Christian Mohr, and their grown son, Waldemar, lived in Denver, Colorado. Uncle Christ (rhymes with wrist) had been a parochial school teacher in his early years, the teacher at a school associated with one of my Grandfather Stoerker's churches. That was how he met Aunt Frieda. Mom at one time had been one of Uncle Christ's students. Mom remembered him from those years as a very hard taskmaster and disciplinarian. But my memory of Uncle Christ is much different. He had evidently mellowed with the years. They had moved to Denver for the benefit of their son's health. He had always been frail and was to die still a young man. Uncle Christ now worked in an office, as did Waldemar.
     We drove to Denver by car, 600 miles, quite a trip in those days. I had a puzzle map of the United States with each state cut as a separate piece. I was playing with that in the back seat. My mother had a road map up in the front seat with her which she would look at periodically and tell something to Dad. I was smart enough to know she was reading the map somehow. So after I got all the states put in their proper places in my puzzle, I handed it to Mom and asked her to read it to me. I couldn't for the life of me understand when she said she couldn't do that.
     As we drove across Kansas, Dad at one point said, "Let's go into Colorado and leave John in Kansas." I wasn't sure what that meant. I didn't want to be left anywhere. When we got to the Kansas-Colorado border, Dad stopped the car so that the state line ran right between the front seat and the back seat. "See," my mother said to me, "now we're in Colorado and you're still in Kansas."
     Sometime before that we had gone through Russell, Kansas. Oscar Russell was my father's black hired hand. So when we got to Russell, I asked if that was where Russell came from.
     A little ways into Colorado, the scenery changed drastically as we got into the Rocky Mountains. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

     Uncle Christ's house was a small one. They had no room for us, so we stayed in a rooming house somewhere. (Motels had not really come into being yet, and hotels were too expensive.)
     The next days were tours through the mountains with Dad driving, and Uncle Christ and Aunt Frieda pointing out this, that, and the other things. There were all sorts of especially set up tourist attractions, and I enjoyed those things most of all, especially a little miniature mining town.
     My folks decided to drive up Pike's Peak. It was a rainy day. All at once they noticed I was lying down in the back seat. I couldn't sit up without being dizzy. The thin air was getting to me. They turned the car around and drove back down without getting to the top. I screamed and hollered. I wanted to go on, but they came back down anyway.
     Also there was a visit to an amusement park, the like of which I had never seen before. Among the rides was a train that ran around the park. We rode on that. It had a whistle that really shrieked. My cousin Waldemar, who had hearing in only one ear, said, "I could even hear that in my bad ear."
     Mom and Aunt Frieda went into downtown Denver one day for shopping. Dad and I went off alone and looked at some toys. He bought me a toy truck that transported cars, complete with the cars. In fact, he bought me two of them for some reason.
     We finally got tired of messing around waiting for Mom and Aunt Frieda to get finished, so we sat down on the curb stone right there on main street and waited for them. Dad was never one to stand on ceremony. If he wanted to be comfortable, he was going to be comfortable, no matter what.
     We drove on to Cheyenne, Wyoming, one day to watch the big Rodeo there. That was a highlight of the trip for me. While in Cheyenne, Dad bought himself a ten-gallon cowboy hat, which he wore on occasion for the rest of his life. I think one of the greatest joys in his life was that day in Cheyenne.
     I don't know how long we stayed in Denver, maybe a week. Then we went back home.
     A year later Aunt Frieda went to the dentist to have an infected tooth extracted. The tooth came out, but the infection didn't. The infection went into her brain and caused her to lose her mind. She was institutionalized in Colorado Springs.

     We went back to Denver the following summer to visit Aunt Frieda. I didn't see her. Kids couldn't get into the Home. I had looked forward to this trip, but of course it wasn't the same as before. There was overhanging sadness about it all, and there were no trips in to the mountains.
     We did go back to the park for my benefit. But that didn't seem the same either.
     Aunt Frieda did not know my mother. She didn't even know Uncle Christ and Waldemar. Nor would she ever again. She would live out her days - until well into her 90's - in that Colorado Springs Institution.
     Mom and Aunt Ella visited her in the early 1960's. Aunt Frieda was hale and hearty physically, but she knew nothing. She was like a little girl.
     Uncle Christ died around 1940. My cousin Waldemar, never used to fending for himself, had a rough time of it. He wrote my mother a letter a few months after his father's death, saying he was worried about himself. He could feel his own mind slipping. A short time later we were notified he had died.


( Colorado, USA, in 1933.)6

     Photo of Christian and Frieda Mohr, Will, John, and Flora Altenbernd, Waldemar Mohr in 1933 in Colorado, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Christian, Frieda, and Waldemar Mohr. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


     Christian died on 8 March 1939 in Denver, Denver County, Colorado, USA, at age 61.7,8 He was buried on 11 March 1939 in the Crown Hill Cemetery located in Denver, Denver County, Colorado, USA.7
Last Edited=7 June 2022

Child of Christian Edward Mohr and Frieda Stoerker

Citations

  1. [S308] "Mohr (#103), Christian -- WWI Draft Registration"; www.Ancestry.com; unknown repository address. Hereinafter cited as "WWI Draft Registration."
  2. [S146] Unknown name of person unknown article title, Obituary, unknown location.
  3. [S166] Unknown name of person unknown article title, Stoerker (#56), Frieda - Obituary, unknown location.
  4. [S75] Marion Adolph Stoerker unknown date.
  5. [S1645] John Klueter (#193) May 23, 2022 (Document Source Number: 00193-2022-05-23-01).
  6. [S1421] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Trip to Colorado" in ME; Page(s) 61-63; Published:.
  7. [S159] Unknown name of person Obituary, Rocky Mountain News, unknown location, March 10, 1939 . Hereinafter cited as Rocky Mountain News.
  8. [S189] Arthur Theodore Tiedemann unknown date.