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Bederski / Rears Family History
Stefan Bederski was born in Wysoka, Poland on September 3, 1843, the son of Francis and Rosalie Bederski. As a curious side-note, there was a somewhat famous Antoni Bederski, a Polish philologist, librarian, editor, and director of the Raczynski Library in the Polish city of Poznan. Antoni was born in Wysoka in 1848. Whether he is related to Stefan is currently unknown.
While we have no idea if Stefan's future wife was born in the same town, Theodora Kulinski was born somewhere in Poland on May 17, 1851. Her parents were James and Augusta Kulinski.
Theodora arrived in America in 1870; Stefan in 1873. Shortly after he arrived, Stefan married Theodora in Newark on June 2, 1873. They lived at several locations in Newark before finally settling at 37 Tillinghast Street.
Stefan was a shoemaker by trade. Theodora gave birth to ten children, but only seven survived into adulthood.
Michael Reuss was born in Bavaria, Germany. While there is no documental evidence, it appears Michael married Apollonia Rothman in Germany around 1850. In any case, their first child was born there in 1851. The young family made their way to America where they were married in Manhattan on August 6, 1853. Apollonia would give birth to five more children before her early death at 35 on March 18, 1863. Michael found another wife, Veronica Reich, marrying her in the same year as Apollonia's death. She went on to give birth to another seven children, including Georg Rears, who was born in Newark, New Jersey on February 25, 1873. The surname Reuss was Americanized to Rears. Michael and his two wives were responsible for the births of thirteen children.
Georg Rears would grow up to marry Stefan and Theodora's second child, Rosalia Louisa Bederski, in Newark, on August 11, 1894. Georg and Rosalia had eleven children, but like Stefan and Theodora, three of the children died in infancy.
We will start with the Bederski family.
On March 11, 1874, Stefan and Theodora's first child was born in Newark. This was (1) Maria "Mary" Bederski. A month before her 16th birthday, a very pregnant Mary married a plumber named Petrus "Peter" Johann Germann, in Newark on February 16, 1890. Peter was born to German immigrants on October 30, 1870. They lived initially with Mary's parents at 21 Lillie Street in Newark. They had five children.
Mary and Peter's first child was (1) Catherine Germann, born in Newark, three weeks after their marriage, on March 5, 1890. By 1910, the family had moved to 18 22nd Street in Irvington. Nearby lived the Nosher family at 65 22nd Street. This was Johann Nosher and his wife Margaret (Auhl) Nosher. They had a son, Ludovicus Franciscus Nosher, born in Newark on July 2, 1883. He was known by the name Louis. On September 6, 1911, Catherine and Louis were married. They had one child, a son named Louis Peter Nosher, born in Irvington on January 26, 1913.
Louis, the father, worked as a bookkeeper for a leather manufacturer and as manager of a candle and soap store early in the marriage. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion. By 1920, the Noshers were living with Catherine's parents, Peter and Mary, at 27 22nd Street in Irvington. Peter and Mary owned the house, and Louis and Catherine paid them rent. Louis still worked as a bookkeeper. Mary was only 47 years old when she died in November of 1921. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
By 1930, the Noshers and Germanns lived together at 114 Elmwood Avenue in Irvington. Louis now worked as a clerk in a real estate office. Peter was a department store salesman. In 1935, the Noshers were living with Catherine's brother Adam Germann and his family back at 27 22nd Street. Louis and Adam both paid rent; Louis $34 and Adam $30.
Peter was 67 years old when he died on December 6, 1937. He was buried with Mary at Holy Sepulchre.
Louis worked part-time at an archery concession at an amusement park. His annual salary in 1939 was $400. His son Louis was an optician and helped support the family with an annual salary of $1400.
Louis Peter Nosher, after becoming an optician, married Pauline Sachs in 1943. She was born in Newark on March 6, 1911. They lived in South Orange and raised three children. Louis was a member of the Optimist Club of Irvington, the Greenbriar Men's Club and the Greenbriar Art Group. He was 5' 8" tall and weighed 180 pounds. He had blond hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. He and Pauline were members of the Deep Cut Bonsai Society. Pauline belonged to an auxiliary of the Optimists called the Opti-Mrs Club, and Our Lady Of Sorrows Rosary Society of South Orange.
Catherine and Louis were living in Livingston, New Jersey when he died on November 2, 1970 at the age of 87. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Catherine died three years later on April 14, 1973. She was 83 years old. She was buried with Louis at Holy Sepulchre.
After working for more than 50 years as an optician, Louis, the son, retired in 1985 and he and Pauline moved to Toms River, New Jersey. On January 17, 2001, Louis died at Bea Lea Village Nursing Home in Toms River. He was 87 years old. He was buried at Saint Mary Of The Lake Cemetery in Lakewood, New Jersey. Pauline was 90 when she died nine months later on October 27, 2001. She was buried with Louis at Saint Mary Of The Lake.
Mary and Peter's second child was (2) Peter Johann Germann, Jr., born in Newark on June 10, 1897. Like his father, he became a self-employed plumber. He married Hilda Louise McCriskin in Manhattan, New York on June 10, 1919. Hilda was born in Newark in October of 1899. At first, they lived with Hilda's widowed father at 176 Ellis Avenue in Irvington. Peter was 5' 10" tall, weighing 210 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a light brown complexion. He and Hilda had two children, Peter Henry Germann, born in Irvington on April 25, 1920, and Robert William Germann, born in Irvington on November 16, 1925.
