Flora Stoerker1

F, #63, b. 27 April 1894, d. 24 April 1972
Pedigree
Relationship
Grandmother of Sheila Sue Altenbernd
Father*Conrad Friedrich Stoerker2 b. 17 February 1851, d. 13 June 1927
Mother*Wilhelmine Cuno2 b. 10 August 1857, d. 20 March 1940
Charts
Philipp Bödker Descendants
Peter Jacob Braun Descendands
John Elert Descendants
Jost. Fried. Stoerker Descendants
Flora Stoerker
     Flora was born in Morrison, Osage County, Missouri, USA, on 27 April 1894.1,3,4,2,5,6,7
She was the daughter of Conrad Friedrich Stoerker and Wilhelmine Cuno.2

     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) taken by John Coerver, Staunton, Ill circa 1894. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172) as of 2023.8

Flora Stoerker

ME by John Altenbernd

Page 28
Mom's Early Life

My mother was born in Morrison, Missouri, April 27, 1894, the eighth of eleven children (and youngest daughter) of Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker and his wife Wilhelmina. He was pastor of St James Church there. Mom had no memory of Morrison. The family moved to Staunton, Ill, only a month or so later to serve St Paul's Church there.
Staunton was a mining town. Mom was five when they left there and Mom's memories of it were childish. She recalled it as a town composed of "millionaires" (surely an exaggeration) and poor people - the mine owners and the miners. The big event of the day was when the train stopped there. "Everybody" in town would go down to the station to see who got on the train and who got off.
German was the spoken language of the Stoerker home. English was "Yankeevolk" according to my grandfather, and he did not want it spoken in his house. As a result my mother would begin first grade in Addieville, Ill, later not knowing any English despite being American born.
My grandfather ruled his house in the German tradition. His word was law. He received whatever special privileges that might be possible in a home of meager income, such as having butter. The butter dish would be by his plate, and no one else was allowed to have any. If there were any lesser privileges to be granted to anyone, they went to the boys, not to the girls. The continuing education of the boys was an important item, all the way to Elmhurst College and Eden Seminary. The girls, after high school, were strictly on their own. My grandfather was not a cruel or insensitive man, but he was stern, and his German heritage made him a firm believer in male superiority. My mother and her sisters all loved their father (referring to him as "Papa"), but throughout their lives they would sometimes voice resentments about their father's favoritism toward the boys and his comparative neglect of the girls.
In 1899 the family moved to Addieville, I11, where they would remain for six years serving Zion Church.
Mom started school there the next year, a German parochial school affiliated with the church, and taught by a school master named Christian ("Christ") Mohr. Since it was a German School, my mother's lack of knowledge of English did not hurt her, and she did begin learning English there.
Christ Mohr, like my grandfather, was a product of the stern German tradition, and he taught school accordingly. My mother's memories of her early schooling were not happy ones particularly.


Page 29

Christ Mohr quickly took to courting Mom's oldest sister, Frieda, and married her. After that, Mr. Mohr was not only her teacher, but her brother-in-law. That did not help matters any. Evidently to prove he was not showing favoritism, he became especially hard on her.
In 1902 Uncle Christ resigned to accept a better position in Washington, Missouri. The local shoe cobbler had been a Sunday School teacher at the church for years and spoke excellent German, giving an appearance evidently of education he did not have. The parochial school board interviewed him, found him qualified to teach religion and German, but inadequate in other subjects. Nonetheless, they recommended him as the new school teacher, to my grandfather's consternation. My mother told me a number of stories about that next year of school. The cobbler was a well-meaning and kindly man, but his ignorance was staggering. The older students, for the most part, knew more than he did, and they in effect, ended up teaching the younger ones like my mother.
My grandfather refused to send his children to his own parochial school the next year, a decision that shocked the Addieville community. So my mother entered public school in the fourth grade. She liked that much better.
Mom's best friend in Addieville was Lydia ("Lydie") Becker (later Lydia Leyde). That friendship continued even after the Stoerker's left Addieville as letters were written back and forth. Lydie and her son, LeRoy, (a year or two older than I) came to visit us in Kansas in 1948, and Mom and I spent a couple of days in Addieville a year later. But a lot of time had passed and a lot of water had gone under the bridge for both of them. They had led entirely different lives in very different environments. They found they had little in common anymore. The two women never got together again.
The parochial school had an annual picnic as a fund-raiser including a roulette wheel, oddly enough. There was also a "fish pond" in which, for a penny, you could put a fish pole in a tent and when you pulled it out, something would be on it. My mother one year was curious about that tent and what all was in it. So she sneaked behind it and turned up the tent edge from the ground to have a look. The man inside saw her and kicked her, bloodying her nose.
The Stoerkers were poor, and the large family didn't help matters any. The supper meal - for the children at least - was often only bread and apple butter. So my mother frequently was hungry. There was a tavern in Addieville that sold more things than beer. It was a quite respectable place and there was no stigma attached to children - or the minister's family - going in there. Mom would sometimes be sent there to pick up something.

Page 30

It was customary in that day and age for taverns to have sandwiches on the counter, free for the taking when you bought a glass of beer, sandwiches of meat and cheese - a rare delicacy so far as my mother was concerned. She had been sent to the tavern to buy something. As the bartender handed her her order, he evidently noticed her looking longingly at the plate full of sandwiches. He motioned toward the plate and said, "Take one." She did, hurriedly eating the delicious thing on the way home so no one else would know about it.
Chewing gum was another great luxury unknown to the Stoerkers. "Chewing gum" here is not to be confused with the chewing gum of today. This amounted only to a kind of flavored wax. Once at recess at the parochial school, one of the other girls was chewing "gum". Mom watched her chew longingly, and finally worked up the nerve to ask her if she could have a piece. "Sure," the girl said, and took the piece out of her mouth that she was chewing and gave it to my mother. She didn't care. She gratefully took it and began chewing it. She was still chewing it when recess was over and she went back in to class. Christ Mohr noticed her chewing almost immediately and made her put in the waste basket. Mom carefully stuck it on a piece of paper in the basket and retrieved it again when school was out.
The Stoerker family moved to New Haven, Mo, to St Peter's Church, in 1905 when Mom was eleven years old. New Haven proved to be my mother's favorite place of her childhood. Things were much better there than they had been elsewhere. The people were good to the Stoerker family, building for them a ten-room house for the large family.
     Mom's best friend there was Lomé Erfurdt, later Lomé Frei. This friendship remained fully intact through the ensuing years. We visited in New Haven with the Freis even while Dad was still alive, and my mother and I later visited there too after Aunt Ella married Dr. Bert Mankopf and lived in nearby Washington, Mo, and after I became pastor at nearby Berger, Mo. Lomé Frei, in fact, was at our wedding.
The Stoerkers had a cow presented to them upon their arrival in New Haven. It became Fred's job to milk it. My mother was fascinated watching him, and she asked Fred if he would teach her. That proved to be a mistake. Once he had taught my mother, Fred wouldn't do it anymore and it became my mother's job. It probably wouldn't have mattered. Fred left for Elmhurst College that September, so the task of milking the cow would probably have fallen to my mother anyway.
Paul, the oldest son graduated from Eden Seminary in 1905 and married Josephine Martin, moving then to his first pastorate in Atchison, Kansas. Theodore (or "Ted") was born in 1907. In 1908 my mother went to Atchison to live with them and go to high school there. I don't know the reason for that. There was a high school in New Haven. Maybe it was to take care of the baby, and other babies


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soon came along for the Paul Stoerker's.
Paul and Josie moved from Atchison to Sedalia, Mo, in 1910, and Mom moved with them, finishing high school there. Mom went on to business college, qualifying herself as a secretary. She had a number of short term jobs in Sedalia.
In 1914 the Paul Stoerker's moved again, to Jefferson City, Mo, where Paul became pastor of Central Church there. My mother again moved with them, not having any permanent job position to hold her in Sedalia.
She quickly got a position as secretary in the office of the International Shoe Company in Jefferson City, and she would remain there for almost fourteen years until her marriage to my father in 1927.
She became best friends with a very attractive, vivacious young woman named Ozetta ("Ozie") Bruce. She was Presbyterian and did not go to Uncle Paul's Church. Ozie was single and lived with her mother. Later on, when the Paul Stoerker's moved again, Mom moved in with Ozie and her mother. Both of them paid rent and board to the aging Mrs. Bruce.
Mrs. Bruce was a stern Presbyterian who had a total abhorance to any kind of alcoholic beverage. She had reason to. Both her husband and her son had died or would die from alcoholism. Mrs. Bruce always canned a considerable amount of grape juice. She brought out and served a newly opened batch of it one day and served it to the three of them. It had fermented and had become wine, but Mrs. Bruce liked the taste of it anyway. Ozie pointed out to her mother that the stuff had turned to wine, something which she always said was the Devil's brew. But Mrs. Bruce insisted this was all right. She had made it herself and she knew what was it it. It was not alcoholic at all. She kept right on serving and drinking it until the batch was gone. Mom and Ozie laughed over it.
On the evening of August 2, 1923, Mom and Ozie were lying in bed not yet asleep when they heard a newsboy outside shouting an Extra, (newspapers in those days would publish an extra edition for street sale in the wake of some important event. In a day before radio and television, that was how sudden news reached people) "President Harding is dead!" Warren Harding had fallen ill a few days earlier while on a trip to the West Coast, so the news was not an altogether unexpected shocker, but it was still the trauma of a President dying in office.
My mother and Ozie both dated - even before my father came into the picture, but Mom never told me about any man in particular. I don't think there ever was any special boy friend until my father. Mom really was not all that interested, and was not looking to get married. There were two kinds of men she would never marry, she said. She could not marry a minister or a farmer. (One is tempted to think about the best laid plans of mice and men.)


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There was one thing Mom told me about her Jeff City years that I find totally incongruous. Someone would have had to know my mother well to fully understand why I think that, but Mom could be very much the naive innocent despite her deep-seated determination always to do what she termed was "proper", (That was one of her favorite words.) Even in later years when I was grown up, she would tell me about this with all the unquestioned innocence in the world, it never dawning on her what must have been implied in it all. Mom could be an extremely trusting person. Mom and Ozie, two single young women, were often called upon to entertain out-of-town customers for an evening. Usually they were married. Mom very matter-of-factly always told me about these simply being evenings of sociable enjoyment, and she couldn't understand the rather odd and sometimes irritated attitude of some of them. And some of them she frankly did not like although she never told me why, and I didn't ask. There was one she didn't like which she told me about, and that provides a hint. He told Mom (and I don't know the context for this), "That's alright, I've seen naked women before." I'm sure these out-of-town customers - most of them at least - expected a great deal more than they got. Ozie probably knew the score, but I'm sure my mother never guessed. Some one who did not know my mother will find that hard to believe, but I believe it.
It was through Ozie's encouragement that Mom continued on with Dad at first. Ozie liked him (and called him "Bern"), and she talked Mom out of breaking off with him when candy, flowers, and visits from Dad began coning there in the beginning of that courtship.
Mom's close friendship with Ozie continued until the last years of Ozie's life when they tended to drift apart. She was a frequent visitor at the farm, often at Christmas time, and we made numerous trips to Jefferson City.

*********

Before staying with Ozie Bruce, my mother lived for a time with the J.H. Strother family. They moved to St. Louis in later years. On one of her visits to us when we lived in Concord Village, my mother got in touch and went to see them again.

*********

Ozie Bruce had a married sister, Ivy Farr, who had a large family. I remember going there a time or two with my folks when we were visiting in Jefferson City when I was little. To my child's mind it seemed like the house was packed with kids.
One of Ivy's little daughters was staying with Ozie and Mrs. Bruce for a few days. The little girl did something for which she was scolded by her grandmother.


Page 32.1

Ozie saw the little girl go off in a pout, write something on a piece of paper, take it out to the back yard garden, and bury it. Ozie then went out and dug up the note. It read, "Dear Devil. Come and get Grandma. She's mean."

*********

Mom and Ozie Bruce, among their other duties as secretaries at the International Shoe Company in Jefferson City, regularly typed up the payroll envelopes. In the course of time just the regular doing of that gave them a knowledgeable familiarity with the names.
The two women were therefore shocked one day when they were told not to prepare any more pay envelopes for so-and-so in the shoe factory. He didn't exist. The women remembered typing pay envelopes for that name for about two years.
One of the factory workers had managed to get a "friend" of his employed in the factory. Then he always found a way to pick up his pay envelope along with his own. How he had accomplished the paper work for all this I don't know, but he got by with receiving the double pay for about two years before arousing suspicion and getting caught.
(an unknown value)


(.)9
     
The following information is from the records of John Altenbernd.

My mother was born in Morrison, Missouri, April 27, 1894, the eighth of eleven children (and youngest daughter) of Rev. Conrad Frederick Stoerker and his wife Wilhelmina. He was pastor of St. James Church there. Mom has no memory of Morrison. The family moved to Staunton, Illinois, only a month or so later to serve St. Paul's Church there.

Staunton was a mining town. Mom was five when they left there and Mom's memories of it were childish. She recalled it as a town composed of "millionaires" (surely an exaggeration) and poor people - the mine owners and the miners. The big event of the day was when the train stopped there. "Everybody" in town would go down to the station to see who got on the train and who got off.

German was the spoken language of the Stoerker home. English was "Yankeevolk" according to my grandfather, and he did not want it spoken in his house. As a result my mother would begin first grade in Addieville, Illinois, later not knowing any English despite being American born.

My grandfather ruled his house in the German tradition. His word was law. He received whatever special privileges that might be possible in a home of meager income, such as having butter. The butter dish would be by his plate, and no one else was allowed to have any. If there was any lesser privileges to be granted to anyone, they went to the boys, not to the girls. The continuing education of the boys was an important item, all the way to Elmhurst College and Eden Seminary. The girls, after high school, were strictly on their own. My grandfather was not a cruel or insensitive man, but he was stern, and his German heritage made him a firm believer in male superiority. My mother and her sisters all loved their father (referring to him as "Papa"), but throughout their lives they would sometimes voice resentments about their father's favoritism toward the boys and his comparative neglect of the girls.

In 1899 the family moved to Addieville, Illinois, where they would remain for six years serving Zion Church.

Mom started school there the next year, a German parochial school affiliated with the church, and taught by a school master named Christian ("Christ") Mohr. Since it was a German School, my mother's lack of knowledge of English did not hurt her, and she did begin learning English there.

Christ Mohr, like my grandfather, was a product of the stern German tradition, and he taught school accordingly. My mother's memories of her early schooling were not happy ones particularly. Christ Mohr quickly took to courting Mom's oldest sister, Frieda, and married her. After that, Mr. Mohr was not only her teacher, but her brother-in-law. That did not help matters any. Evidently to prove he was not showing favoritism, he became especially hard on her.

In 1902 Uncle Christ resigned to accept a better position in Washington, Missouri. The local shoe cobbler had been a Sunday School teacher at the church for years and spoke excellent German, giving an appearance evidently of education he did not have. The parochial school board interviewed him, found him qualified to teach religion and German, but inadequate in other subjects. Nonetheless, they recommended him as the new school teacher, to my grandfather's consternation. My mother told me a number of stories about that next year of school. The cobbler was a well- meaning and kindly man, but his ignorance was staggering. The older students, for the most part, knew more than he did, and they in effect, ended up teaching the younger ones like my mother.

My grandfather refused to send his children to his own parochial school the next year, a decision that shocked the Addieville community. So my mother entered public school in the fourth grade. She liked that much better.

Mom's best friend in Addieville was Lydia("Lydie") Becker (later Lydia Lehde). That friendship continued even after the Stoerker's left Addieville as letters were written back and forth. Lydie and her son LeRoy, (a year or two older than I) came to visit us in Kansas in 1948, and Mom and I spent a couple of days in Addieville a year later. But a lot of time had passed and a lot of water had gone under the bridge for both of them. They had led entirely different lives in very different environments. They found they had little in common anymore. The two women never got together again.