Eventually, Peter and Hilda bought the house from her father, and in 1930 it was valued at $13,000. After her father died in 1933, however, they moved to a rented property at 98 Coolidge Street in Irvington for $45 per month. Several years later, they moved to 59 Kuna Terrace in Irvington. This was just two doors away from where cousins John and Frances Murphy lived, at 55 Kuna Terrace, in the 1930's.
The first son, Peter Henry Germann, worked as a stock clerk for the Firestone Rubber Company in Newark. He served with the Army during World War II. He was 5' 10" tall, weighing 160 pounds, with brown eyes and hair, and a light complexion. He also had an unusual birth defect: the second and third fingers of his left hand were joined together. After the war, he married Lorraine D. Jorre. They had a son and two daughters. The son, Peter Henry Germann, Jr., was born in Newark in 1948. Soon after his birth, the family moved from Newark to Clifton, New Jersey. Peter Jr. attended Saint Philip the Apostle School in Clifton, was a member of Boy Scout Troop 121, and the Clifton Midget Baseball League, when he was tragically killed when he was riding his bicycle and struck and run over by a truck in Clifton. He died at the age of 13 on March 25, 1961. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Peter Henry Sr. was a supervisor for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City. The family belonged to Saint Philip's Church and its Holy Name Society in Clifton. They lived at 69 East Emerson Street in Clifton. Peter was outside shoveling snow in front of the house when he died of a heart attack on January 27, 1963. He was only 42 years old. He was buried with his son at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Peter and Hilda's son Robert William Germann found a job with a printing company in Newark. He was tall and lean, standing at 6 foot and weighing 150 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. In 1951, he married Elizabeth Louise Martin. She was known to the family as "Betty Lou" and Robert was called "Buddy." Betty was born in Newark on August 14, 1927, the daughter of Robert James Martin and Edda Alberta Breard.
Robert opened his own print shop in Irvington called "Bob's Print Shop." In 1958, they moved to Brick, New Jersey. They did not have any children. Robert's mother Hilda died on June 6, 1966, and his father on November 12, 1978. They were buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Robert died December 12, 1983 at the age of 58 and buried at Holy Sepulchre. Ten years later, Betty Lou married Frank J. Kiel on August 7, 1993. They lived in Jackson, New Jersey. Frank died in 2008. Betty Lou was living in Lakewood, New Jersey when she died on February 3, 2017 at the age of 89. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Mary and Peter's third child was (3) Adam John Germann, born in Newark on March 1, 1905. In June of 1926, he married Lenore Gertrude Desch, the daughter of Charles Jacob Desch and Jeanette Catherine Fuchs. Lenore was born in Newark on the Fourth of July, 1905. They lived at 56 Halstead Street in Newark. They had one child, a daughter named Lenore Frances Germann, born in Newark on October 24, 1928. Adam started out as a plumber, but despite having no more than an eighth grade education, he became the owner and operator of the Hobby Shop in Irvington in 1933. He was 6' tall, weighed 210 pounds, with blue eyes and a light complexion. He had a noticeable birthmark on his forehead. He was a charter member of the Model Builders Association of New Jersey. He and Lenore moved to 27 22nd Street in Irvington in 1941, sharing the home with Adam's sister Catherine Nosher and her family. They lived there for 35 years until Adam's retirement in 1970. In 1976, they moved to nearby Maplewood.
Daughter Lenore married Edward Herman Mallouf in June of 1965. Edward was born in Rock Beach, New York on June 16, 1924, the son of Edward N. Mallouf and Mabel D. Pitz. Edward was 5' 5" tall, weighed 135 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. Lenore was a bookkeeper and librarian for the E.S.T. Killiam Company in Millburn. She was an avid reader and enjoyed crocheting and needlepoint. She and Edward had one child, another Lenore named Lenore K. Mallouf.
Edward was only 52 years old when he died suddenly in Maplewood on July 8, 1976. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Adam and Lenore were living in Maplewood when she died three weeks after her 77th birthday, on July 24, 1982. Less than two years later, Adam died a few days after Christmas on December 28, 1983. He and Lenore were buried at Holy Sepulchre. Their daughter Lenore moved to Toms River, New Jersey and then to nearby Jackson. She died on August 1, 2004. She chose to be cremated.
The fourth child born to Mary and Peter is a mystery. All we know about her is that her name was (4) Marie Germann, she was born in 1912, and she married a man named Krug.
The fifth and last child born to Mary and Peter was (5) Stephen Leo Germann. He was born in Irvington August 14, 1913. He became a pipefitter and plumber at the Federal Government ship yard in Kearny, New Jersey. He married Ida Eleanor Hedden on January 16, 1937. Ida was born in Irvington on July 22, 1916. Her parents were Philip Hedden and Elizabeth Jungermann. During the 1930's Ida was a synchronized swimmer with the RCA Water Follies Team in Harrison, New Jersey. She and Stephen lived at 574 Thoreau Terrace in Union, New Jersey. During World War II, Ida and Stephen worked at the naval base in Seattle, Washington, he as a pipefitter and she as a welder.
Stephen was 5' 11" tall, weighing 155 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. After the war, he and Ida moved to Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey where they owned and operated "The Roost Luncheonette." They had two sons and a daughter.
Their first son was John Stephen Germann, born in Newark on October 6, 1939. He seems to have lived a remarkable life. When the family moved from Irvington to Cliffwood Beach, John graduated from Matawan High School in 1958. He ran his own plumbing business and was a water/waste operator and plumbing subcode official in Neptune Township. He was a National Senior Olympics Horseshoe medalist, a member of the "Jost" horseshoe pitchers, and an "Artie's" card player.