The parochial school had an annual picnic as a fund-raiser including a roulette wheel, oddly enough. There was also a "fish pond" in which , for a penny, you could put a fish pole in a tent and when you pulled it out, something would be on it. My mother one year was curious about that tent and what all was in it. So she sneaked behind it and turned up the tent edge from the ground to have a look. The man inside saw her and kicked her, bloodying her nose.

The Stoerker's were poor, and the large family didn't help matters any. The supper meal - for the children - was often only bread and apple butter. So my mother frequently was hungry. There was a tavern in Addieville that sold more things than beer. It was quite a respectable place and there was no stigma attached to children - or the minister's family - going in there. Mom would sometimes be sent there to pick up something.

It was customary in that day and age for taverns to have sandwiches on the counter, free for the taking when you bought a glass of beer, sandwiches of meat and cheese - a rare delicacy so far as my mother was concerned. She had been sent to the tavern to buy something. As the bartender handed her her order, he evidently noticed her looking longingly at the plate full of sandwiches. He motioned toward the plate and said, "Take one." She did, hurriedly eating the delicious thing on the way home so no one else would know about it.

Chewing gum was another great luxury unknown to the Stoerkers. "Chewing gum" here is not to be confused with chewing gum of today. This amounted only to a kind of flavored wax. Once at recess at the parochial school, one of the other girls was chewing "gum". Mom watched her chew longingly, and finally worked up the nerve to ask her if she could have a piece. "Sure", the girl said, and took the piece out of her mouth that she was chewing and gave it to my mother. She didn't care. She gratefully took it and began chewing it. She was still chewing it when recess was over and she went back in to class. Christ Mohr noticed her chewing almost immediately and made he put it in the wastebasket. Mom carefully stuck it on a piece of paper in the basket and retrieved it again when school was out.

The Stoerker family moved to New Haven, Missouri, to St. Peter's Church, in 1905 when Mom was eleven years old. New Haven proved to be my mothers favorite place of her childhood. Things were much better there than they had been elsewhere. The people were good to the Stoerker family, building for them a ten-room house for the large family. My mother would leave the family home before this pastorate ended in 1915.

Mom's best friend there was Lome Erfurdt, later Lome Frei. This friendship remained fully intact through the ensuing years. We visited in New Haven with the Freis even while Dad was still alive, and my mother and I later visited there too after Aunt Ella married Dr. Bert Mankopf and lived in nearby Washington, Missouri and after I became pastor at nearby Berger, Missouri, Lome Frei, in fact, was at our wedding.

The Stoerkers had a cow presented to them upon their arrival in New Haven. It became Fred's job to milk it. My mother was fascinated watching him, and she asked Fred if he would teach her. That proved to be a mistake. Once he had taught my mother, Fred wouldn't do it anymore and it became my mother's job. It probably wouldn't have mattered. Fred left for Elmhurst College that September, so the task of milking the cow would probably have fallen to my mother anyway.

Paul, the oldest, soon graduated from Eden Seminary in 1905 and married Josephine Martin, moving them to his first pastorate in Atchison, Kansas. Theodore (or "Ted") was born in 1907. In 1908 my mother went to Atchison to live with them and go to high school there. I don't know the reason for that. There was a high school in New Haven. Maybe it was to take care of the baby, and other babies soon came along for the Paul Stoerker's.

Paul and Josie moved from Atchison to Sedalia, Missouri in 1910, and Mom moved with them, finishing high school there. Mom went on to business college, qualifying herself as a secretary. She had a number of short term jobs in Sedalia.

In 1914 the Paul Stoerker's moved again, to Jefferson City, Missouri, where Paul became pastor of Central Church there. My mother again moved with them, not having any permanent job position to hold her in Sedalia.

She quickly got a position as secretary in the office of the International Shoe Company in Jefferson City, and she would remain there for almost fourteen years until her marriage to my father in 1927.

She became best friends with a very attractive, vivacious young woman named Ozetta ("Ozzie") Bruce. She was Presbyterian and did not go to Uncle Paul's Church. Ozie was single and lived with her mother. Later on, when the Paul Stoerker's moved again, Mom moved in with Ozie and her mother. Both of them paid rent and board to the aging Mrs. Bruce.

Mrs. Bruce was a stern Presbyterian who had a total abhorrence to any kind of alcoholic beverage. She had reason to. Both her husband and her son had died or would die from alcoholism. Mrs. Bruce always canned a considerable amount of grape juice. She brought out and served a newly opened batch of it one day and served it to the three of them. It had fermented and had become wine, but Mrs. Bruce like the taste of it anyway. Ozie pointed out to her mother that the stuff had turned to wine, something which she always said was the Devil's brew. But Mrs. Bruce insisted this was all right. She had made it herself and she knew what was in it. It was not alcoholic at all. She kept right on serving and drinking it until the batch was gone. Mom and Ozie laughed over it.

On the evening of August 2, 1923, Mom and Ozie were lying in bed not yet asleep when they heard a newsboy outside shouting an Extra, (newspapers in those days would publish an extra edition for street sale in the wake of some important event. In a day before radio and television, that was how sudden news reached people) "President Harding is dead!" Warren Harding had fallen ill a few days earlier while on a trip to the West Coast, so the news was not an altogether unexpected shocker, but it was still the trauma of a President dying in office.

My mother and Ozie both dated - even before my father came into the picture, but Mom never told me about any man in particular. I don't think there ever was any special boy friend until my father. Mom really was not all that interested, and was not looking to get married. There were two kinds of men she would never marry, she said. She could not marry a minister or a farmer. (One is tempted to think about the best laid plans of mice and men.)

There was one thing Mom told me about her Jeff City years that I find totally incongruous. Someone would have had to know my mother well to fully understand why I think that, but Mom could be very much the naive innocent despite her deep-seated determination always to do what she termed was "proper". (That was one of her favorite words.) Even in later years when I was grown up, she would tell me about this with all the unquestioned innocence in the world, it never dawning on her what must have been implied in it all. Mom could be an extremely trusting person. Mom and Ozie, two single young women, were often called upon to entertain out-of-town customers for an evening. Usually they were married. Mom very matter-of-factly always told me about these simply being evenings of sociable enjoyment, and she couldn't understand the rather odd and sometimes irritated attitude of some of them. And some of them she frankly did not like although she never told me why, and I didn't ask. There was one she didn't like which she told me about, and provides a hint. He told Mom (and I don't know the context for this), "That's alright, I've seen naked women before." I'm sure these out-of-town customers - most of them at least - expected a great deal more than they got. Ozzie probably knew the score, but I'm sure my mother never guessed. Someone who did not know my mother will find that hard to believe, but I believe it.

It was through Ozie's encouragement that Mom continued on with Dad at first. Ozie liked him (and called him "Bern"), and she talked Mom out of breaking off with him when candy, flowers, and visits from Dad began coming there in the beginning of that courtship.

Mom's close friendship with Ozie continued until the last years of Ozie's life when they tended to drift apart. She was a frequent visitor at the farm, often at Christmas time, and we made numerous trips to Jefferson City.

Before staying with Ozie Bruce, my mother lived for a time with the J.H. Strother family. They moved to St. Louis in later years. On one of her visits to us when we lived in Concord Village, my mother got in touch and went to see them again.

Ozie Bruce had a married sister, Ivy Farr, who had a large family. I remember going there a time or two with my folks when we were visiting in Jefferson City when I was little. To my child's mind it seemed like the house was packed with kids.

One of Ivy's little daughters was staying with Ozie and Mrs. Bruce for a few days. The little girl did something for which she was scolded by her grandmother.

Ozie saw the little girl go off in a pout, write something on a piece of paper, take it out to the back yard garden, and bury it. Ozie then went out and dug up the note. It read, "Dear Devil. Come get Grandma. She's mean."

It was early in 1919. The Rev Fred Stoerker was pastor of what was then called St. Paul's Evangelical Church of Eudora, Kansas. Among his parishioners was a balding, bachelor farmer, William John Altenbernd, who lived west of Eudora in the Kaw Valley, about halfway between Eudora and Lawrence. The farm adjoined the Kansas River (or Kaw River as it was called locally) on the south side. He lived on the farm, still in the old Altenbernd homestead, with his unmarried sister, Louise. Will Altenbernd, as he was called, was then 33 years old.

Rev Fred Stoerker had a younger sister, Flora, who worked as a secretary in Jefferson City, Missouri, for the International Shoe Company office there. She was nearing 25. Fred and wife Hilda received a letter from her one day, informing them she was coming for a visit if that would be alright. She would come in on the evening train, which did not stop in Eudora. Could Fred meet her at the depot in Lawrence? She gave the date and time.

Well, of course that would be alright. They would be happy to see her again.

But something came up. Fred was not able to meet that evening train in Lawrence. He called Will Altenbernd and asked him if he would meet the train. (My mother always took all of this at its face value. But I've sometimes wondered in later years if Uncle Fred was really unable to meet that train. Could Uncle Fred and Aunt Hilda have been playing at matchmaking?) Will said he would meet her, and he did.

Maybe Will altenbernd had seen a picture of Flora Stoerker beforehand, or maybe he had been impressed when his pastor had talked about his sister. In any event, Will evidently prepared himself beforehand, and he was not disappointed at what he saw emerge from the train.

When they got to the parsonage in Eudora -- a ten mile trip or
thereabouts -- Will escorted her to the door with a package under his arm. When Hilda Stoerker greeted them at the door, Will pulled out two boxes of candy from his package, gave one to Hilda and the other to Flora, saying something to the effect that pretty girls always deserved something -- an interesting remark in that it might be doubted Hilda Stoerker could ever have been regarded as a pretty girl, whatever else she was.

Will was invited in. He stayed for a while, and then left for home.

When Flora Stoerker got back to Jefferson City she soon got a letter in the mail, along with a box of chocolates, these coming from "Wm Altenbernd" with a postmark of Eudora, Kansas. Poor Flora couldn't for the life of her figure out who that was, an indication of the impression Will Altenbernd had made upon her. She couldn't even remember his name. She had to write her brother to find out who this "Wm Altenbernd" was. She had to find out. She couldn't just let it go because in the letter he said he wanted to drive to Jefferson City to see her.

"Let him come," her brother urged her. "He's a very nice man. It would be cruel just to give him a cold rejection." So, against her better judgement, but with the added urging of her friend and roommate, Ozie Bruce, Flora let him come.

I don't know the details of that first date, other than that it firmly encouraged Will Altenbernd and left Flora Stoerker realizing she had let herself in for something she wasn't sure she wanted, and which would now be very difficult to get rid of in any case.

The box of chocolates through the mail became a weekly thing. And a Eudora visitor to Jefferson City occurred with some frequency. Ozie Bruce was crazy about him (She called him "Bern"), but Flora Stoerker had serious misgivings. Will Altenbernd was obviously quite serious, and Flora Stoerker had long determined that there were two kinds of men she would never marry -- if indeed she ever got married at all; a minister or a farmer. At length she sought openly to discourage him, but that didn't do any good. He kept writing. He kept sending candy, sometimes flowers. And he kept on coming to Jefferson City.

Not only were candy and flowers being sent, but a number of
photographs began arriving. Will Altenbernd was in the process of tearing down the old homestead and was building a new one. The photos were pictures of the work in progress. (Dad later always said he had built the house for her. Whether or not he actually told her that in 1919 I don't know, but certainly the implication was plain enough.) Flora put the pictures in her photograph album. Will also put construction pictures in his album, along with the canceled check that paid for it -- $10,000.

Immediately before one of his trips to Jefferson City, Will bought a new car. He had gotten no license plates for it as yet. They had been applied for, but Will didn't wait around to pick them up. He drove on to Jefferson City without them.

He was in Jefferson City before some policeman finally stopped him and prepared to ticket him (or whatever was done in those days) for driving without an auto license.

But Will was not to be deterred by any mere policeman. "I've come all the way from Kansas," Will told him, "to see the prettiest girl in your town. Now you're not going to stop me from doing that, are you?"

The policeman waved him on, telling him to get those license plates before he drove anywhere else.

Mr. Hagans, a junior executive of the International Shoe Company, and Ozie's current boyfriend, upon hearing this story, got a piece of cardboard, wrote, "License Applied For" on it, and stuck it onto Will's car. Will got safely back to Kansas and got his license plates.

Flora Stoerker was gradually giving in to this man, despite herself. But it took a long time. It would be a courtship of about eight years before there was a wedding. Most men would have given up long before then.

As time went on Flora Stoerker found herself occasionally taking trips to Kansas, even though her brother was no longer pastor there. She was always welcomed and treated royally by Will's sister Louise, who ran the farm house. The farm house, now long completed, was a beautiful thing. There are pictures of how Louise had it furnished.

On one of Floras's visits to Kansas, around 1926 I suppose, standing outside looking at the house, Will slipped a ring on Flora's finger. There were still many misgivings on Flora's part, but she did not take the ring off. She accepted it.

But once back in Jefferson City, doubts really assailed her. She went to work that Monday trying to hide her left hand, afraid somebody would see the ring. Of course, they saw it anyway. The office girls, especially Ozie, who worked there too, all knew Will by then, and they were overjoyed about it. Flora's doubts finally became resolved.

It was Will's intention that Louise keep living there at the farm house. After all, this was her home too. But Louise would have none of that. If Will married Flora, she would find a place of own. That became academic, however. Louise came down with appendicitis, the appendix burst,and Louise did not survive the emergency surgery.

There would be no great rush to a wedding, nor would it be a big wedding. In fact, there wouldn't even be any announcement of it in Eudora for a while afterward. Flora would go back to work at the Jefferson City office for a week or two to get things squared away there before coming on to Kansas.

The wedding itself would take place in Booneville, Missouri, in the parsonage of the church there. That was then the home for Fred and Hilda Stoerker, the witting or unwitting matchmakers of it all. Flora's sister, Alma, may have been there too.

The Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker and his wife Wilhelmina would also be there, coming from St. Charles, Missouri, where they lived in retirement. They were the bride's parents. The Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker would perform the ceremony for his daughter. It was May 24, 1927.

For some reason Rev Stoerker listed Flora's address as St. Charles when he filled out the marriage certificate, even though Flora had then lived in Jefferson City for some fifteen years.

Shortly thereafter, on June 13, 1927, Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker would collapse in his bathroom. It was an aneurysm which would take his life within minutes.

So, as it turned out, the uniting in marriage of my parents was my grandfather's last wedding.

I always thought the farm house had been built later in the mid-twenties, but Dad's canceled check for the house is dated August 2, 1919. If Dad did indeed build the house for my mother, as he always said he did, then he had remarkable confidence very early on ?? like within weeks of meeting her.

I don't know how serious Ozie Bruce and Mr. Hagans were, but their relationship ended abruptly when Mr. Hagans got drunk one night and woke up the next morning to find himself married to the woman lying next to him. Mr. Hagans made no effort to get out of the marriage. I don't know if or for how long the marriage lasted. I have only the vaguest memory of Mr. Hagans when he was at the farm once when I was very small.

The old Eudora parsonage in which the Fred Stoerker lived was not torn down when the new one was built. It was sold and moved to what became Hiway 10. It was still there when I was a boy. It had been sold again and had become a beer hall.

Flora had no middle name. None of the Stoerker girls did.
-----------------------
End of Information from John Altenbernd

Flora was confirmed on April 12, 1908 in St. Peter's Evangelical and Reformed Church in New Haven, Missouri.

On May 16, 1908, Flora was awarded her High School Entrance certificate.

On May 21, 1908, Flora graduated from the New Haven Grammar School at Gruebbel's Opera House in New Haven, Missouri.

On April 27, 1917 Flora was living at 712 Washington St. Jefferson, Missouri.

Prior to her marriage, Flora was living at 633 Clark Ave., Jefferson City, Missouri.

On May 24, 1927, Flora and Will were married in Boonville, Missouri. The service was conducted by her father Conrad Stoerker (#14) shortly before his death. Witnesses were Fred (#61) and Hilda (#114) Stoerker.

Flora had blue eyes and brown hair. She was 5' 7". Her 1941 driver's license listed her weight as 175 lbs.

When Will died, Fred Altenbernd (#49) and Helen Wichman (#99) were at the farm. Fred went to comfort Flora, and Helen went to comfort John. Flora became the administratrix of Will's estate. The estate was probated on August 26, 1941.

Shortly after Will's (#55) death, Flora became very ill and had to be hospitalized. She was in Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kansas from June 11, 1941 to June 20, 1941. Total cost for the stay was $62.65.

On July 29, 1941, Flora purchased cemetery lot 478 Block E in the Eudora Cemetery for $25.00. On October 27, 1941, she purchased one granite marker and one granite monument to be erected in the Eudora Cemetery for $168.00. These were purchased from the J.F. Bloom & Company in Omaha, Nebraska. On April 23, 1942, the erection of the markers was completed.

Flora is listed in the 1956 Lawrence, Kansas telephone directory as Mrs. Wm. Altenbernd living at RFD2. Her phone number was VI3-3194.

Flora had a delayed birth certificate recorded on February 4, 1957. It uses her driver's license (# 16-11862 State of Kansas), her confirmation record, and an affidavit from Ella Mankoff as supporting evidence. It is Missouri birth certificate # 455095.

The LDS Social Security Death Index indicates that Flora's social security number was issued to her in Kansas. It also incorrectly states that her residence at the time of her death was Lawrence, Kansas. Some months before her death, she moved in with her son John and his family in Godfrey, Illinois. As her condition worsened, she was moved to the Eunice Smith nursing home in Alton, Illinois where she died. Her body was transported back to Eudora, Kansas for the funeral.

Flora's home in Lawrence, Kansas was not sold until after her death.

I am now in possession of my grandmother's dining room set and good Haviland china. I can remember many hours spent around that table while visiting her. The dining room set and the china originally were passed on to my parents. When a move to an apartment no longer allowed them room to keep the furniture it was passed on to me. Recently, the china too was passed on to me. I can remember grandma telling me how she had purchased the china with some gold pieces given to her. She said she should have kept the gold pieces and purchased the china with something else. I can no longer remember who she told me had given her the coins.

After Dad was born, Grandma was unable to have any more children. Knowing that she wanted a little girl, my grandfather bought her a doll to be her "little girl". She would keep the doll sitting on her bed. I can remember as a child being allowed to look at the doll, but not play with it. After Dad's death, Mom gave the doll to me. Unfortunately, none of us can remember the name of the doll. Knowing how much it meant to grandma, I can't imagine that she didn't name her. I have checked Dad's memoirs, but there is no mention of the doll. Hopefully, some day the name will come back to me.

Norma Wichman remembers her Aunt Flora as being a very special lady.

     Flora Stoerker was listed as Fred Stoerker's daughter on the 1900 US Federal Census in Plum Hill Township, Washington County, Illinois, USA, enumerated 2 June 1900.5
Her birth date was listed as April 1894, age 6. She was born in Missouri. Her father was born in Germany. Her mother was born in Germany.5 She was able to read, able to write, and able to speak English.5 She attended school for 4 months.5

     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) circa 1904. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker about 1904
She was principal in 1904 when an unknown person was a student. School: an unknown place .10
Flora Stoerker Report Card 1904
Flora Stoerker Report Card 1904


     Photo. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). Back: Julia, Theophil, Flora, Adolph
Front: Gottlob, CF, Wilhelmine, Paul.11

Back: Julia, Theophil, Flora, Adolph
Front: Gottlob, CF, Wilhelmine, Paul


     Photo in 1907. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). Standing -- Paul, Alma, Flora, Josephine, Ella, and Julia Stoerker, Frieda and Christian Mohr
Seated -- Conrad, Wilhelmine (holding Theodore) Stoeker
Ground -- Gottlob, Theophil, and Adolph Stoerker, Waldemar Mohr.11

Standing -- Paul, Alma, Flora, Josephine, Ella, and Julia Stoerker, Frieda and Christian Mohr
Seated -- Conrad, Wilhelmine (holding Theodore) Stoeker
Ground -- Gottlob, Theophil, and Adolph Stoerker, Waldemar Mohr


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and Mrs H.H. Schafer circa 1908. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker and Mrs. H.H. Schafer
Flora Stoerker was confirmed on 12 April 1908 at Evang St Petris Kirche, New Haven, Franklin County, Missouri, USA.12,13
Flora Stoerker Confirmation Certificate

     She graduated at New Haven, Franklin County, Missouri, USA, on 21 May 1908. She graduated from grammar school.14,15


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) circa 1909. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker about 1909

     She was a student at Atchinson High School, Atchison, Atchison County, Kansas, USA, between 1909 and 1912.10
Atchinson High School
1909
Atchinson, Kansas

     Flora Stoerker received a letter from Adolph Stoerker,residing at New Haven, Franklin County, Missouri, USA, on 6 February 1909. Newsbag from New Haven.

Feb 6, 1909

Dear Sister,

Just received your letter was very glad to hear from you.
New Haven is all A.O.K., But school isn't. How is Atchison the street 307 N. 9th. Street? I guess they are getting along allright. Tell Theodore hello for I am missing you very much. I am starting to milk the cow. I milk it in the evening if I don't go downtown.
Here comes the news! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! were in New Haven, Mo.. Was downtown this afternoon. There was a man downtown he come from Bernhimer, Mo. from across the river. He was a fisherman. He had and sold a lot of fish. He was at the corner of Main Street. by the old saloon. I seen all the fish he sold them at 5¢ a lb. We didn't get non. I didn't have any money. Aren't the4se cheap fish. Are these some news. Gottlob sends you a dime and one from me. I guess you can send us each a card then. I guess you are glad, aren't you? I guess you can't earn any money. I don't know very many thinks but thanks for letter and Teddy Bear. Answer soon. Mamma will write soon I will close will close with many many kisses Your loving brother Adolph.

Don't forget Me.16


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (center) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (center) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker (left) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) circa 1910. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and Gottlob Stoerker circa 1910. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora and Gottlob Stoerker


     Photo of Conrad (far right), Julia and Flora Stoerker (2nd Row -- 3rd and 4th from left). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Conrad (far right), Julia and Flora Stoerker (2nd Row -- 3rd and 4th from left)


     Photo of Caroline and Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)

Caroline and Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Josephine, Ella, Alma, Julia, and Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Josephine, Ella, Alma, Julia, and Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friend
Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friend
Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) circa 1912. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Photo postcard of Flora and Gottlob Stoerker sent from Gottlob to his sister Alma. circa 1912. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10



     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


     Photo. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130). Back Row: Julia, Theophil, Flora, and Adolph Stoerker
Front Row: Gottlob, Conrad, Wilhelmine, and Paul Stoerker.

Back Row: Julia, Theophil, Flora, and Adolph Stoerker
Front Row: Gottlob, Conrad, Wilhelmine, and Paul Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and friends in September 1913. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker and friends
September 1913

     Flora Stoerker received a postcard from Adolph Stoerker in February 1914. Miss Flora Stoerker
New Haven, MO

Moses 4,6,24

Dear Flora:

May the Lord grant you many more birthdays.

Congratulations to your 20th birthday.

Theo and Adolph.17


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (far left) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and friend. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (bottom left) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker - 4th from left - with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (far right) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (middle) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and friend. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (middle) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (standing at right) at International Shoe Company, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (left)
International Shoe Factory
Jefferson City, Missouri


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozzie Bruce. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - and Ozzie Bruce. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozzie Bruce


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - 2nd from left. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of where Flora Stoerker worked at International Shoe Company, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)11

International Shoe Factory
Jefferson City Missouri
Where Flora Stoerker worked


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (far right) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (far right) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) on the porch. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (#63) on the porch


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (center) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (center) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (center) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (center) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (front) and friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (2nd from right) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (2nd from right) and friends
Flora Stoerker (2nd from right) and friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right) and friends taken by  . Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (far left) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Julia Stoerker (3rd from right), Flora Stoerker (far right). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker - 3rd from left, Julia Stoerker far right. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of ?, Josephine and Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Ozie Bruce, Flora Stoerker, ?. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Ozie Bruce, Flora Stoerker, ?


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and Ozie Bruce (#1209) possibly in front of the International Shoe Factory. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Left) and Ozie Bruce
Possibly in front of the Shoe Factory


     Photo between 16 August 1915 and 25 August 1915 in Missouri, USA. Motor Trip.



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Stoerker (left) with friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) 2nd from right with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (2nd from right) with friends


     Photo of Mr Hagans friend of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Mr Hagans. Friend of Flora Stoerker


     Photo.11

Flora Stoerker, Ozie Bruce, Lome Frei


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right) and friend in September 1916. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Right)


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) far left. Ozie Bruce to her right in back row) at Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (#63) far left. Ozie Bruce to her right in back row
Jefferson City Shoe Factory Office Staff


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left circa 4 July 1917. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Friend and Flora Stoerker (Left)
July (?) 4, 1917


     Photo of Flora Stoerker and Ozie Bruce (#1209) on 16 September 1917. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozie Bruce
September 16, 1917
Flora Stoerker (top) and Ozie Bruce
September 16, 1917
Ozie Bruce and Flora Stoerker (right)
September 16, 1917
Ozie Bruce and Flora Stoerker
September 16, 1917


     Photo of Flora Stoerker and Ozie Bruce (#1209) on 26 September 1917. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozie Bruce
September 26, 1917


     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Standing: Flora and Hilda Stoerker and Frieda Mohr. Seated: Alma, C.Fred, and Julia Stoerker circa 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Standing: Flora and Hilda Stoerker and Frieda Mohr.
Seated: Alma, C.Fred, and Julia Stoerker


     Photo of Back: Ella Stoeker, Rev Bronke, Josephine, Theophil, Flora, Paul, Hilda, Fred, Julia Stoerker
Front: Adolph, Conrad, Wilhelmine and Gottlob Stoerker
Hartsburg, Missouri Hartsburg, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172).11

Back: Ella Stoeker, Rev Bronke, Josephine, Theophil, Flora, Paul, Hilda, Fred, Julia Stoerker
Front: Adolph, Conrad, Wilhelmine and Gottlob Stoerker
Hartsburg, Missouri


     Photo of Friends of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Friends of Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker (left) and friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (right) and Friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - and Ozzie Bruce. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozzie Bruce


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and Ozie Bruce (#1209) in March 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozie Bruce


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and Ozie Bruce (#1209) in March 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (left) and Ozie Bruce


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) Right in June 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Right)


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) on 9 June 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker and Friend
June 9, 1918


     Photo of Hilda, Flora and C. Frederick Stoerker on 20 June 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora and C. Frederick Stoerker on 20 June 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Hilda and C. Frederick Stoerker and Flora Altenbernd on 20 June 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#176.)11

Hilda and C. Frederick Stoerker and Flora Altenbernd


     Photo of Flora Stoerker - left - and Ozzie Bruce on 1 September 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker and Ozzie Bruce
September 1, 1918


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) and friend on 2 September 1918. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friend
Flora Stoerker (Right) and Friend


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) Right. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Right)

ME by John Altenbernd

The Great Courtship


     It was early in 1919. The Rev Fred Stoerker was pastor of what was then called St. Paul's Evangelical Church of Eudora, Kansas. Among his parishioners was a "balding, bachelor farmer, William John Altenbernd, who lived west of Eudora in the Kaw Valley, about halfway between Eudora and Lawrence. The farm adjoined the Kansas River (or Kaw River as it was called locally) on the south side. He lived on the farm, still in the old Altenbernd homestead, with his unmarried sister, Louise. Will Altenbernd, as he was called, was then 33 years old.
     Rev Fred Stoerker had a younger sister, Flora, who worked as a secretary in Jefferson City, Missouri, for the International Shoe Company office there. She was nearing 25. Fred and wife Hilda received a letter from her one day, informing them she was coming for a visit if that would be alright. She would come in on the evening train, which did not stop in Eudora. Could Fred meet her at the depot in Lawrence? She gave the date and time.
     Well, of course that would be alright. They would be happy to see her again.
     But something came up. Fred was not able to meet that evening train in Lawrence. He called Will Altenbernd and asked him if he would meet the train. (My mother always took all of this at its face value. But I've sometimes wondered in later years if Uncle Fred was really unable to meet that train. Could Uncle Fred and Aunt Hilda have been playing at matchmaking?) Will said he would meet her, and he did.
     Maybe Will Altenbernd had seen a picture of Flora Stoerker beforehand, or maybe he had been impressed when his pastor had talked about his sister. In any event, Will evidently prepared himself beforehand, and he was not disappointed at what he saw emerge from the train.
     When they got to the parsonage in Eudora - a ten mile trip or thereabouts - Will escorted her to the door with a package under his arm. When Hilda Stoerker greeted them at the door, Will pulled out two boxes of candy from his package, gave one to Hilda and the other to Flora, saying something to the effect that pretty girls always deserved something - an interesting remark in that it might be doubted Hilda Stoerker could ever have been regarded as a pretty girl, whatever else she was.

     Will was invited in. He stayed for a while, and then left for home.
     When Flora Stoerker got back to Jefferson City she soon got a letter in the mail, along with a box of chocolates, these coming from "Wm Altenbernd" with a postmark of Eudora, Kansas. Poor Flora couldn't for the life of her figure out who that was, an indication of the impression Will Altenbernd had made upon her. She couldn't even remember his name. She had to write her brother to find out who this "Wm Altenbernd" was. She had to find out. She couldn't just let it go because in the letter he said he wanted to drive to Jefferson City to see her.
     "Let him come," her brother urged her. "He's a very nice man. It would be cruel just to give him a cold rejection." So, against her better judgment, but with the added urging of her friend and roommate, Ozie Bruce, Flora let him come.
     I don't know the details of that first date, other than that it firmly encouraged Will Altenbernd and left Flora Stoerker realizing she had let herself in for something she wasn't sure she wanted, and which would now be very difficult to get rid of in any case.
     The box of chocolates through the mail became a weekly thing. And a Eudora visitor to Jefferson City occurred with some frequency. Ozie Bruce was crazy about him (She called him "Bern"), but Flora Stoerker had serious misgivings. Will Altenbernd was obviously quite serious, and Flora Stoerker had long determined that there were two kinds of men she would never marry - if indeed she ever got married at all; a minister or a farmer. At length she sought openly to discourage him, but that didn't do any good. He kept writing. He kept sending candy, sometimes flowers. And he kept on coming to Jefferson City.
     Not only were candy and flowers being sent, but a number of photographs began arriving. Will Altenbernd was in the process of tearing down the old homestead and was building a new one. The photos were pictures of the work in progress. (Dad later always said he had built the house for her. Whether or not he actually told her that in 1919 I don't know, but certainly the implication was plain enough.) Flora put the pictures in her photograph album. Will also put construction pictures in his album, along with the canceled check that paid for it - $10,000.
     Immediately before one of his trips to Jefferson City, Will bought a new car. He had gotten no license plates for it as yet.

They had been applied for, but Will didn't wait around to pick them up. He drove on to Jefferson City without them.
     He was in Jefferson City before some policeman finally stopped him and prepared to ticket him (or whatever was done in those days) for driving a car without an auto license.
     But Will was not to be deterred by any mere policeman. "I've come all the way from Kansas," Will told him, "to see the prettiest girl in your town. Now you're not going to stop me from doing that, are you?"
     The policeman waved him on, telling him to get those license plates before he drove anywhere else.
     Mr. Hagens, a junior executive of the International Shoe Company, and Ozie's current boyfriend, upon hearing this story, got a piece of cardboard, wrote "License Applied For" on it, and stuck it onto Will's car. Will got safely back to Kansas and got his license plates.
     Flora Stoerker was gradually giving in to this man, despite herself. But it took a long time. It would be a courtship of about eight years before there was a wedding. Most men would have given up long before then.
As time went on Flora Stoerker found herself occasionally taking trips to Kansas, even though her brother was no longer pastor there. She was always welcomed and treated royally by Will's sister Louise, who ran the farm house. The farm house, now long completed, was a beautiful thing. There are pictures of how Louise had it furnished.
     On one of Flora's visits to Kansas, around 1926 I suppose, standing outside looking at the house, Will slipped a ring on Flora's finger. There were still many misgivings on Flora's part, but she did not take the ring off. She accepted it.
     But once back in Jefferson City, doubts really assailed her. She went to work that Monday trying to hide her left hand, afraid somebody would see the ring. Of course, they saw it anyway. The office girls, especially Ozie, who worked there too, all knew Will by then, and they were overjoyed about it. Flora's doubts finally became resolved.
     It was Will's intention that Louise keep living there at the farm house. After all, this was her home too. But Louise would have none of that. If Will married Flora, she would find a place of her own. That became academic, however. Louise came down with appendicitis, the appendix burst, and Louise did not survive the emergency surgery.