On June 17, 1961, John married Marcella Ann Mayo at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Keyport. Marcella was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Mayo, who lived in Matawan. Marcella was born on Staten Island on May 21, 1942. She was known by the family as "Marci." They had a son and three daughters. When the family moved to Freehold Township in 1973, John became a Little League and Girls Softball coach, a Scout Master and an all-around great guy, according to his family.
John was called "McGyver." He could build or fix or find a solution for everything. His basement was legendary. Anything anybody needed, he had it. He was an avid fisherman and he loved to travel. Among his favorite destinations were our National Parks, Alaska, the Caribbean Islands, and Maine. The entire family went camping at Assateague in Virginia every year starting in 1967.
John retired in 2006. He was surrounded by his family when he passed away on November 13, 2016 at the age of 77, after a long bout with pancreatic cancer.
Stephen and Ida's second child was James Peter Germann, born in September of 1945. He was a graduate of Matawan High School and working for the Matawan Township Utilities Authority when he married Adda Marie Burrows in Metuchen, New Jersey in November of 1966. Adda was born in Edison, New Jersey on October 1, 1947 and graduated from J. P. Stevens High School in Edison. They had two sons and a daughter. Tragically, the daughter, Adda Marie Germann, born in Red Bank, New Jersey in February of 1971, was only 14 months old when she died at home on April 13, 1972.
Stephen and Ida's third child was Virginia Germann. She married Leo S. Seckel in October of 1958.
Stephen found work as superintendent for the Aberdeen Township Municipal Utilities Authority, located about 25 miles south of Union. He retired from that job in 1970. He and Ida travelled extensively throughout all fifty states and much of Europe, before settling in Jackson Township, New Jersey around 1985.
Stephen was 78 years old when he died on July 1, 1992. Ida lived on for many more years. She died in Freehold, New Jersey on March 20, 2008. She was 92 years old. At the time of her death, Ida had 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Very little is known about the next four children born to Stefan and Theodora Bederski. All were born in Newark. Incredibly, (3) Magdalena Bederski and (4) Catherina Bederski were born exactly one year apart, Magdalena on June 24, 1878, and Catherina on June 24, 1879. No more is known about Magdalena, but Catherina lived only three years before dying on January 16, 1882. In August or September of 1881, (5) Stanilaus Bederski was born, but lived only 4 months before his death on December 30, 1881. Finally, we have (6) Franz "Frank" Bederski. Born December 2, 1882. He is listed on the 1905 New Jersey State Census as a single, 25-year-old coffee salesman living with his parents at 30 Fairview Street in Newark. He must have died before 1910 because on the 1910 Federal Census Theodora claims to have been blessed with ten children, but only six were still living.
(7) Johann "John" Bederski was the seventh child born to Stefan and Theodora Bederski. He was born in Newark on May 16, 1885. Like other men in the family, he was a plumber, starting at the age of 18 in 1903. He was a member of the Master Plumbers Association in Newark and the Advent Lutheran Church in East Orange.
On October 12, 1912 John married Katharina "Katherine" Kleis, the daughter of Johann Ludwig Kleis and Elizabeth Barbara Wagner. Katherine was born in Ranizow, Poland on September 18, 1886. When she was 14 years old, she emigrated to America aboard the S.S. Friesland on November 2, 1899.
John was of medium height and build, with black hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. He and Katherine bought a house at 485 Clinton Street in East Orange, New Jersey. They had three children.
Their first child was (1) John A. Bederski. He was born in 1914, but died the same year.
On July 22, 1915, a second child, (2) Dorothy Esther Bederski was born in Newark. By 1930, John and Katherine had purchased the home at 11 Fairmount Terrace in East Orange, a few blocks from the Clinton Street property. After graduating East Orange High School, Dorothy entered Kean University in Newark and earned a degree in teaching. She became an elementary school teacher in Chatham, New Jersey. She was an active member of the Chatham Methodist Church and the Philanthropic Education Organization (PEO).
Dorothy married Vincent Adreance Elmendorf on July 9. 1939. Vincent was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 24, 1910. His parents were Reed Dunham Elmendorf and Lillian Margaret Callow. He was a private contractor. He was 5' 9" tall, weighed 140 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. He was a charter member of the Chatham Rotary Club, a member of the Morris County Old Guard, and the Florham Park Chapter of AARP. He and Dorothy had two daughters.
In 1969, Vincent retired and he and Dorothy moved to Morristown. More than 30 years later, at the age of 93, Vincent died on March 3, 2003. Dorothy eventually moved to live with her daughter in Pennsylvania and died just after her 101st birthday at Messiah Village in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on August 30, 2016.
John and Katherine's third and final child was (3) Richard John Bederski, born in Newark on April 30, 1919. He graduated from Upsala College in East Orange where he was a member of the Theta Epsilon fraternity. On August 13, 1941, he enlisted in the U. S. Army, a few months before America entered World War II. He was stocky and ruddy-faced, standing at 5' 10" tall and weighing 165 pounds. Like many other Bederski men, he had brown hair and blue eyes.
After the war, Richard was stationed at an Army base in Virginia when he married Jean Kay MacDonald on October 6, 1945. Jean was the daughter of Paul MacDonald and Minerva Ackerman. She was born in Norton, Virginia on March 5, 1919. On November 23, 1946, their only child, a daughter named Rossell MacDonald Bederski was born. The marriage eventually ended in divorce. Rossell was only 45 years old when she died in Jacksonville, Florida on April 6, 1992. She was buried at Mount Comfort Cemetery in Fairfax, Virginia. When Jean died in March 10, 2002 at the age of 83 in Burke, Virginia, she was buried with Rossell at Mount Comfort.