Page 36

     There would be no great rush to a wedding, nor would it be a big wedding. In fact, there wouldn't even be any announcement of it in Eudora for a while afterward. Flora would go back to work at the Jefferson City office for a week or two to get things squared away there before coming on to Kansas.
     The wedding itself would take place in Booneville, Missouri, in the parsonage of the church there. That was then the home of Fred and Hilda Stoerker, the witting or unwitting matchmakers of it all. Flora's sister, Alma, may have been there too.
     The Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker and his wife Wilhelmina would also be there, coming from St. Charles, Missouri, where they lived in retirement. They were the bride's parents. The Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker would perform the ceremony for his daughter. It was May 24, 1927.
     For some reason Rev Stoerker listed Flora's address as St. Charles when he filled out the marriage certificate, even though Flora had then lived in Jefferson City for some fifteen years.
     Shortly thereafter, on June 13, 1927, Rev Conrad Frederick Stoerker would collapse in his bathroom. It was an aneurysm which would take his life within minutes.
     So, as it turned out, the uniting in marriage of my parents was my grandfather's last wedding.

***********

     I had always thought the farm house had been built later in the mid-Twenties, but Dad's canceled check for the house is dated August 2, 1919. If Dad did indeed build the house for my mother, as he always said he did, then he had remarkable confidence very early on - like within weeks of meeting her.

***********

     I don't know how serious Ozie Bruce and Mr. Hagans were, but their relationship ended abruptly when Mr. Hagans got drunk one night and woke up the next morning to find himself married to the woman lying next to him. Mr. Hagans made no effort to get out of the marriage. I don't know if or for how long the marriage lasted. I have only the vaguest memory of Mr. Hagans when he was at the farm once when I was very small.

***********

     The old Eudora parsonage in which the Fred Stoerkers lived was not torn down when the new one was built. It was sold and moved to what became Highway 10. It was still there when I was a boy. It had been sold again and had become a beer hall.


( in 1919.)18

     Photo of Flora Stoerker and Ozzie Bruce on 26 September 1919. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


     Flora Stoerker received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker circa 1920.
     My Dear Flora, Thank-you very much for your nice letter. I had looked forward to it. I hope that you will receive the apron for your birthday. And - with this postcard - I am sending you my congratulations to your birthday. Let's always be happy - this is a phrase taken out of the beautiful song which Pastor H... always sings. Yes, you should always be happy. Well, I hope that you can celebrate in a good health and spirit and with a nice cake. Greetings and kisses, Your Mama Wilhelimine Stoerker.19


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (right). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (2nd from Left) with friends. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker (left) and friends. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Stoerker (Left) and Friends


     Photo of Flora Stoerker (#63) in 1920. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Stoerker
Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Flora and C. Frederick Stoerker on 18 June 1920. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)



     Photo of Sheila Altenbernd circa 1921. Original photo in the possession of Flora Stoerker (#63.)10

Flora Stoerker

     Flora Altenbernd received a postcard from Wilhelmine Stoerker in 1921.
Dear Flora,

An Easter greeting from your parents.

1921.20

     She resided in 713 Washington, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA, in 1921.21
     Flora Stoerker was employed as a stenographer between 1921 and 1925 at International Shoe Company, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA.21,22

     Photo of Flora, Gottlob, and Ella Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


     Flora Stoerker received a letter from Gottlob Stoerker,residing at in St Louis, Independent City, Missouri, USA, on 1 June 1922.23


     Photo of Flora Stoerker on 12 July 1922. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


     Flora Stoerker was a bridesmaid at Emma Elise Stoehner and Gottlob Stoerker's wedding St John Evangelical Church, St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 12 July 1922. Gottlob married Emma, and they had a son, Carroll. Sometime after the birth of his son, Gottlob changed his name to Carroll also. Trouble erupted for Carroll and he was gone and unheard from for several years. Emma fearing he may have remarried divorced him to keep him from getting into further trouble..24,25
Gottlob and Emma Stoerker (left)

     She resided at 779 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA, in 1925.22

     Photo of Hilda Stoerker, Flora Stoerker, Will Altenbernd, Wilhelmine Stoerker, Alma Stoerker
on ground: Frederick and Eleanor Stoerker. Unknown who is being held. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Hilda Stoerker, Flora Stoerker, Will Altenbernd, Wilhelmine Stoerker, Alma Stoerker
on ground: Frederick and Eleanor Stoerker
unknown who is being held


     Photo of Back: Josephine, Ella, Alma Stoerker
Front: Julia and Flora Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#176.)11

Back: Josephine, Ella, Alma Stoerker
Front: Julia and Flora Stoerker


     Photo of Stoerker Golden Wedding Anniversary -- Back - Theophil, Julia, Paul, Conrad, Ella, Fred, Adolph -- Front - Alma, Wilhelmine, Frieda, Flora, and Gottlob on 2 November 1926. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Stoerker Golden Wedding
November 2, 1926
Back - Theophil, Julia, Paul, Conrad, Ella, Fred, Adolph
Front - Alma, Wilhelmine, Frieda, Flora, and Gottlob


     Photo of Altenbernd Farm in 1927 Altenbernd Farm, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Altenbernd Farm -- Eudora Kansas

     Flora Stoerker lived at 633 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, USA, in 1927.26,27
     Flora Stoerker, residing at 602 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Missouri received a letter from Conrad Friedrich Stoerker,residing at in St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 21 February 1927.
     Dear Flora, Thank you so much for the congratulation and the enclosed check. With kind regards, Papa.28

     She resided at 607 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri, USA, on 21 February 1927.28
     William John Altenbernd married Flora Stoerker, daughter of Conrad Friedrich Stoerker and Wilhelmine Cuno, in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, USA, on 24 May 1927.11,3,29

     Photo of Flora and Will Altenbernd on their wedding day on 24 May 1927 at Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora and Will Altenbernd
Flora and Will Altenbernd
Wedding Day
May 24, 1927


     Photo of Hilda Stoerker, Flora Stoerker, Will Altenbernd, Wilhelmine Stoerker, Alma Stoerker
On Ground -- Frederick and Eleanor Stoerker circa 27 May 1927. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Hilda Stoerker, Flora Stoerker, Will Altenbernd, Wilhelmine Stoerker, Alma Stoerker
On Ground -- Frederick and Eleanor Stoerker

     Flora Stoerker received a telegram from Paul Stoerker,residing at in St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 13 June 1927.

     173A K 6
     STCHARLES MO 430P JUNE 13 1927
MISS FLORA STOERKER
     633 CLARK AVE JEFFERSONCITY MO
FATHER DIED SUDDENLY TODAY FUNERAL THURSDAY
          PAUL 453P.27


     Photo of Will and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora and Will Altenbernd


     Photo of Will and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora and Will Altenbernd


     Photo of Will and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Will and Flora Altenbernd

     Flora worked. She worked as Housewife.10

     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) and Ozie Bruce (#1209) at Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Altenbernd (left) and Ozie Bruce
Eudora Kansas
Flora Altenbernd (left) and Ozie Bruce


     Photo of Ozie Bruce (#1209) and Flora Altenbernd (#63 right). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Ozie Bruce and Flora Stoerker (right)


     Photo of Ozie Bruce (#1209) and Flora Altenbernd (#63 right) at Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Ozie Bruce and Flora Altenbernd (right)
Ozie Bruce and Flora Altenbernd (right)


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd, Wilhelmine and Julia Stoerker circa 1929 at Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora Altenbernd, Wilhelmine and Julia Stoerker
Flora Altenbernd, Wilhelmine and Julia Stoerker


     Photo of Flora and Winfred Stoerker circa 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#176.)11

Flora and Winfred Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd and girls from International Shoe Factory in Jefferson City. Altenbernd Farm, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Flora Altenbernd (far right) and girls from International Shoe Factory office in Jefferson City
Flora Altenbernd (far left) and girls from International Shoe Factory office in Jefferson City
Might be Ozie Bruce in the middle
Flora Altenbernd (top)
Flora Altenbernd (top step)
Coworkers of Flora Altenbernd from the International Shoe Factory in Jefferson City Missouri
Flora Altenbernd
2nd from right
Flora Altenbernd (Far Left)
Friend of Flora Altenbernd from International Shoe Factory office

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker circa January 1929.
Dear Children -- Flora, William,

First, Mother wishes you a much blessed and Happy New Year 1929.
Much mercy and God's protection be with you, you loved ones.
Now I would like to thank you for all the love and good things that you loved ones have sent us for the holidays. Everything arrived in good condition. The curtains, dear Flora, make our dining room look so friendly now. The coffee tastes so much better from the new coffee post -- we made use of it right away. Your baked goods are also excellent; mother cannot bake such delicious things. Julia cut the shoulder for me, and I roasted it. Everything was so Christmas-festive and pretty packaged, even the tail for Prince.
Later we received the card where you mentioned not to open the boxes--maybe that was good since it was not very cold. Everything tasted so good. Prince knew that the tails and th chocolate were for him, almost as if he had the mental ability, and he did not rest until it was all gone.
We are still all half sick because we had the flu and are still coughing a lot. Alma was in the hospital for a few days because she had fallen. Hilde Fritz sent also all kinds of foods and some of their baked goods. So did Marie. For you girls she sent each of you a pincushion. Julia is oging to send you the one for you. Marie thought that you will be here for Christmas. Everyone enjoyed the pincushions--they are so pretty. I know you will like it too.l
Ozzie must have left already. No one else has been here other than Ella for one day. I have not seen anyone from St Louis yet, but Theodor is at home, so I htink they might still come. I've recieved a bowl with flower bulbs from pastor Bracke -- all I have to do is add water.

Thank ou for everything once more.

With my love, regards, and kisses.

Your mother

Wilhelmine Stoerker.30

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Ozie Bruce on 8 May 1929.

     Flora Altenbernd residing at 4715 Main Avenue, Norwood, Ohio, USA, sent a letter on 10 May 1929.
ADOLPH STOERKER
PALMER CHIROPRACTOR
4715 MAIN AVENUE
NORWOOD. OHIO


May 1O, 1929


Dear Flora:-

     That was mighty fine news to hear that you were the proud mother of a fine boy. I know that you have always been attached to children and I rejoice with you because I know that your heart is glad to now have one of your own. I sort a like the name you choose - John Stoerker. You have our congratulations and good wishes --- that he may grow strong and bring into your home much joy and happiness which you could never experience without him. May God bless you and him and make him a real man among men.

     Now I would not for the world write you without saying a word for --- Bill. ---I believe that you deserve most of the credit but from now on his Daddy is going to have something to say. No doubt he is already making plans to raise a son sound in mind and body that would be a joy and credit to any father. I know that Bill will play more than a little part in making a man of him. ---     So congratulations to you - Bill! You have reasons to be proud with a Million Dollar Baby - I felt the same way some few years ago.

     To both of you - May your boy fulfill your fondest dreams and become a leader of men - living a life of usefulness and service to his fellows. May God add all the necessary blessings.
With kindest wishes and love

Adoplh.31


     Photo of Will Altenbernd (#55), John Altenbernd (#102) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) in June 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 5 weeks old.11

Will, John and Flora Altenbernd
John -- 5 weeks old


     Photo of John Altenbernd (#102) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) in June 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 5 weeks old.11

John and Flora Altenbernd
John -- 5 weeks old

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Julia Stoerker on 13 June 1929. St. Charles, Mo.
June 13, 1929

Dear Flora & William

     I didn't forget to write. I've just been so busy - and since momma wrote you soon after the announcement of little John's arrivals, I put off writing until now when there are no more lesson assignments made for the next day.

     Although I'm rather later, I congratulate you most heartily, and I hope that little John will fill your lives with sunshine. I don't know what gifts he may have received by this time, or what he could still use, so I'm enclosing a dollar for which you may get him a little remembrance or put in his bank. I'm real anxious to see him. Carroll and Emma were here this P.M. and we told Carroll that you would bring John along in a basket. He looked so funny and said, "in a basket?"

     I hope you and John are well. I suppose Helen is still with you. You spoke so much of Helen when you were here that I almost feel as though I've met her. Its fine that she can be with you. And how is little Homer? The cow sure must have been working good when Alma was up there or we wouldn't have had that delicious cottage cheese, ha, ha! Guess you know what I mean. I believe that was the best cottage cheese I ever ate. No wonder Alma got so fleshy - you fed her too well.

     Rev. Orlowskys celebrated their silver wedding anniversary last Sunday. Ella, mamma, Mrs. Rev. Schmale, and I were out there. It was a lovely day. After the service we all had lunch out on the lawn where the ladies had set the tables. I've had some real sandwiches. Mrs. Schmale was here again for a few days. This time I had to do the cooking (I know you're not sorry). She is planning to spend the winter in Ann Arbor, Mich. I'm glad we could have her with us again - she sure is getting old.

     Will close, for tonight. Hope to see you before many more weeks.

     With lots of love to all,

          Julia





This is a translation of the note Wilhelmine enclosed.

St. Charles, Mo.
May the 6th, 1929
My Dear Ones!
To our great joy we received this morning at about half past nine o'clock the news of the birth of our dear little son – we rejoice with you, dear ones – and thank especially the faithful God - that He has made everything well, and graciously helped so far. May He continue to be with us - so that also Flora will soon recover and become strong again – now that she also has become a mother - also a great grace of God, for which we cannot be grateful enough.
With love, kisses and greetings - especially a sweet kiss to the little Altenbernd.
Julia and Wilhelmine Stoerker.32

     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) and John Altenbernd (#102) in July 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 2 1/2 months old.11

Flora and John Altenbernd
John -- 2 1/2 months old


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63), John Altenbernd (#102), and Ozie Bruce (#1209) in July 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 2 1/2 months old.11

Flora and John Altenbernd, Ozie Bruce
John -- 2 1/2 months old


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) and John Altenbernd (#102) in August 1929. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 3 months old.11

Flora and John Altenbernd
John -- 3 months old
Flora and John Altenbernd
John -- 3 months old

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker,residing at at 1027 South 4th Street, St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 21 October 1929.
Dear Flora,
Just received your letter, which we waited for already.
I miss "Goka" very much.
WShen Julia and I came into the kitchen and all your belongings still were on the table, we could not do very much. Theophil did bring the package to the mail.
Had to think very much abut JOhn and how it will be without his Mike, but now everything turned out to be find.
Yes, dear Flora, you made me very hungry, after all this niced food you had on your way home. Today I have a soup on the stove, but do not know, whether it will be as fine as yours once over here was.
As John got a dog, you could take it along wiell within your car, couldn't you?
The 2 bottles I could not enclose in the package, but we will keep them for you.
Yesterday night Emma and Carlo came suddenly over, and alos Mr. Hangel. They were here hardly for a quarter of an hour, as they want to return to Chicago today. They stayed at Paul's.
My leg still troubles, and I have to bandage it still; but it is getting better every day.
We heard from Frieda that she returned to Denver well. Mrs. Kombzock did give her soup and apple-butter along and made 6 visits over there. Now they are all happy that the "old mother" is back home again.
Frieda mentioned her large laundry duty. Also there everything has been frozen. Over in Denver everything gets well very fast. Hope you will have a safe way back home. Everybody will be happy to see you back. Did not see Paul so far.

In love, greetings and kiss -- your mom.33

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker on 21 December 1929.
To all my dear Children,
I was just in the process of writing to you and thank you for all the good meat, sausage, fat, apples, and in particular for the marvelous butter; you should receive a price for it dear Flora -- it is so good and sweet. I thought that mother used to make very good butter in previous years, but yours is still better.
The mailman just came and brought two more packages -- I had thought that the other one was our Christimas gift. This is really too much of a good thing. Please accept our most sincere thank you for it. What they contain will be revealed on Christmas Eve.

We wish you richly blessed holidays.

WIth regards and kisses to you and dear John in particular.

Mother-Grandmother Stoerker.34

     Flora Altenbernd, residing at RR2, Lawrence, Kansas received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker from Lawrence, Kansas,residing at at 1021 South 4th Street, St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 28 December 1929. The original is in German.
St Charles, Monday, December 28th, 1929
Dear Children! Flora Will
Soon this year is going to it's end; we don't know what the New Year will bring. But we have Jesus our faithful leader, our Savior. He is with us and so we can enter the New Year safely.
Now Christmas days are over - my loved I want to thank you very much for the love you showed us. You sent us so many things - also sweet little John gave me a picture. The nightdress I can use really good, also the nice book and the cookies. This kind of cookies only good Flora can bake. The meat we broiled at once and also the good sausage and the bacon we have eaten already. Hilda, Fritz and family came on Dec 26th to our house. Yesterday Josie and the kids, but not Theodor Paul. Theophil also stayed with Winfred for dinner. Frieda, Theophil's wife, isn't feeling very well. So, as you can see, we have had a lot of visitors. The Boovillers also stayed one night, they came with their car.
When they arrived we were at Emmaus, we have been invited there. Alma was at home, because she had to work, then she had to sleep. So they all came to Emmaus, they brought dinner over and wanted to eat with us. So we ate all they brought in at Emmaus.
Hilda had 2 roasted chickens, we have been 18 persons at Emmaus, we were sitting at the table until 10 p.m. - old Frankenfelds have been there, too.
I have to finish now, thanks again for everything.
With greetings -- Kiss
Ma and Grandma
The boys together gave me a big radio, now it's not so lonely anymore.
When everything is ready we can hear what's going on in the whole world. We have heard the Christmas progam of Germany - over the ocean - it was clear and wonderful, Silent Night and all the other songs.35


     Photo of John and Flora Altenbernd circa 1930. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

John and Flora Altenbernd

     They resided in Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, in 1930.11
Altenbernd Farmhouse 1930s
Altenbernd Farmhouse 1930s

     Flora Altenbernd sent a letter to Eleanor Eudora Stoerker in 1930. Note on back of picture: Dear Eleanor: John wishes to thank you for the ball you sent him with Alma. He enjoys it very much. He is a big boy as you can see on the other side. Love from Aunt Flora.10
John Altenbernd
1 year old
Note of back of photo.

     Flora Stoerker received a letter from Gottlob Stoerker,residing at in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA.


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) and John Altenbernd (#102) in August 1930. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John 15 months old.11

Flora and John Altenbernd
15 months old

     The following item appeared Warrenton Banner, Warrenton, Missouri, USA, on 19 September 1930
Foristell and Community by Mrs. Etta Schemmer
Rev. Adolph Stoerker of Cincinnati, Ohio, and his mother and sister, Julia Stoerker, of St. Charles, accompanied by his aunt, Mrs. H.H> Schaper of this place, motored from Wright City last Wednesday to Boonville and visited Mrs. Stoerker's son, Rev. Fred Stoerker. Later in the day they drove to Lawrence, Kans., and visited Rev. Stoerker's sister, making the return trop to Wright City Friday.


NOTE: The sister in Lawrence is Flora Altenbernd.36
Warrenton Banner -- September 19, 1930


     Photo in 1931. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John Altenbernd (#102), Flora Altenbernd (#63), Shep.11

John Altenbernd -- Aged 2
Flora Altenbernd
Shep

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Friedaricka Elizabeth Hoelzel,residing at at 2732 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, USA, on 1 July 1931.
Dearest Flora,

I have intended writing to you for some time. We enjoyed getting John's picture so much, it is very good of him. I showed it to Mrs. Kobrock and she immediately said that he is a Stoerker in looks. Of course that is true and is very complementary to you. Thanks a lot for the picture.

It has been so very hot here for two weeks and for those who are and have to be busy in the sun I feel plenty sorry, for it is more than I appreciate and I can stay in and make myself as nearly comfortable as possible. I mean the heat is more than I appreciate. I guess Will and Carl are digging potatoes now, and I so hope they get a good price. It is so discouraging to put the money and labor in for a crop and then get such prices as the farmers are getting for wheat. I am about sure that never before has wheat been so cheap. The country is full of food supplies and there are so many people coming to my door every day for a little to eat. Prices with us too have changed a great deal. So many people are out of work. Emil has had no extra business all year, so we are dependent on our rental income. I am very thankful that we saved our money when we made good money. I know so many people who lived off their entire income and now feel the depression very heavily. Claire starts her vacation Friday, she is looking forward to a good time with Harvey. He is taking a 12 weeks summer course in Midland and wants Claire there for one month. She will live in Dr. Martin's home but will have her meals and recreation with Harvey. He preached in our church the last two Sundays and did remarkably well. Dr. Band is in Portland and paid Harvey to fill his pulpit. Ruth is rather lonesome, she enjoyed her year at K.U. so much. I guess she will go again next year. Carl is home again, just got back from a 10 day trip to Oklahoma City. I often think about Louis. Have Will and Carl heard from him? I am truly sorry the way things stand with him but I know what it would mean to us had we listened to his plea.

I am piecing a flower garden quilt. I love it. I like to talk quilts to people who like that kind of work, And now I must close and would like to hear from or better yet to see you after the heat is over. Claire and Harvey will be here after the 10th of Aug. Come down sometime when they are here.

With love

Reaka.37

     Photo circa 1932. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John Altenbernd (#102) aged 3 and Flora Altenbernd (#55.)10

John Altenbernd -- age 3
Flora Altenbernd


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



     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.)


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.)38
     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker on 6 January 1933.
Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Altenbernd
Route Nr. 2
Lawrence, Kansas

Dearly beloved,

I would like to know if Julia could go to the performance at her school which was the day before yesterday. She has been in bed for eight days already because she is not feeling well. The children did not leave her in peace, they have the flu too. They have the flu too at Adolph's place. Alma is still staying in bed. The lady for whom she works is very nice to her. Emma had the flu too but -- thank heavens -- she is working again at the shoe factory. Carroll had to do all the work at the school -- the same one you attended too. I hope you all are doing well.

Greetings and kisses,

Mama and grandmother.39


     Photo of Flora and John Altenbernd and Wilhelmine Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Flora and John Altenbernd and Wilhelmine Stoerker
Flora and John Altenbernd and Wilhelmine Stoerker


     Photo near Altenbernd Farm, Eudora Township, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). Altenbernd Farm.11

Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm


     Photo near Altenbernd Farm, Eudora Township, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). Farm Animals.11

Bob and Hy are in the center
(Hy has the white tail)
Altenbernd Farm
Bob and Hy are in the center
(Hy has the white tail)
Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm
Altenbernd Farm

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Adolph Stoerker,residing at Gary, Indiana, USA, on 10 February 1935.
FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH
464 ROOSEVELT STREET
GARY, INDIANA

February 10, 1935.

Dear Flora and Bill:-

You will perhaps be much surprised to get a letter from me. It has been so long in the making that I'll be greatly surprised myself if I finally succeed in getting it written. Many times since my delightful days with you last summer have I wished myself back again. And often have my intentions been to write you how much I really enjoyed being with you and thank you again for the many kindnesses shown. But when one gets back to work and the fall and winter work needs to be planned - for two places and there's not much to plan with - then there are always many things that I neglect. Writing is one of them - and so I beg to be excused for this long silence.

Have often wondered how the turnips came out and whether the rye Bill was going to plant made some feed for the stock? - The Indiana farmers around here had very late pastures and so did not have to start feeding until late in fall. And then there were lots of soy beans everywhere and also corn fodder. So they fared much better this winter. Nearly every farmer has a dairy herd and gets a milk check every two weeks. Butter is 44 cents a pound and eggs 40 cents a dozen. Milk 12 cents a quart. Bacon 30 cents per pound. -- So prices are double what they were 18 months ago. But wages in the Steel mills here are not quite half what they were 3 or 4 years ago. And that gives most people a bare existence. So you can figure out for yourself why people here have no money to spare even tho they may be working full time. --- I have an opportunity here to watch both the industrial workers and farmers - and in a year or two I believe the farmers of this community will be far ahead of those who work in the city. And its about time that the farmers get fair play. Their products keep the nation alive.

Well, I guess Fred is in his glory now. I haven't heard a word from him but heard from mother that they had moved to St. Joseph. That's the biggest and most prosperous church in the West Missouri District. I don't ever hope to be in line for that size job. A smaller group appeals to me better. And I'm not such a great preacher anyhow. So if there is to be any greatness on my part I'll have to find it in being of service.

J. J. Braun is going to be here Thursday this week to study the Gary mission with me. I have surveyed the community and sent in my report. In response they're coming here to investigate my findings. That's what I have been hoping for some time. There is not much hope for a future church here since the population is so transient. There is a Reformed Church 9 blocks away farther towards the city. And since the bottom has dropped out of the finances here with little hopes of a substantial increase for some years I feel that an adjustment of some kind will be made offer the Mission Board gets thru checking on Thursday.

Joanne and I were home over New Year's. Mother was surprised to see us. As usual glad to have us come. She seems to be doing quite well. I sometimes wish I were closer home but guess I'll have to be satisfied where I am and with what I've got.

The box you had Santa Claus deliver here at Christmas time was much enjoyed by all. The cookies were a treat. Why do somebody else's cookies always taste better?!!! Sonny liked his pencil. You know he was 9 years of age the 24th of last month. And he's reading, writing, drawing etc. So the pencil was just the thing. And Joanne with her handkerchiefs --- was she proud? She's just like her mother. Hasn't ever got enough things to wear or should I say too many things to wear. Thanks a lot for everything!

Next Sunday the Elmhurst Girls' Sextette will present a musical program at the vesper service at the Gary Christian Church. Mr. Hille will play several organ selections. Rev. Schuster and I are jointly arranging this. We expect to have the group here for lunch after the service. So Marie has started to get the house in order for the occasion. And also for the visit of honorable J.J. Braun.

Received Bill's card from St. Charles last fall. Glad he got the cigars in good shape. They sure put them out by the boxes at the Fair last summer. And say - if I had been at home when you were there Bill would have had company at the World's Series games.

How's that big boy of yours? Keeping you going no doubt. You'll have a better chance raising him there than in the city. This town of Gary isn't very desirable for raising children. The Gary school system may be famous but that doesn't tell the story.

Now I've about had my say. I'm not a very good typist so you will have to make some allowance. Perhaps I will do better next time.
Let us hear from you again when you feel that you can take time.
With kindest regards to all of you,
Sincerely
Adolph & co,

P.S. Sonny and Joanne send special greetings to John and invite him over to play!40

     Flora Stoerker received a postcard from Adolph Stoerker on 19 April 1935.
Hearty Good Wishes
Adolph & Family.41

     Wilhelmine Stoerker sold the property at 1021 South Fourth Street, St Charles, St Charles County, Missouri, USA, on 16 March 1936. The property sold for $2910.00. The proceeds were distributed between Alma Stoerker (16%), Ella Stoerker (21%), Julia Stoerker (23%), and Mrs. Flora Altenbernd (40%).42

     Photo of John and Flora Altenbernd, and Ella Stoerker in St Louis, Independent City, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


ME by John Altenbernd

Jean

     There were a few years prior to World War II when Thanksgiving was celebrated on different Thursdays in different States. President Roosevelt had proposed making Thanksgiving a week earlier in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. The result was something of a furor with some States moving it up and other States leaving it at the old date. Missouri moved up Thanksgiving. Kansas did not.
     Consequently - in 1939, I think - my Thanksgiving school vacation in Kansas was no holiday in Missouri when my mother and I took the train to see Grandma and Aunt Julie in Clayton. The stores were open there - including the toy store - and I could Christmas shop.
     I saw a dart board in the toy store in Clayton, so I brought my mother to the store for her to see it. (I got the dart board - baseball game variety - when Christmas came, by the way.) While there, my mother also saw a blond doll that caught her eye. It was an exceptional doll, in the context of the kinds of dolls marketed at that time. Her arms, legs, and head were all movable. Her eyes opened and closed. She could even stand up.
     I don't remember whether my mother mentioned the doll to Dad or whether I told him of her interest in it. But anyway, Dad found out. He wrote a letter to Aunt Julie, asking her to get the doll and have it shipped. He would repay her.
     The doll was under the tree on Christmas Eve. My mother was surprised and delighted. The doll lay as the centerpiece on the bed for years afterward. We still have the doll. My mother named her Jean.
(an unknown value)


( in 1939.)43

     Photo of Flora Altenbernd and Julia Stoerker circa 1940 at Altenbernd Farm, Eudora Township, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Wayne Greb.10

Flora Altenbernd and Julia Stoerker about 1940's.
Altenbernd Farm in Eudora Kansas

ME by John Altenbernd

Flora's Bakery

     It was the Summer of 1940 during the potato harvest. It was noon time. The potato pickers and the day men all poured into the back yard under the comfortable shade of the big elm trees to eat their lunches and relax a while before taking on that hot Kansas sun out in the field again.
     Dad came in and told my mother that one of the pickers had had his lunch lost or stolen during the morning. Would my mother fix up something for him? Mom did - including a piece of pumpkin pie which she had baked.
     It wasn't long after that before there was a black teen-ager knocking at the back door. He wanted to know if he could buy a piece of that sweet potato pie that other fellow had.
     "That wasn't sweet potato," Mom told him. "That was pumpkin."
     "Well, whatever it was, Ma'am. Could I buy a piece?" And he had in his hand one of the markers pickers were given to indicate a bushel of potatos picked for which they would be paid. A single marker was worth a nickel.
     Mom was both amused and flattered at that. She gave him a piece of the pumpkin pie and took his marker, showing it to Dad at the kitchen table. He laughed. "Hang on to that," he said. "I'll give you your nickel tonight."
     Rather quickly there were two or three more at the door, all wanting some of that pie, and all having markers ready in their hands. Mom gave them each a piece of pie and took their markers.
     Then a virtual parade began toward the door. The pumpkin pies (Mom had baked two of them) were soon gone. But that didn't deter anybody.
     "You got anything else?" they asked.
     "I have some cake left from the day before yesterday," she said. "That's fine," they said and held out their markers. The left over cake was quickly gone too.
     "Any chance there'll be more tomorrow?" they asked hopefully. "I'll see," Mom said.
     Mom talked to Dad about it. "If you feel like doing it, go ahead," he said.
     Mom did some figuring of ingredients. She could use lard instead of Crisco. That would cut down expense. The other ingredients couldn't be compromised. And she'd stick with pumpkin and apples for the pies. They were the cheapest. A pie could be cut into six


pieces which would make 30¢ for a pie. Ordinary cakes could be cut accordingly to fit the price of a nickel apiece. She could make enough on it to make it worth her while. She would do it.
     I don't recall what all Mom baked that next morning before everybody came in for noon, but it was quite a bit. When they came in from the field, they didn't even wait to eat first. They came directly to the door, wanting to know if there was any pie or cake to buy. Mom quickly sold out.
     So baking became a regular morning ritual through the rest of the potato harvest. Dad referred to it as "Flora's Bakery."
     I don't know how much my mother made on that that summer, but it was considerable for the times. She was pleased with it, as she always was about anything connected with her baking, of which she was very proud.
     She planned to do it again the next year, but it never happened. Dad would die before the next potato harvest in 1941. She just didn't feel like doing it then. By 1942, World War II would be on, and there would be sugar rationing, making such an enterprise impossible.
     But during its short life in the Summer of 1940, Flora's Bakery was a huge success.
(an unknown value)


( Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, in 1940.)44
     Flora Altenbernd was listed as William John Altenbernd's wife on the 1940 US Federal Census of Eudora Township, Douglas County, Kansas, enumerated 13 May 1940. Flora's age at her last birth date was listed as 46. She was born in Illinois. She was married. She had not attended school since March 1, 1940. Her highest grade completed was high school senior.45 Her address on April 1, 1935 was Eudora Township, Kansas. It did a farm.45
     Flora traveled between 11 September 1940 and 26 September 1940. Flora Altenbernd Journal