Richard continued serving in the Army and fought in battles during the Korean War, where he reached the rank of captain and was a company commander. On May 17, 1954, he married a second time, to Barbara Louise Olson. Barbara was born in Yonkers, New York on July 10, 1931. Her parents were Reverend Hjalmar Nore Olson and Ruth Peterson. The marriage took place at the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Huntington Station, New York, and was officiated by Barbara's father. Barbara was a 1951 graduate of Upsala College where she was a member of the Chi Delta sorority.
After leaving the service, Richard and Barbara moved to Readington Township in New Jersey where they both were school teachers. They had two daughters. Richard taught school for 15 years, Barbara for more than 26. On July 2, 1976, Richard died at the age of 57.
Sometime later, Barbara married Joseph P. Verenna Sr. and moved to Easton, Pennsylvania. She was a member of the Independent Retail Merchants Association and the Pomfret Club in Easton, and was president of the Kiwanis Club in Phillipsburg. She was 70 years old when she died on August 16, 2001.
After working as a plumber for 53 years, John retired in 1956 and he and Katherine moved to 17 Jackson Avenue in Chatham. Shortly after, on July 1, 1956, Katherine died at the age of 69. John had been ill for some time and two years after Katherine he died at home on November 17, 1958. He was 73 years old.
(8) Joseph Paul Bederski was born in Newark on March 15, 1888. Like his brother John, and most of the Germann men, he became a plumber. He was nearly 36 years old when he married 20-year-old Dorothy Elizabeth Puth in February of 1925. Dorothy was born November 29, 1904 in Newark. Her parents were Emil G. Puth and Louisa Schaefer. She and Joseph owned a home at 28 Lenox Street in Newark and raised four daughters. Joseph was 5' 7" tall and weighed 155 pounds, with brown hair, gray eyes, and a light complexion.
Their first daughter was (1) Marie Bederski. She was born in Newark two days after Thanksgiving on November 28, 1925. On October 1, 1949, she married Frank Leonidas Durocher, Jr. at the Kilburn Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newark. Frank was born in Brooklyn, New York two days after the New Year on January 2, 1922. His parents were Frank L. Durocher, Sr. and Mabel Seiferling. He worked for Bush Terminal, a large freight-handling company in Brooklyn. He was 5' 10" tall, weighing 200 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. Prior to the marriage he served in the Army during World War II.
Marie and Frank were living in Union, New Jersey when he died on January 27, 2003. He was 81 years old. He was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Union. Several years later at the age of 89, Marie died on September 16, 2015.
Joseph and Dorothy's second daughter, (2) Muriel C. Bederski, was born in Newark on February 23, 1927. She married Anthony Solomine in March of 1954. Anthony was born in Newark on September 4, 1926. He was the chief storekeeper in the Newark Department of Health. A Navy veteran, he was a member of the American Legion Post 201 in Livingston, New Jersey. He and Muriel had two children.
They were living in Livingston when Anthony died at home on January 12, 1972. He was only 45 years old. He was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery. Muriel married a second time in May of 1976 to Herman Milton Drill. Herman was born in Newark on February 27, 1918, the son of Samuel Drill and Sadie Sperling. He served in the Army during World War II and was a self-employed greeting card salesman in Livingston. He stood 5' 6" tall, weighing 120 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion. He also wore a mustache. He was active with the Springfield and Livingston Community Players. He had two sons from a previous marriage.
Herman was 79 years old when he died at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He was buried at Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
The third daughter arrived two days before Thanksgiving on November 26, 1929. This was (3) Lorraine Rosemary Bederski. She became a Registered Nurse. In October of 1959 she married Carlton Ravenel Rewis in Newark. Carlton was born in Tattnall, Georgia on April 12, 1927. His parents, who lived in Cobbtown, Georgia, were Richard Rewis and Ethel Holland. Carlton was 5' 7" tall, weighed 160 pounds, with black hair, gray eyes and a ruddy complexion. He and Lorraine lived in the Charleston, South Carolina suburb of West Ashley. They belonged to the West Ashley Church of God and raised three daughters.
Carlton was a school teacher for the Charleston County School System and a joint owner of the Ashley Barber and Beauty Supply Company. Lorraine was a member of the Fifty Plus Club and was very active in church activities. Lorraine was 77 years old when she died just before Christmas on December 14, 2006. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery on nearby James Island. A little more than one year later, on Valentine's Day February 14, 2006, Carlton died. He was 80 years old.
Several years after Lorraine's birth, the fourth and last daughter was born, around 1936. She was named (4) Ruth Bederski and that is all we know about her.
(9) Josephina Bederski, the ninth child born to Stefan and Theodora, in January of 1891, was only 14 years old when she died on March 19, 1905. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
On April 9, 1892, Stefan and Theodora's tenth and final child was born. This was the ill-fated (10) Peter Bederski. He was working for the Newark Public Works Department when he married a very pregnant Margaret Dunn on June 16, 1914, Margaret's 19th birthday. A few weeks later, Margaret gave birth to their first child, Agnes Bederski in July of 1914.
Margaret was born in Newark on June 16, 1895. Her parents were Newark police detective John Dunn and Mary Kern. They lived at nearby 309 Bergen Street.
Peter and Margaret lived with his parents at 37 Tillinghast Street. Peter was of medium height and build, with brown hair and gray eyes. On February 12, 1916, their second child arrived. This was Gertrude Adele Bederski. Margaret's father helped Peter become an officer with the police department.