1940
My first trip to
New York
Boston (by boat, back by plane)
Atlantic City
__________________
Wed. Sept 11
Left St. 9:30 am on BYO. Arrived at Washington 7:40 am Thursday 12th. Had breakfast in coffee room at Washington Hotel.
City Tour downtown and other places of interest.
Lunch at Childs restaurant.
Mr and Mrs Hyde took us to Mt Vernon to visit Washington’s home and burial grounds.
Dinner in coffee room.
__________________
The US Capitol Congressional Library
Old National Museum
Washington Mansion
Mt Vernon, VA
Arlington Ntle Cemetery
Tomb of Unknown Soldier
Old Home Robert E Lee
Memorial Amphitheatre
__________________
Washington Hotel
Friday 13.
Had breakfast in coffee room W. Hotel with Mr and Mrs Hyde.
Visited Washington’s Monument. Took elevator to top.
Had lunch with the Hydes. Methodist Home.
Had ride on train in tunnel way from house to Senate
Tour through bureau of investigation and finger printing
__________________
Visited General Lees Home and the tomb of unknown soldier
Saw Congress in session. LaFoliott speech.
Visited Lincoln Memorial
Had dinner on roof garden with Hydes W. Hotel
Saw two movie stars – Maurine O’Hara and Lucille Ball.
__________________
Washington
Sat 14.
Had breakfast in coffee room.
Marylin and I visited the Smithsonian Institute. Also the museum
Took 1:30 trip to Annapolis, MD. Visited the Naval academy. Saw the crypt where John Paul Jones, the first US Naval officer was buried.
__________________
In evening Mr. Frederich took us to see the fountain. Also Lincoln’s monument at night.
__________________
Some of the buildings we saw in Washington included the home of former President Herbert Hoover, Warren C Harding, Calvin Coolidge
Alice Nicolas Longworth
__________________
Building where President Lincoln was assassinated.
__________________
Sunday, Sept 15
Left Washington 9 am. Had breakfast on train to New Jersey. Took bus to
Bass crossed N York Bay on Ferry
Arrived at Biltmore Hotel 3:00 pm.
Sunday afternoon visited Empire State Observatory, world’s tallest building 1,250 ft. Tea room 86 floor. 102 stories. Viewed N. York from top of building. Had dinner on roof garden.
__________________
Location
West side of 5th Ave, between 34th and 33rd St.
Area of Site
83,860 square ft. About 2 acres.
Height of Bld
102 stories above the st. 2 stories below ground. 1,250 feet to tip of morning mast.
Sight seeing terrace at 86 floor. 1,050 feet. Morning mast extents 200 ft higher with second observatory level at 102nd floor.
The building is the tallest structure of any kind in the world.
__________________
Viewed city at night with lights on. Drove to Times Square. Saw night life in N. York.
Monday Sept 16
Had breakfast in coffee room. Ride on subway. Visted 1st Chase National Bank. Saw exhibit of money. First Coin 760 BC. World’s smallest and largest coins. $10,000 bill.
__________________
Construction of Empire State Bld has 6,400 windows. 10,000,000 bricks were used. There are 200,000 cubic ft of stone. 750,000 pounds of exterior chrome nickel steel and aluminum. Nearly 7miles of elevator shafts. Enough floor space to shelter a city of 80,000.
Elevators
61 passenger elevators. 16 freight elevators, all are Otis signal control self leveling. Express cars reach the 86th floor. The mast elevators from 86 floor (1050 ft) to observatory atop the morning mast. Elevators rise at a speed of 6,000 ft per minute.
__________________
Had lunch at Chase Bank in private d room.
Taxi to New Jersey by tunnel way under Hudson river and back. Drive over express highway. Saw the Queen Elizabeth. Gross tonnage 85,000
Normandy. Gross tonnage 83,000
Had dinner in coffee shop. Went to see broadcast C.B. Station 8:30 to 9:00. Took taxi ride. Saw some of city at night.
__________________
Tuesday, Sept 17
Had breakfast up in room. I visited Radio City tour. Did shopping. Returned.
Marylin and I had lunch at automat.
Boat Trip around M Island.
Took second trip to Bedfols (??) Island in N.Y. Bay. Statue of Liberty. Went to top of statue. 65 stories in elevator. Walked 168 stories to top. (I think she meant 168 steps) Took pictures.
8:30 saw Hello O Poppies at Winter Gardens. The funniest I ever saw.
__________________
Statue is 151 feet high and rises from a pedestal 155 feet high. It lights the harbor with an electric torch held 306 feet above the water. The highest beacon in the world. Was presented to the US of the people of France as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
__________________
Wed, Sept 18
Marilyn and I had breakfast at automat. Walked over to Radio City. Made tour and watched the skaters. Took taxi home. Had lunch at automat. Went to fair in afternoon. World’s Fair Grounds
__________________
Thur, Sept 19
slept
Mr Fredrich and M Jandt, Mr B went to fair and saw Firestone Tire dare devil ride.
Four of us had dinner at fair. Marilyn and I saw American Jubilee. Jitter Bug. Ripley Believe it or not.
__________________
Friday, Sept 20
Had breakfast in room 10:30 am. Packed from trip to Boston.
Went to Fair and visited Railroads on parade. From Fair to P. Hotel. There to boat.
S.S. Boston at 5:30. Had a beautiful trip. Had dinner on boat. Arrived in Boston 8:30 am Sat morning.
__________________
Site of birth place of Benjamin Franklin. Identical house in which lived Paul Revere 1770-1800
G. Wash Statue. Faneuiel Hall – Cradle of Liberty – 1763. City Square starting point of Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride. Bunker Hill Monument. Christ Church (old North). 1723 from which lanterns were hung to apprise Paul Revere of approaching March of British, King’s Chappel 1749 Burial
__________________
Friday, Sept 20
5:30 took Steamer. S.S. Boston from N.Y. to Boston. Had dinner on boat. All night trip. Saturday morning arrived in Boston 8:30 am
Had breakfast at Hotel Statler. Took 10 o’clock historic tour including home of Paul Revere. Longfellows Home.
__________________
Cambridge Mass
Botanical Museum of Harvard University. There was collection of Blaschka glass model of plants. Glass flowers.
Brookline, wealthiest town in US
Harvard University grounds and blds. Harvard Stadium ag.
Christ Church 1760. Longfellow Home 1759. Home of village Blacksmith.
__________________
Sat, 21
Stayed on bus and made second trip which included the mother church also stopping at C.S. Publishing house went through maporium. Saw world’s largest collection of glass flowers. Saw cemetery where Mrs Eddie is buried. In same cemetery is Booth the assassinator of Pres Lincoln. Longfellow.
__________________
Boston, Sat 22
Left Boston from American Airlines air field. 4:30. Had a beautiful trip. Landed at N. Jersey. Ran into rain storm. A little ruff sailing. Arrived at N.Y. air field 5:45. Went to Penn. Hotel
__________________
Sunday 22 N.Y.
Slept until 11 o’clock. Marilyn and I had breakfast in Hotel Coffee Shop. Took elevated train to Fair and spent most of the afternoon in amusement Park. Mr. Fredrick met us at 5:30 pm. Went to see the Perisphere. Went home early.
__________________
Monday, 23, A. City
Slept late. Packed for Atlantic City. Left 10:30. Had breakfast on train. Arrived A.City 12:40. Enjoyed the board walk. Marilyn played in sand.
__________________
Tuesday, 24, A. City
Late breakfast at Grill. Spent most of day on board walk. Took some pictures. Wind terribly strong. Marylin and I had dinner at Blue Ribbon cafe. Went to see ice review which was most beautiful. Returned 11:30.
__________________
Wed 25, A. City
Up late. Had Breakfast at Blue Ribbon C. Rained and blew most terrible wind. Spent most of day in Hotel. Had dinner Hermans restaurant. Marylin and dad stayed home. I went to church.
__________________
Thurs 26, A. City
Up early. Packed for train at 9:20. Breakfast at Depot for Philadelphia Penn. On penn railroad had nice drawing room. Spent hrs in Phil. Took bus tour including First city hall, original room signing of declaration of independence in 1776.
Liberty bell, Home of Bettie Ross – First American Flag, Old Christ Church 1695, B.F Burial ground, William Penn home
__________________
Sept 26, P. Penn
First World Fair Ground – 1876
World’s Largest Mint – Only 3 in world.
State Prison – those serving long terms or life sentences.
Statue of William Penn on top of City Hall
__________________
The Washington Monument begun in 1848 and completed in 1888 is 555 ft took 37 years to complete. Ascending by way of 898 steps or by rapid elevator to the 504 ft level where wall are pierced by 8 port holes where visitors may view nation’s capitol, white house, Potomac river. Nearby Maryland and Virginia.
The interface of the Monument is buried with memorial stones from almost every state in the union..46

     Photo of Mr and Mrs Strother. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Mr and Mrs Strother
September 1941

     Flora Altenbernd, residing at Rural Route #2, Lawrence, Kansas received a letter from US Guyer, 2nd District of Kansas, House of Representatives.,residing at at House of Representatives, Washington, DC, USA, on 28 May 1941. Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
May 28, 1941

Mrs. William Altenbernd
Rural Route #2
Lawerence, Kansas

My dear Mrs. Altenbernd,

I was sorry to read in the Lawrence Journal World of the death of your good husband, and I want to extend to you and to the members of your family, my sincere and heartfeld condolences in this time of sorrow. Mr. Altenbernd was a fine mand and his early passing is a real loss to the community and to his many friends,

Mrs Guyer wishes to join me in this expression of profound sympathy and extends condolences in your bereavement.

Sincerely yours,

U.S. Guyer.47


     Photo of Julia Stoerker, Ella Mankopf, and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


     The following item appeared New Haven Leader, New Haven, Missouri, USA, on 16 April 1942
Local News
Mrs. Wm. Altenbernd, the former Miss Flora Stoerker, of Lawrence, Kansas visited Friday in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Frei.48


     The following item appeared New Haven Ledger, New Haven, Missouri, USA, on 16 April 1942

Mrs. Wm. Altenbernd and son, John, of Lawernce, Kans., visited Mr. and Mrs Otto Frei last week. Mrs. Altenbernd was Miss Flora Stoerker, formerly of this city.49



     Photo taken by |Sue Myers (#130) circa 1945. Original photo in the possession of John and Flora Altenbernd, Billie & Frank Greb and stepdaughter with Wayn Greb in front.



     Photo of Ella Mankopf, John and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)



     Photo of Julia Stoerker(#62), John(#102) and Flora Altenbernd(#63). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers(#132.)

Julia Stoerker, John and Flora Altenbernd


     Photo of Julia Stoerker, Flora and John Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)

Julia Stoerker, Flora and John Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker

     Flora Altenbernd received a letter from Adolph Stoerker,residing at Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, USA, on 23 November 1948.
November 23, 1948

Dear Flora:-
Let me again thank you for being so very good to Sonny and. myself during our short stay with you. I was uneasy and restless while I was away because I left in the thick of work. However I did not want to see Sonny disappointed entirely to have someone come to Denver to meet him halfway. So I went. And now I feel that I might have been led to make the trip. For I had a good visit with you, got to see Alma before her departure, saw Theo and Frieda, and proved to be instrumental in sending help to all of you in getting Josie to go to Blue Springs. I had made up my mind that she or Marie had to go. But I am glad that Josie went because I feel that she can do a better job since Alma feels closer to her. I was so glad when she said that she would go.

Sorry that you were out when I called you Friday night. I just wanted you to know that help was coming.

Here is the address which I promised to send: Eden Cemetery Association, 9851 Irving Park Boulevard, Shiller Park, Illinois. Rev. Paul Stoerker, Secretary. Please write to him again. He needs some reminders so that he will meet some of his long neglected obligations.

You can be proud of John. He is a fine young gentleman and will make a very promising preacher.

Wishing you both blessings for health and strength!

Sincerely, your brother
Adolph.50


     Photo of Flora and John Altenbernd and Hilda Stoerker. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)

Flora and John Altenbernd and Hilda Stoerker

     The following item appeared New Haven Leader, New Haven, Missouri, USA, on 1 September 1949

Mrs. Wm. Altenbernd and son, John, of Lawernce, Kansas, visited Monday with Mr. and Mrs. Otto Frei.51



     Photo of Ella Mankopf and Flora Altenbernd. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130.)


ME by John Altenbernd

Entertaining


My mother loved to entertain. And entertaining did not mean just inviting someone over for the evening. Entertaining meant supper first and then the evening. Our dining room table and its accessories were heavily used - as were the china and silverware (virtually all of which is now long gone, either broken or lost).
Mom's reputation for cooking was excellent. People still bragged about her cooking to me years later. I was a finicky eater as a kid, so I'm probably not that fit to judge, but I do recall from later years when I was old enough to appreciate such things that I found Morn's cooking to be good, but rather plain for my taste. That, however, is an opinion evidently not shared by Mom's guests.
There were particular dishes Mom fixed with which I felt she had no peer. Hers was the best. One of those dishes was her German potato salad. (I'm exceedingly grateful that Mom passed on that recipe to Sue, who proved to be an apt pupil.)
And Mom's desserts were beyond compare. That is where I thought my mother really shined. I considered her to be a far better baker than a cook.
Entertaining for supper and the evening was one of Mom's great joys. She often seemed to spend as much time running back and forth to the kitchen as sitting at the dining room table, but I'm sure that's a distorted and exaggerated memory. Dad enjoyed it all too. The dining room chair with the arm rests on it was always his to sit in, as head of the house.


(.)52
     Flora Altenbernd and John Stoerker Altenbernd appeared on the census of 1953 RR2, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA; At the time of the Kansas Census, Flora was 58 ad John was 23.53
     Flora Altenbernd received a postcard from Adolph Stoerker on 2 August 1953.
Aug. 2 - 1953
We send greetings to you from Orlando. Had 3 Sundays vacation so drove down to see our old friend. Wish we could visit together again. Expect to be in Aurora with Sonny about the 10th.

Love, Marie & Adolph.54


     Photo of Sheila Altenbernd circa December 1953 farmhouse near Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Flora (#63) and John (#102) Altenbernd.10

Flora and John Altenbernd
Farmhouse near Eudora Kansas


     Photo. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130). Eleanor Stoerker, Flora Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker, John Altenbernd, ?,?, Mildred and C.F. Stoerker.

Eleanor Stoerker, Flora Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker, John Altenbernd, ?,?, Mildred and C.F. Stoerker


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) on 27 June 1954 Altenbernd Farm, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). John Altenbernd's Ordination.10

Flora Altenbernd
John Altenbernd's Ordination
June 27, 1954


     Photo of Ella Mankopf (#60) and Flora Altenbernd (#63). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Ella Mankopf and Flora Altenbernd


     Photo of Flora and Will Altenbernd on their wedding day on 27 May 1955 in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Will and Flora Altenbernd
Wedding Day
May 24, 1927

ME by John Altenbernd

Ordination Day


Ordination Day was a day to be approached with some degree of fear and trembling as well as with joy and anticipation. It marked the end of a lot of things as well as marking a beginning.
I was 25 years old. I had been in school ever since I was 6, and that had been a long time. There would now be no more of that. While school carries with it a great deal of responsibility, it is still a kind of sheltered responsibility. From here on I would be on my own. Instead of being a student under somebody, I would be the head man.
The farm house in Kansas would no longer be my home. And I did love that place. I had neither the desire nor the natural talent and knowledge to be a farmer, but I did love being there and working on it. There's a great difference between working on a farm and having the know-how to run it. My genes were primarily from the Stoerker family rather than from the Altenbernds, and I was smart enough to know that early on. Any attempt at farming as a living would have been doomed to disaster. I hated leaving the farm, but I've never had regrets for having done so.
I had already accepted the dual pastorate of St. John's and Bethany Churches in Berger, Missouri, so I knew where I was going. July 11 would be my first Sunday there. I had been serving there as student supply during the last few months at Eden, so I had some knowledge of the place and of the people. And although it was a farming community, as was the Kaw Valley of Kansas, it was a vastly different world. Around Lawrence and Eudora things and people were as much urban as rural, not at all the usual stereotype of country people. Berger, particularly around Bethany Church, was very definitely and exclusively rural. I wasn't at all sure I would like Berger, but I had to start somewhere. So this too was on my mind that day.
June 27 was a Sunday. The Ordination service would be that evening at St. Paul's Church in Eudora. Uncle Adolph Stoerker and Aunt Marie, with their daughter Joanne (now Kleuter), were there at the farm house from Aurora, Illinois, where he was pastor. Uncle Adolph was on vacation, and they were visiting my mother. Also there was Rev. Myron Ross, a friend from Eden (black) who had been ordained a year earlier. He was not yet married.
Uncle Fred Stoerker, pastor of Zion Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Aunt Hilda would come in that afternoon. He was to

Page 610

be the ordaining pastor. They would be bringing with them his student assistant for the summer, Lorenz ("Ike") Eichenlaub, another old friend from Eden who would be ordained two years later.
Rev. Karl Baur and his wife, Betty, would come from Kansas City in time for the service. Karl Baur had been pastor at Eudora during my teen years, and I had dated his daughter, Joan, who was now married and would not be with them.
Dr. Harold Barr, Dean of the School of Religion at Kansas University, was to be the preacher at the service. He only had to come from Lawrence so he would go directly to the church.
Rev. James McAllister, my roommate my Senior year at Eden, was also scheduled to be there but couldn't make it. He was a Methodist, and he was transferred to Roodhouse, Illinois, from Payson, Illinois, that week. So he was busy moving.
All the ministers mentioned above would participate in the Ordination service, along with Rev. Joseph Polster who was pastor in Eudora at the time. Rev. Polster was a half-educated, boorish, obnoxious man for whom I had little use, but as pastor of the church he could not simply be left out and ignored.
We went to church that morning as usual. It wasn't long before it became obvious that this was going to be a very hot day - and it would remain hot into the evening.
There was a lot of picture taking that afternoon. St. Paul's Church had given me a pulpit robe (Not the one I now have. That one long since wore out), and there was a lot of posing in it for the benefit of other people's cameras, I would wear the robe that evening at the service.
My mother continued with preparations for a reception at the house after the service that evening. With a large front porch and a large lawn on a summer evening, space was no problem.
The service was splendid. Dr. Barr was at his preaching best. Rev. Polster behaved himself. I was afraid he might decide to say "a. few words" somewhere along the line (something he could do with embarrassing frequency, and when he did so it usually was a display of ignorance).
When the time came for my formal Ordination, Uncle Fred called me forth and I stood before him. Uncle Fred was flanked by Uncle Adolph, Rev. Baur, Rev. Ross, Rev. Barr, and Rev. Polster. Uncle Fred asked me, and I accepted, the vows of service to God and to the Church. I then knelt for the laying


Page 611


on of hands. Uncle Fred's hand was on my head, and the hands of the others were on top of his. Uncle Fred then pronounced the words of Ordination.
I then rose and accepted the hand of fellowship and collegiality from each of the ordained pastors before me. I was one of them now. I said a few words of appreciation to them and to the assembled congregation, pronounced the benediction (my first official act as an ordained pastor), and the service ended.
     I was very moved by it all, a highlight of my life.
The church was nearly full. St. Paul's congregation had turned out in force for me, only the second son of the congregation ever to be ordained. (Rev. Carl Schmidt was the other one a good many years earlier.) Other friends and relatives were there too. Among them was a surprise - Rev. Theodore Hauck from Higginsville, Missouri, who had baptized me years before when he was pastor of St. Paul's. He had arrived a little late, and we didn't know he was there or we would have asked him to participate in the Ordination.
A good many of them were at the house afterward for the reception, including Uncle Carl Altenbernd and Aunt Mattie, cousins of mine - Homer and Charlotte Altenbernd, Herb and Peggy Altenbernd, Helen and Al Wichman, Irene and John Vogel, and Frieda and Arthur Heck. There was also my father's hired hand when I was a boy, Oscar Russell. He was an old man by then, and I hadn't seen him in years.
     I wished my father had lived long enough to have been there.
There was only one negative note in the whole thing. Connie Peters had said she would drive down for the Ordination. I was expecting her. But she neither showed nor called. That hurt a bit.


* * * * * * * * * * *

I was the second son of St. Paul's Church to enter the ministry. Carl Schmidt, brother of Ralph Schmidt, had been ordained in 1930.


( at St Paul's Church, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, on 27 June 1955.)55

     Photo of John Altenbernd (#102) and Flora Altenbernd (#63), Ronnie and Diane Leffoholz with Mother. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

John and Flora Altenbernd
Diane and Ronnie Leffholz with mother


     Photo of John Altenbernd (#102) and Flora Altenbernd (#63). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

John and Flora Altenbernd


     Photo. Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers (#130). Julia and Fred Stoerker, Flora Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker.

Julia and Fred Stoerker, Flora Altenbernd, Hilda Stoerker
Flora Altenbernd was hospitalized on 11 July 1959 at Deaconess Hospital, St Louis, Independent City, Missouri, USA. She had an appendectomy.56

     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) and Julia Stoerker (#62) in 1960. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Altenbernd and Julia Stoerker
1960


     Photo of Ella Mankopf (#60), Hulda Schrodder, and Flora Altenbernd (#63) at Grace and Billie's home on 12 December 1960. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)11

Ella Mankopf, Hulda Schorder, Flora Altenbernd
Taken at Grace and Billie's home
December1960

     Circa 1961
The Farm Is Sold


     I can't remember the exact year anymore, but it was during our latter years in Concord Village. Mom felt she could no longer take care of the big farm house and the big yard anymore the way she wanted to. Also she no longer wanted the responsibility of the farm itself. My cousin, Herb Altenbernd, was renting it on a partnership basis, but there was still the matter of sharing costs and profits, as well as the upkeep of the farm buildings. Mom was old enough to be drawing Social Security anyway.
     So she decided to sell the farm and move to Lawrence. Herb wanted very badly to buy it. Our farm, after all, was the Altenbernd home place. But Herb couldn't come up with enough money to do that.
     The farm was sold to a young Kansas University professor and his wife who simply wanted to live in the country. The proviso was made that Herb would continue renting the farm land. The University couple (I can't remember their name) made a down payment and agreed to pay Mom so much per year until the farm was paid for, which they did with no hitches or delays along the way. I don't remember the price, but it was a good deal less than what could have been gotten a few years later when farm land began skyrocketing in price. But at the time it was a good price.
     The farm house and the couple's house in Lawrence were simply traded even up. The house in Lawrence was 418 Nebraska Street on the extreme south side of town. It was a nice, large home in a nice and relatively new area. Mom was able to bring all her furnishings with her from the farm house.
     I missed the farm when we went back for visits, and I was sorry the girls did not get to know the farm better. I think only Sheila really remembers it.
     But my mother quickly made her new house as warm and as comfortable a place as she had the old. The farm was sold again, and resold, after that. The barn has since burned down. I drove out to the farm in later years to see a rather ugly coat of green paint on the house, and the white rail fence was in sad disrepair. I felt badly about that, and it was many years before I saw the place again.
     I saw it again in 1982, and I was pleased to see it had been generally restored. It looked very nice again.
     Very little is left of the proceeds from the farm. Mom lost a little of it with some bad investments. She had to live on some of it. Her long illness took more of it, and my long stretch of hard times took still more of it.


     The couple who bought the farm were Robert D. and Wilma Van Der Stelt. The house at 418 Nebraska Street m Lawrence where my mother later lived belonged to the Van Der Stelts and was part payment for the farm.57



     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) in 1961 at Ella Stoerker, St Louis, Missouri, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172). Arriving and Leaving from Ella's.10

Flora Altenbernd
1961
Ella Stoerker's House
St Louis, Missouri
"Here I am! Let me in!"
Flora Altenbernd
1961
Ella Stoerker's House
St Louis, Missouri
"Leaving for home from Ella's"


     Photo of Ella Stoerker (#60) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) in December 1961 at Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)58

Ella Stoerker and Flora Altenbernd
December 1961
Eudora, Kansas

     She resided 418 Nebraska, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, in 1963.59

     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) Nebraska Street, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Altenbernd
Lawrence Kansas
Flora Altenbernd
Lawrence Kansas


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd (#63) in 1965 Nebraska Street, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Flora Altenbernd
Lawrence Kansas
1965
Flora Altenbernd
Lawrence Kansas
1965


     Photo of Ella Stoerker (#60), Flora Altenbernd (#63), and Debbie Altenbernd (#173) at Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10

Ella Stoerker, Flora and Debbie Altenbernd
Lawrence, Kansas


     Photo of Julia Stoerker (#62), Marion Stoerker (#122), Flora Altenbernd (#63). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers(#132.)

Julia Stoerker, Marion Stoerker, Flora Altenbernd


     Photo of Flora Altenbernd(#63), Julia Stoerker(#62), Marion(#122) and Molly Stoerker(#192), Molly's mother(#3136). Original photo in the possession of Sue Myers(#132.)

Flora Altenbernd, Julia Stoerker, Marion and Molly Stoerker, Molly's mother


     Photo of Julia Stoerker (#62) and Flora Altenbernd(#63). Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)

Julia Stoerker and Flora Altenbernd

     Flora Altenbernd was diagnosed with cancer.10
ME by John Altenbernd

Mom Comes with Us


     Things were going badly again for my mother. She had had a few good years following her mastectomy. In fact, we all thought she had come through it all with the cancer eliminated.
     Dr. Pennington, the Herrells' doctor, had checked Mom out while we lived in Collinsville, and we found out differently - or at least I did. I'm not sure what my mother knew at that point. When it came to the matter of cancer we soon learned that Mom just stopped listening. Still later, I learned that Dr. Nelson in Lawrence knew immediately following Mom's surgery that there would be a recurrence. He just didn't tell us, knowing there was nothing further to be done anyway - except for the post-operative therapy. Personally, I'm glad Dr. Nelson kept his silence. That gave Mom and me both an extra two or three years with nothing foreboding hanging over us.
     But now over the Winter of 1970-71 it was becoming increasingly difficult for Mom to live alone. The Larry Rices, a young couple, rented rooms from my mother and generally looked out for her, doing her shopping and such. They liked my mother, and she liked them.
     But Mom could barely get around anymore, using a cane, and later a walker, with considerable difficulty. There were also frequent stays in the hospital.
     Mom did not like the idea of leaving all her friends around Lawrence and Eudora, and she had no great desire to live with us. But there came a time when there no longer seemed to be any choice.
     Mom still believed - or at least kept on trying to believe - that her condition would improve, and she could live by herself again. So she kept her house in Lawrence. The Rices kept on living there even after Mom left.
     I drove to Lawrence and got my mother to bring her to Godfrey. Aunt Julie Stoerker had come to Lawrence to see my mother, and she would make the trip to Godfrey with us.
     It was a long and uncomfortable trip for my mother. She and Aunt Julie rode in the back seat. This was early April of 1971. I remember listening to the St. Louis Cardinals' opening game of the baseball season on the car radio.
     Mom was very stiff in the legs when we got to Godfrey. And with our split-level house there were steps to go up, which we negotiated with great difficulty.
     We put Mom in the bedroom on the southwest corner of the house. Mom would spend most of her time in there as she became less and less able to walk, even with the aid of a walker.
     Aunt Julie stayed a few days and then went home to St. James, Missouri.
     I talked to Al Springman about installing some sort of a buzzer system in Mom's bedroom so that we could hear her even if we were downstairs.
     I got the name of a doctor from the Frank Parkers who was willing to take on my mother as a patient. We got Mom to his office once with considerable difficulty and the use of a wheel chair. I forget his name. Mom didn't like him, and we never went back to him.
     I can't recall anymore just how long Mom lived with us at that point. It wasn't very long. Mom's worsening condition would soon dictate another trip to the hospital. And Mom would want Lawrence and Dr. Nelson for that.


( circa 1971.)60
ME by John Altenbernd

Back to the Hospital


     Mom was feeling worse. Her ability to walk had lessened severely even in a short time. Mom thought that maybe Dr. Nelson could do something for her if she went back into the hospital in Lawrence. Medicare would cover most of the expense -- at least for a while.
     So it was decided we would go back to Lawrence. Sue would go with us to take care of Mom's needs as I drove.
     Dean Calvert and a neighbor of his came to our house the morning of our leaving. They carried Mom out of the house and into the car with no trouble at all. We were on our way.
     Apparently arrangements had already been made for Mom to enter Lawrence Memorial Hospital. There seemed to be no question of her going in as I recall. Maybe we had done that with Dr. Nelson by telephone. I don't remember.
     Mom did not want to go directly to the hospital however. She wanted to go to her home on Nebraska Street. She wanted to see the place once more and spend one more night there. Maybe she realized then that this would be the last time.
     We took her on to the hospital then the next day. We stayed a couple of days until she was situated, and Sue and I drove back to Godfrey.
     I made the trip back to Lawrence a few times in the next few weeks, staying in Mom's house and then visiting her at the hospital.
     Dr. Nelson took me aside and said that the hospital was putting pressure on him to dismiss Mom. She might have to go into a home, he said, and he recommended one. I checked it out while I was there. It seemed to be clean and well-run. I told Dr. Nelson to go ahead and move her there if that became necessary. Dr. Nelson told me he would try to make any stay in the nursing home as brief as possible. Once out of the hospital, Mom could then be readmitted within reasonable time with her Medicare benefits renewed.
     This came about more quickly than I had anticipated however. I thought I would have a notice of a day or two to get to Lawrence and talk to Mom about it. But it was all done suddenly. Mom called me from the nursing home. And she was very upset. She didn't like this at all.
     Something prevented my going to Lawrence immediately. (Maybe it was a funeral. I don't recall.) So it was two days following before I got to Lawrence. I went directly to the nursing home and found that Mom had been readmitted to the hospital already. Her

total stay in the nursing home had been three days. When Dr. Nelson said he would make the stay as brief as possible he wasn't kidding.
     But Mom was totally bedfast now. She would never walk again, not even with a walker. There was hardly any sitting up even after that.
     The handwriting was on the wall now. Mom's stay in the hospital would be limited. There was no way possible that Sue and I could take care of her at our house. Some kind of arrangement would have to be made before very long.


( circa 1971.)61
ME by John Altenbernd

Eunice Smith


     The Eunice Smith Home was the Extended Care Unit of Alton Memorial Hospital, a very nice place. I'm not sure how we first began considering it as a place for my mother. Sue was working at Alton Memorial Hospital as secretary to Chaplain Charles Hill by then. Ruth Hill was a volunteer at the Home. So all that is probably what led us there.
     I checked it out, and I talked to the woman in the office in regard to cost, care, and requirements - and Medicare. The woman was Loretta Tagg, mother of Lyn's friend, Mary Tagg.
     The cost would be frightfully expensive, more than just the cost of a nursing home. Medicare would cover most of it for a while, but not for long. There was no way of knowing how long Mom might linger. The expense could wipe her out - and then what? But there was nothing else to do.
     Mom could no longer sit up for three hundred miles in my car. I knew that. The Fritz Nielssons offered me their station wagon. A mattress could be put in the back and serve pretty well as a bed.
     It was the Fall of the year, but the weather was still warm. Sue and I drove the Nielssons' station wagon to Lawrence to the hospital. Hospital attendants made Mom as comfortable as possible and we headed back for the Eunice Smith Home in Alton.
     The fan belt broke on the way, and that caused a delay at a gas station that we did not need. They had trouble getting on a new fan belt. At one point they were shaking the car hard trying to get it on. One of them said, "Don't do that. Can't you see there's a sick lady in there?"
     We got the rest of the way with no further mishap. I parked in front of the Eunice Smith Home and Loretta Tagg put out a call on the intercom for nurses to go outside to the car to help bring Mom in.
     These may have been women, but they certainly had no lack of strength - or maybe it was just knowing how. They got Mom out of the car and into her bed with ease.
     The Eunice Smith Home would be Mom's last earthly home. Mom would linger on, getting unbelievably bad, yet still hanging on. (I'm convinced that Mom believed it was wrong to give up, that giving up was simply a form of suicide, which she regarded as an immoral act. So Mom fought for life when she no longer should have.) Her pain and suffering were terrible.