Another daughter, Evelyn Marion Bederski, was born April 16, 1923. One month later, Peter was shot and killed during a warehouse robbery in Newark. Sadly, Peter was a member of the gang of thieves when they were discovered by another policeman and Peter was shot by one of the other gang members while trying to escape. Some of the other gang members were Newark police officers. At first, the city refused to provide Margaret with her husband's pension, considering the circumstances of his death. Margaret was left to raise 9-yr-old Agnes, 7-yr-old Gertrude and baby Evelyn by herself. She moved back with her parents, who were now living at 27 Myrtle Avenue in Irvington. More than four years later, a state court ruled in her favor and she was awarded retroactive to 1923, Peter's pension of $1,000 a year.
As stated above, Peter and Margaret's first child was (1) Agnes Bederski, born in Newark in July of 1914. After graduating from Saint Louis University in 1938 with a bachelor of science degree, Agnes entered the Congregation of Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace at Saint Michael Novitiate in Englewood Cliffs. As a novice nun, she took on the name of Sister Evelyn, perhaps influenced by her younger sister.
In 1943, Sister Evelyn taught briefly at Saint Luke's High School in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey before she moved to New Bern, North Carolina to serve as director of medical records at Saint Luke's Hospital. Three years later, she joined the staff of Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey as director of medical records, admissions, communications, and public relations. In 1968, she was named administrator. She ended up devoting 32 years of her life to Holy Name.
Sister Evelyn established educational affiliate programs for interns and fellows with St. James Hospital in Newark, St. Joseph's College in Jersey City, Holy Name School of Nursing, and Bergen Community College. When Holy Name celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1975, Sister Evelyn was named Woman of the Year. In addition to several other affiliations, she also wrote articles for medical journals and Mademoiselle Magazine.
In November of 1978 she became ill and died in New York University Hospital on November 21, 1978. She was 64 years old. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.
Peter and Margaret were still living with his parents when their second child, (2) Gertrude Adele Bederski, was born on February 12, 1916. In 1935, Gertrude married Gordon Chandler Kastner, the son of Frederick Kastner and Florence E. Smith. Gordon was born in Maplewood, New Jersey on June 5, 1913. They lived for several years in Chatham, New Jersey. Gordon worked as a salesman for Corby's Laundry Service in Union. He was 5' 10" tall, weighed 160 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. He and Gertrude had one son and three daughters. The entire family were members of Saint Anne Church since 1947.
Gordon and Gertrude's son, Gordon Ronald Kastner, was born in Newark on July 31, 1936. In 1947, the family moved to Memphis Tennessee where Gordon, the father, was employed as a salesman for the Chapman Chemical Company in Memphis. They all joined the Saint Anne Catholic Church where Gordon became a Grand Knight with the church's Knights of Columbus.
Gordon, the son, who was known as "Gordie", enrolled at St. Anne's school, serving as an altar boy and attending 5th through 8th grade. He played baseball for the school and the Knights of Columbus Junior Baseball League. He attended Christian Brothers High School where he excelled in both baseball and Basketball. He was awarded the MVP trophy for catcher for the Brothers team. He then went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in chemistry at Christian Brothers College while lettering in baseball and basketball. After joining the Army, he was stationed in Tooele, Utah in the Chemical Corps and, of course, played on their baseball team.
While still stationed in Utah, Gordie met and married Ingrid Theresa Padial in Los Angeles, California. Ingrid was born in Puerto Rico on March 1, 1940, the daughter of Luis Padial and Josefina Agullo. Ingrid arrived in the United States with her mother and two brothers on March 25, 1946, just after her sixth birthday. After his Army service was completed, Gordie and Ingrid moved back to Memphis where they had two daughters and three sons. While working as a chemist at Buckeye Cellulose, Gordie earned an MA degree from Memphis State University in 1972 and taught at the Fogelman Business College. He later went into partnership with his father to own and operate the Dutch Pancake House restaurant.
Wanting to stay active in sports, Gordie coached baseball at St. Michael's Catholic School where his four oldest children attended. He also coached the basketball team on several occasions. During his working years, he actively participated in sports in Memphis by playing in local and national championship baseball games for various park leagues, most notably, the Fountain of Youth/Hernando DeSoto Baseball League, where he was three-time batting champion and five-time MVP. He continued playing until he was 71 years old and inducted into the league's Hall of Fame.
At some point, the marriage began to fall apart. In 1980, Ingrid filed for divorce. Gordie went on to marry a Registered Nurse named Marilyn Griffith, while Ingrid married Reverend John W. Sparks. Reverend Sparks was born in Rocky, Oklahoma on January 9, 1911. He was 29 years older than Ingrid.
Gordie was one of those rare people with an encyclopedic memory of sports data, and could recite the names of teams, players and stats from the previous 75 years. He was an avid bowler, winning the Annual Senior State CYO bowling tournament representing St. Michael-St. Anne's. His sharp wit and quick mind remained with him until the very end when he passed away peacefully at home on April 3, 2018, surrounded by his family and loving care members. He was 81 years old.
Of Gordon and Gertrude's three daughters, one was Judith "Judy" Ann Kastner. She was born in Newark on October 26, 1937. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee after the family moved there in 1947. She attended Memphis State University and the University of Tennessee. In October of 1956, Judy married Harold Arthur Balton III, the son of Harold Arthur Balton, Jr. and Mary Teresa Harlow. Harold was born in Memphis on September 13, 1933. After serving in the U. S. Army during the Korean War, he returned to Memphis and worked in the family sign business. He and Judy lived on a 30-acre farm in the Memphis suburb of Lakeland where they raised three sons and a daughter. Besides the sign business, they raised cattle on the farm.