Page 1051


Our doctor looked in on her periodically. "I assume," he said to me once, "that you want no heroic measures taken to keep her alive." I said I didn't. Nothing further was ever said nor suggested about putting Mom on any kind of life sustaining equipment.
     Martha Lefholz made the trip from Lawrence to see Mom once. I think her daughter, Diane Kennedy, was with her. John and Joann Klueter came. So did Eleanor Stoerker. Uncle Theo Stoerker and Aunt Frieda were there from St. Charles with, some frequency. I think Aunt Julia Stoerker came once, although she was getting quite frail too by then.
     Mom would be out of it sometimes, and we would think she was sinking into a coma, but she would always come out of it. She remained aware and knowing almost until the very end.
     Mom's last months can only be described as sheer horror. An earlier death would have been a blessing for her.
     Mom did outlive her Medicare, and the last months of payments to Eunice Smith came from her estate.

**************

The physician who looked in on Mom at Eunice Smith was Dr. Norman Taylor.


( in 1971.)62
ME by John Altenbernd

Sheba Makes a Visit


     Mom always had a special fondness for little Sheba. Mom had never been keen on the idea of dogs being in the house, but Sheba was different. Anytime we had gone to Lawrence to visit Mom, Sheba was always welcome to make herself at home.
     In the Fall of 1971 Mom was in the Eunice Smith Home in Alton, Illinois, slowing dying from cancer. She made the comment one day that she wished she could see Sheba again and pet her a little.
     Mom's room was the first one down the corridor to the left from the front lobby. So, one evening when Sue and I went to visit her we brought Sheba along in the car. The Eunice Smith Home would have frowned upon animals in the place, so we didn't bother to ask permission. It's easier to do something if you haven't been told "no" in the first place.
     We left Sheba out in the car and visited with Mom until after visiting hours were over. Then we stayed with her still longer until they turned out the lights in the lobby. The corridor had on one dim light.
     Then we went out into the lobby. Sue stayed so she could open the door from the inside to let me back in. I went to the car and got Sheba. Sue let me in. We were hoping Sheba wouldn't bark. She was a good girl - more frightened by the strange surroundings probably than any effort to be good - and didn't bark.
     We looked down the corridor to make sure no nurses were immediately around to see us. Then we took Sheba into Mom's room.
     Mom petted her and talked to her for a while. Sheba remained very good, although obviously ill at ease in this strange place.
     Then we peeked down the corridor again - still no nurses in view. And we sneaked back out.
     That was the last time Mom saw Sheba.


( in 1971.)63
     The following item appeared the Lawrence Journal World, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, on 24 March 1972
MRS. FLORA ALTENBERND
     Funeral Services for Mrs. Flora Altenbernd, 77, of 418 Neb., who died this morning in a nursing home in Alton, Ill., will be at 10 a.m. Monday in the St. Paul United Church of Christ in Eudora.
     The Rev. Maynard Beemer will be in charge. Burial will be in the Eudora Cemetery.
     Friends may call from 3 to 9 p..m. Sunday at Warren Mortuary.
     The family suggests memorial contributions to the St. Paul Church, of which Mrs. Altenbernd was a member.
     Mrs. Altenbernd was born April 27, 1894, in Morrison, Mo. She lived in Eudora before moving to Lawrence.
     She is survived by a son, the Rev. John Altenbernd, whom she had been visiting in Godfrey, Ill; two sisters, Mrs. Frieda Mohr, Pueblo, Colo., and Julia Stoerker, St. James, Mo., and two brothers, the Rev. Theophil Stroeker, St. Charles, Mo., and Carroll Stroeker, Pittsburg, Mo.6


     Flora died on 24 April 1972 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois, USA, at age 77.11,6,7 She was buried after 24 April 1972 Eudora City Cemetery, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA, at.11

     Photo of Altenbernd Farm taken by Sheila Altenbernd (#172) in 1983 near Altenbernd Farm, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, USA. Original photo in the possession of Sheila Altenbernd (#172.)10
     Recipe for lebkuchen from Flora Altenbernd.

     Recipe for salmon salad from Flora Altenbernd.

     Recipe for German Potato Salad from Flora Altenbernd.64
Flora Altenbernd (#63) German Potato Salad

     Recipe for Misc recipes from Flora Stoerker.

     Recipe for Lime Pie from Flora Stoerker This came from "Frieda", but which Frieda?

     Recipe for Checkerboard Cake from Flora Altenbernd.
She was a witness to (an unknown value) with Alma Myers.
Last Edited=29 August 2023

Child of Flora Stoerker and William John Altenbernd

Citations

  1. [S158] SSDI, unknown file number, Social Security Death Index, unknown series (n.p.: LDS - Version 1.13, 1988) . Hereinafter cited as Social Security Death Index.
  2. [S136] Flora Stoerker (#63), Birth Certificate 455095 (Feb 4, 1957), unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  3. [S78] William Herrell (#128), "Bill Herrell's Genealogy Records (copy)" (New Haven, Missouri). Supplied by Mike Herrell - 1991 . Hereinafter cited as "Bill Herrell Records."
  4. [S81] Theophil Stoerker unknown date.
  5. [S386] Fred Stoerker(#14) household, Census 1900, Washington County, Illinois, population schedule, Plum Hill, Enumeration District (ED) 144, sheet 1B, dwelling 10, family 11, National Archives micropublication T623 349, viewed at Ancestry.com.
  6. [S1077] Flora Altenbernd (#63) Obituary, Lawrence Journal World, Lawrence, Kansas, March 24, 1972, page 7, column 6, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19720324&id=BSQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SOcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5500,3378497 on April 1, 2010 . Hereinafter cited as Lawrence Journal World.
  7. [S1551] Unknown author Complete Tombstone Census of Douglas County Kansas, II Page: 127. (Douglas County, Kansas: Douglas County Genealogical Society, 1989) (Document Source Number: 00055-1989-00-00-01). Hereinafter cited as Complete Tombstone Census.
  8. [S88] Flora Stoerker unknown date.
  9. [S1418] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Mom's Early Life" in ME; Page(s) 28-32.1; Published:.
  10. [S157] Sheila Sue Altenbernd unknown date.
  11. [S25] John Stoerker Altenbernd unknown date.
  12. [S406] Flora (#63) Stoerker, "Stoerker, Flora (#63) - Confirmation" (Confirmation, New Haven, Missouri, April 12, 1908) (Document Source Number: 00063-1908-04-12-01). Hereinafter cited as "Stoerker, Flora (#63) - Confirmation."
  13. [S1790] Flora (#63) Stoerker, "Stoerker, Flora (#63) - Confirmation Program" (Confirmation, New Haven, Missouri, April 12, 1908) (Document Source Number: 00063-1908-04-12-02). Hereinafter cited as "Stoerker, Flora (#63) - Confirmation Program."
  14. [S1592] Unknown volume, unknown title, (May 21, 1908), unknown repository, unknown repository address (Document Source Number: 00063-1908-05-21-01). Hereinafter cited as Diploma.
  15. [S1593] Unknown volume, unknown title, (May 16, 1908), unknown repository, unknown repository address (Document Source Number: 00063-1908-05-16-01). Hereinafter cited as Diploma.
  16. [S1635] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65) (New Haven, Missouri) to Flora Stoerker (#63) February 6, 1909. (1909). (Document Source Number: 00065-1909-02-06-01).
  17. [S1636] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65) and Theophil Stoerker (#64)to Flora Stoerker (#63) February 1914. (1914). (Document Source Number: 00065-1914-04-00-01).
  18. [S1422] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"The Great Courtship" in ME; Page(s) 33-36; Published:.
  19. [S616] Letter from Wilhelimine Stoerker (#20) (unknown author address) to Flora (#63) (unknown recipient address); Sheila Sue Altenbernd (7461 River Bend Circle, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA, at).
  20. [S122] Letter from Wilhelmine Cunoto Flora Stoerker 1921.
  21. [S1588] Jefferson City Missouri City Directory (n.p.: n.pub., 1921), Page 263. Viewed at MyHeritage (Document Source Number: 00063-1921-00-00-01). Hereinafter cited as City Directory.
  22. [S1589] Jefferson City Missouri City Directory (n.p.: n.pub., 1925), Page 220. Viewed at MyHeritage (Document Source Number: 00063-1925-00-00-01). Hereinafter cited as City Directory.
  23. [S652] Letter from Gottlob Stoerker (#66) (Kansas City, Missouri) to Flora Stoerker (#63) (7461 River Bend Circle, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA, at) June 1, 1922.
  24. [S75] Marion Adolph Stoerker unknown date.
  25. [S1645] John Klueter (#193) May 23, 2022 (Document Source Number: 00193-2022-05-23-01).
  26. [S609] Conrad Stoerker (#14) Obituary, St Charles Newspaper, St Charles, Missouri, USA, June 13, 1927 . Hereinafter cited as St Charles Newspaper.
  27. [S611] Telegram from Paul Stoeker (#59) (St Charles, Missouri, USA) to Flora Stoerker (#63) (633 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA), June 13, 1927; unknown repository (unknown repository address).
  28. [S614] Letter from Conrad Stoerker (#14) (St Charles, Missouri) to Flora Stoerker (#63) (607 Clark Avenue, Jefferson City, Missouri USA), Feb 21, 1927; Sheila Sue Altenbernd (7461 River Bend Circle, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA, at).
  29. [S1596] William Altenbernd and Flora Stoerker marriage, May 24, 1927, unknown repository, unknown repository address. Unknown manuscript info. (Document Source Number: 00055-1927-05-24-01).
  30. [S1082] Letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker (#20) (unknown author address) to William (#55) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) (unknown recipient address), Abt Jan 1929; unknown repository (unknown repository address).
  31. [S1639] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65) (Norwood, Ohio) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) May 10, 1929. (1929). (Document Source Number: 00065-1929-05-10-01).
  32. [S1789] Letter from Julia Stoerker (#62) (1020 South Fourth Street, Saint Charles, Missouri) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) and William Altenbernd (#55) June 13, 1929. (2022). (Document Source Number: 00062-1929-06-13-01).
  33. [S1084] Letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker (#20) (1027 South 4th St Charles, Missouri) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) (699 Clark Street, Jefferson City, Missouri), October 21, 1929; unknown repository (unknown repository address).
  34. [S1083] Letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker (#20) (1021 South 4th St Charles, Missouri) to William (#55) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) (Lawrence, Kansas), December 21, 1929; unknown repository (unknown repository address).
  35. [S615] Letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker (#20) (1021 South 4th Street, St Charles, Missouri) to William (#55) and Flora Altenbernd (#63) (RR2, Lawrence, Kansas), December 29, 1929; unknown repository (unknown repository address).
  36. [S1291] Adolph Stoerker Foristell and Community, Warrenton Banner, Warrenton, Missouri, September 19, 1930, page 3, column 4, www.newspapers.com, viewed at www.newspapers.com on February 26, 2017 (Document Source Number: 00065-1930-09-19-03) . Hereinafter cited as Warrenton Banner.
  37. [S1134] Letter from Reaka Hoelzel (#51) (Sheila Altenbernd, 12230 W Washington Street, Avondale, Arizona) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) July 1, 1931. (2010).
  38. [S1421] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Trip to Colorado" in ME; Page(s) 61-63; Published:.
  39. [S1072] Letter from Wilhelmine Stoerker (#20)to Flora and William Altenbernd (7461 River Bend Circle, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA, at) January 6 1933. (1933).
  40. [S1640] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65) (Gary, Indiana) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) February 10, 1935. (1935). (Document Source Number: 00065-1935-02-10-01).
  41. [S1642] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65)to Flora Altenbernd (#63) April 19, 1935. (1935). (Document Source Number: 00065-1935-04-19-01).
  42. [S1081] Stoerker, Wilhellmina (#20) Receipt.
  43. [S1424] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Jean" in ME; Page(s) 170.2; Published:.
  44. [S1423] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Flora's Bakery" in ME; Page(s) 176-177; Published:.
  45. [S508] William Altenbernd (#55) household, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Douglas County, Kansas, population schedule, town of Eudora Township, enumeration district (ED) 23-3, supervisor's district (SD) 8, sheet 8A, family 185, National Archives micropublication . Viewed at www.ancestry.com . Hereinafter cited as 1940 Census.
  46. [S1792] "Altenbernd, Flora (#63) Journal," (MS, September 10, 1940 - September 26, 1940; unknown location); unknown repository reference, unknown repository; unknown repository address (Document Source Number: 00063-1940-09-10-01). Hereinafter cited as "Journal."
  47. [S1135] Letter from US Guyer (Sue Myers, Arnold, Missouri) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) May 28, 1941. (2010).
  48. [S1846] Flora Altenbernd (#63) Local News, New Haven Leader, New Haven, Missouri, May 21, 1953, page 6, column 5, www.newspapers.com on June 24, 2023 (Document Source Number: 00063-1953-05-21-01) . Hereinafter cited as New Haven Leader.
  49. [S1844] Flora Altenbernd (#63) unknown article title, New Haven Leader, New Haven, Missouri, April 16, 1942, page 5, column 1, www.newspapers.com on June 24, 2023 (Document Source Number: 00063-1942-04-16-01) . Hereinafter cited as New Haven Leader.
  50. [S1638] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65) (301 Fifth Street, Aurora, Illinois) to Flora Altenbernd (#63) November 23, 1948. (1948). (Document Source Number: 00065-1948-11-23-01).
  51. [S1845] Flora Altenbernd (#63) unknown article title, New Haven Leader, New Haven, Missouri, September 1, 1949, page 3, column 1, www.newspapers.com on June 24, 2023 (Document Source Number: 00063-1949-09-01-01) . Hereinafter cited as New Haven Leader.
  52. [S1420] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Entertaining" in ME; Page(s) 148.2; Published:.
  53. [S1564] Unknown household, March 1, 1953 State Census, Eudora, Douglas County, Kansas, unknown record info, unknown repository unknown repository address. (Document Source Number: 00063-1953-03-01-01).
  54. [S1643] Letter from Adolph Stoerker (#65)to Flora Altenbernd (#63) August 2, 1953. (1953). (Document Source Number: 00065-1953-08-02-01).
  55. [S1410] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Ordination Day" in ME; Page(s) 609-611; Published:.
  56. [S1484] Deborah Altenbernd (#173) Announces Birth, Washington Missourian, Washington, Missouri, July 16, 1959, page 5, column 3, www.newspapersarchive.com, viewed at www.newspapersarchive.com on May 2, 2020 (Document Source Number: 00173-1959-07-16-01) . Hereinafter cited as Washington Missourian.
  57. [S1425] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"The Farm is Sold" in ME; Page(s) 808-808.1; Published:.
  58. [S262] Sara Sue Herrell unknown date.
  59. [S1535] Lawrence City Directory 1963 (500 Keystone Bldg. Kansas City, Missouri: RL Polk & Co, 1963), Page 6. Library Reference Number: GC 978.102 L43P 1963 (Document Source Number: 00063-1963-00-00-01). Hereinafter cited as Lawrence City Directory 1963.
  60. [S1427] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Mom Comes with Us" in ME; Page(s) 1039-1040; Published:.
  61. [S1428] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Back to the Hospital" in ME; Page(s) 1046-1047; Published:.
  62. [S1429] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Eunice Smith" in ME; Page(s) 1050-1051; Published:.
  63. [S1430] John Stoerker Altenbernd,"Sheba Makes a Visit" in ME; Page(s) 1052; Published:.
  64. [S1578] Sue Myers (#130), "Myers, Sue (#130) - Email 2019-09-02," e-mail message (Nashville, Tennessee) to Sheila Altenbernd (#172), September 2, 2019. Hereinafter cited as "Email". (Document Source Number: 00063-0000-00-00-12).
  65. [S1587] John Altenbernd (#102), social security application 66295516151, April 1956, (Document Source Number: 00102-1956-04-00-01).