Judy served as a member of the Lakeland Planning Commission and the Lakeland Design Review Commission. She was instrumental in re-writing the revised Lakeland Sign Ordinance. She was also a member of the Dixon Art Gallery, the Memphis Botanic Garden, and the Madonna Circle, an active, Catholic women's organization providing assistance to the community through fundraising and volunteerism. She was widely known for her architecturally inspired bird houses which she crafted to commemorate birthdays, anniversaries and special occasions for friends and family members.
Just before their 50th wedding anniversary, Judy died peacefully on October 5, 2006. She was 68 years old. She was buried at Memory Hill Gardens Cemetery. Three years later, 75-year-old Harold followed her when he died on September 10, 2009. He was buried with Judy at Memory Hill Gardens.
After Gordon retired, Gertrude accepted a position at Saint Frances Hospital in the Nursing Section and worked there for 15 years. She and Gordon loved to travel. They took several trips to Europe, Alaska, Canada and across the United States. On March 30, 2002, Gordon died at home. He was 88 years old. He was buried at Memory Hill Gardens. Several years later at the age of 92, Gertrude died on August 8, 2008. She was buried with Gordon at Memory Hill Gardens.
Peter and Margaret's third child, (3) Evelyn Marion Bederski, was born April 16, 1923, one month before her father was shot and killed. Her mother Margaret moved Evelyn and her sisters Agnes and Gertrude to live with her parents at 27 Myrtle Avenue in Irvington. In 1942, Evelyn married George C. Eckert. George was born in Newark on January 22, 1918. His parents were Hungarian immigrants Ignatius Eckert and Anna Jung, who lived at 326 Isabella Avenue in Irvington. George and his parents worked for the Forstner Chain Corporation, maker of costume jewelry. George was 5' 6" tall and weighed 130 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. George also worked at Furniture Craft in Springfield and was a member of the Carpenters and Jointers Local 821 and the Labormens Memorial Post VFW number 9393. He and Evelyn had two sons.
George was 65 years old when he died in Irvington on July 15, 1983. He was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Orange. Evelyn lived on for many more years. Eventually, she moved to Tennessee to live with her son Thomas R. Eckert. She died there on July 22, 2005. She was 85. Burial was at Memory Hill Gardens Cemetery.
In March of 1827, in Bavaria (German: Bayern), Germany, Michael Reuss was born. Although there is no supporting documentation, it appears he married Apollonia Rothmann in Bavaria. Apollonia was born in Bavaria around 1826, the daughter of Johannes Rothmann (Rotman) and Barbara Fleischman. In any case, Michael and Apollonia had a child named (1) Barbara Reuss, born in Bavaria in 1851. On June 1, 1854, they arrived in New York City, along with 3-year-old Barbara, aboard the steamship "Brem Barque Diana". They found a home on Manhattan Island where Michael worked as a shoemaker.
For some mysterious reason, Michael and Apollonia were married in a ceremony at the Saint Francis Assisi Church on August 6, 1854. This happy event was overcome by tragedy when, just three months later, little Barbara died on November 3, 1854. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery.
Nearly a year after the death of little Barbara, Apollonia gave birth to their second child, (2) Margaret Reuss. She was born in New York on September 15, 1855. In 1875, she married Christian Peter Neichel, the son of Peter Neichel and Anna Catharina Jaeger. Christian was born in Newark, New Jersey on September 5, 1850. He was a machinist for the Manhattan Brass Company. At some point, the family changed the surname from Neichel to Neigel and Christian Peter became Peter Christian. Margaret and Peter had eight children.
Their first child was (1) Rosanna Neigel. She was born in New York on August 18, 1876. In 1900, she was 23 years old and living with her parents while working for a candy manufacturer in Manhattan. Shortly after, she married Charles Hang and they had three children. Harold Charles Hang was born December 17, 1901, Rose Hang September 9, 1904, and Charles Hang in 1909. They were living in a tenement at 1625 Second Avenue in Manhattan when Rosanna died on November 11, 1914. She was only 37 years old. She was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Nothing more is known about her husband Charles or her daughter Rose.
The two boys went to live with Rosanna's brother Michael (number 6 of the 8 siblings) and his family at 477 Second Avenue in Manhattan. Harold became a truck driver and married a woman named May. His brother Charles worked for the New York City Sanitation Department and married Catherine Weisman on May 14, 1932. They had a son, another Charles Hang, and a daughter named Cecelia Hang. Nothing more is known about any of them.
Margaret and Peter's second child was born November 1, 1880. This was (2) Kate Neigel. With some degree of certainty, we must conclude she died before 1900. She does not appear on the 1900 Federal Census when she should have been 20 years old. She could have married by this time, but the census record says Margaret gave birth to 8 children and only 7 were living in 1900. Kate is the only one missing.
Child number three was (3) John Henry Neigel, born in New York on June 24, 1881. He became a tool and die maker and a master mechanic for the Gotham Can Company in Brooklyn. On the day before Thanksgiving in 1904, John married Elizabeth Adele Mertin in Manhattan on November 23, 1904. They moved to Queens, New York where they spent the rest of their lives and raised three children. John was tall and slender with brown hair and gray eyes.
John and Elizabeth's first child was Josephine Catherine Neigel, born a few days before Thanksgiving in Queens on November 26, 1905. She dropped out of high school after one year and found a job as a typist and stenographer at a coal company. She never married and lived to the age of 90 before her death on January 8, 1996. She was buried at Saint John Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens.
The second child was Lucy Neigel. She was born in Queens on April 10, 1908. Like her sister Josephine, she dropped out of school after her first year. A few months after her 16th birthday, she married Frank Vradenburgh in Queens on August 30, 1924. Frank had a rather infamous background. He was born in Ticonderoga, New York on April 13, 1899. Ticonderoga is 250 miles north of Queens. His parents were William Vradenburgh and Frankie Hooper.
Besides Frank, there were ten other children born to the family. They were very poor and both William and his wife Frankie worked at odd jobs to support themselves. Sometime after 1910, they moved to William's birthplace of Burlington, Vermont, about 50 miles north of Ticonderoga. Frank was 12 years old when his mother died in Burlington of uterine cancer in 1911 at the age of 44. This left William to raise the children alone. In 1913, he became involved with a gang that robbed several railroad freight cars and warehouses around Burlington. They were all eventually arrested and William was sent to prison. Frank was thirteen years old at the time and was sent to a reform school in Vergennes, Vermont, located 25 miles south of Burlington. On more than one occasion, Frank ran away from the school and made it all the way back to his family in Burlington.
By the time he was 19 years old, Frank enlisted with the New York National Guard on June 8, 1917. This was during World War I and Frank was sent overseas where he served for over a year. He returned to America and was honorably discharged on April 1, 1919 and settled in Glens Falls, New York. Near the end of the year, he married Lillian La Valley on December 13, 1919. The marriage didn't seem to last very long and Frank reenlisted with the New York National Guard on March 20, 1920. This also proved to be unsatisfactory to the young Frank and he went AWOL a few months later, on June 8, 1920. He was never caught, nor did he ever return to the military.
Perhaps to avoid being found and caught by the military authorities, Frank made his way to Manhattan where he found Lucy. A few days before her 17th birthday, Lucy gave birth to their only child, Elwood Ernest Vradenburgh, on April 6, 1925. They lived with Lucy's family at 405 Fourth Avenue in Queens. Frank found work as a truck driver and mechanic. He didn't stay long. Deserting Lucy and Elwood in 1929, he went back north to Glens Falls where he took another wife named Josephine.
Frank was 5' 10" tall and weighed 160 pounds. He had brown hair, hazel eyes and a ruddy complexion. He wore several tattoos on his body, including one on his right arm that said "Rock Of Ages."
In 1933, Frank was arrested for robbing a grocery store of $35 and sent to Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York and later transferred to the Wallkill Medium Security Prison. In August of 1934, he escaped from Wallkill. He was still loose nearly a year later when he was arrested by New York State Police for another series of burglaries around Ticonderoga where he was hiding out. The State Police found him on Anthony's Nose, a mountain in the town of Dresden with an 11-year-old girl who he claimed was his cousin from Ticonderoga. He was sent back to Clinton Prison.
The 1940 Federal Census shows he was still serving his sentence at Clinton Prison. At some point he was released and returned to Ticonderoga. It was there at the age of 53 that he died on July 2, 1952. Only two of his siblings were still alive. No other family members were mentioned in his obituary. He was buried at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Ticonderoga.
In 1930, Lucy and Elwood were still living with her parents in Queens. Lucy had a job working as a bookkeeper for an auto parts supply store. In 1940, she was a typist at a dye works facility. She dropped her married name and resumed to using Neigel as her surname. By the time he was 18 years old, Elwood stood 5' 10" tall, weighed 145 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. Nothing more is known about him except he died on June 8, 1978. Ironically, he was the same age as his father (53) when he died. He was buried at Saint John Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens. Lucy lived on for many more years. She was 88 years old and living in Long Island City in Queens when she died on March 2, 1997, a year after her sister Josephine. She joined Josephine and Elwood at Saint John Cemetery.
On June 17, 1916, eight years after the birth of Lucy, John and Elizabeth's third child was born. This was Agnes Teresa Neigel. On June 4, 1938, she married John Francis Doyle. John was born in Woodside, Queens on June 22, 1910. He was an office manager for a textile company. He was 5' 6" tall, weighed 170 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. Agnes and John had one child, a son, before John died suddenly on May 28, 1942. He was only 31 years old. Like her sisters, Agnes lived a long life. She was 83 years old when she died on September 25, 1999. She was buried with her sisters at Saint John Cemetery.
Herbert Anthony Neigel, the fourth and final child born to John and Elizabeth, arrived on September 4, 1918 in Queens. After two years of high school, he got a job making blueprints for a military instruments manufacturer, and later he worked for the Ford Instrument Company. The Ford Instrument Company was a U.S. corporation known for being the primary supplier of fire control rangekeepers and analog computers for the United States Navy before and during World War II. Herbert was 5' 10" tall and weighed 150 pounds. He had blond hair, gray eyes and a light complexion. He wore eyeglasses.
Eventually, Herbert moved to the Los Angeles suburbs of Fullerton and Brea, then on the Reno, Nevada. He died in Reno in 2013 when he was about 95 years old. He was buried at Our Mother Of Sorrows Cemetery in Reno.
In 1934, John retired from his job as a mechanic. He and Elizabeth were living at 34-23 34th Street at Long Island City, in Queens in 1941 when he became ill and was sent to the City Hospital on Welfare Island. The hospital was used primarily to provide health care to the city's poor. Welfare Island was previously called Blackwell's Island when the hospital was for inmates at a prison located on the island. Today, it is called Roosevelt Island, a long narrow strip of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. In any case, John survived at the hospital for five days before his death on April 19, 1941. He was just 59 years of age. He was buried at Saint John's Cemetery in Queens.
Elizabeth died many years later, in September of 1968. She was 85 years old and buried with John at Saint John's Cemetery.
On March 18, 1884, the fourth child born to Margaret and Peter was (4) Agnes Veronica Neigel. She married Ernest Theodore Mertin on New Year's Eve in 1901. Prior to the marriage, he served in the U. S. Navy during the Spanish-American War aboard the USS Yankee and was engaged in battle in Cuban waters in June of 1898. He and Agnes lived in Queens where he worked for a chemical factory and an electro-plating company. He was 5' 8" tall, weighed 175 pounds, with very dark brown hair and blue eyes. He had a light complexion. He and Agnes had two children.
Their first child was Louise Elizabeth Mertin, born in Queens on December 31, 1904. When she was in her forties, she married for the first time, to Harry Schroeder in 1952. There was nothing more to be found about them, except that Louise died in Florida on August 23, 1995 at the age of 90.
Ernest and Agnes' second child was Ernest Joseph Mertin, born in Queens on August 13, 1906. Like his sister, he seems to have married for the first time late in life. He was 57 years old when he married Elizabeth Schlegel in Queens on June 13, 1964. Elizabeth had been married twice before, to Edward Amodolski and Henry Schlegel. She was born July 9, 1910 in Queens. Her biological parents were Andrew Bettenmiller and Sarah Agnes McCauley.
There does not seem to be any evidence that Ernest had any children. He and Elizabeth were living in Las Vegas, Nevada when she died at the age of 86 on October 19, 1996. Ernest followed two years later on October 3, 1998. He was 92.
Margaret and Peter Neigel's fifth child, (5) Peter Stephan Neigel, was born November 13, 1884. He became a salesman for the Metropolitan Tobacco Company. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed 125 pounds, with blue-gray eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He lived in the family home at 498 First Avenue in Astoria, Queens. He never married. He was 84 years old when he died in Queens on May 29, 1969. He was buried at Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, Long Island.
Child number six was (6) Michael Neigel. He was born in Manhattan on December 1, 1888. While working for a florist, he married Norah Lonergan, the daughter of Michael Lonergan and Norah Murphy. Norah was born in Manhattan in January of 1893. The marriage took place on June 24, 1911. They lived in a tenement at 477 Second Avenue in Manhattan with Norah's brother and his family. Michael was of medium height and build, with blue eyes and light brown hair. He and Norah had four children.
Their first child was Mary Neigel. She was born in Manhattan on February 7, 1912. When she was 16 years old, she married William Edward McEnroe, on June 2, 1928. William was born in Manhattan on August 14, 1906. His parents were Thomas McEnroe and Edith Barry. William worked for the New York City Department of Sanitation. He was 5' 11" tall, weighed 175 pounds and had brown hair, gray eyes and a light complexion. He and Mary lived at 306 East 31st Street in Manhattan. They had one child, a daughter named Dorothy Mary McEnroe, born April 9, 1929.
In 1953, Dorothy married Jack J. Passalaqua, born in Manhattan three months after Dorothy on July 10, 1929. His parents were Salvatore Passalaqua and Josephine Falato. Before the marriage, Jack served in the Army from January 1951 through December 1952. There is no record that shows they had children. They were living in Boca Raton, Florida when Jack died on November 3, 1989. He was 60 years old. Nearly twenty years later, Dorothy died on August 24, 2008 at the age of 79. She and Jack were interred in a mausoleum at the Boca Raton Municipal Cemetery.
Michael and Norah's second child was Nora Neigel, born in Manhattan on February 24, 1914. She married William McEnroe's brother Arthur McEnroe in 1932. Arthur was born in Manhattan on January 12, 1910. They lived with William and Mary at 306 East 31st Street in Manhattan. Arthur was a truck driver for Texaco. He stood 5' 10" tall and weighed 185 pounds. He had black hair, gray eyes and a light complexion. He and Nora had a son named Arthur McEnroe, Jr. Arthur died young. It was just a few days after his 42nd birthday when he died on January 17, 1952. Nora never remarried and died many years later in February of 1987. She was about 73 years of age.
Michael and Norah's third child, Margaret Neigel, was born in Manhattan on November 28, 1917. Tragically, she lived for only two months then died on February 10, 1918. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens.
The final child born to Michael and Norah was Michael Neigel, Jr. His records show conflicting data. His middle name was either William or Emanuel, and was either born May 24, 1917 or December 24, 1919. If the earlier date is correct, then we must assume that Norah became pregnant again soon after his birth to give birth (prematurely?) to little Margaret who died two months after being born on November 28, 1917. It's more likely he was born in 1919 because he is listed as 10 years of age on the 1930 census. Nothing more is known about Michael Jr. except he died in Boynton Beach, Florida on August 16, 2005 and should have been 85 years old.
In 1925, Michael Sr.'s wife Norah (Lonergan) was suffering from heart and kidney disease. She was only 34 years old when she died on October 21, 1927. She was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Michael Jr. was only seven years old at the time. His sisters Mary and Nora were still living at home along with Harold and Charles Hang. Their mother's premature death meant that Michael Sr. was now a widower and responsible for caring for the children on his own. Unfortunately, he only had seven more years to live. He suffered a massive heart attack and died at the age of 45 on March 2, 1934. He was buried with Norah at Calvary Cemetery.
We now come to Margaret and Peter Neigel's seventh child, (7) Mary Agnes Neigel, born in Manhattan on July 24, 1891. At the time, the family was living at 320 East 26th Street in Manhattan. Mary married Anthony J. Radice on April 20, 1912 at Saint Stephen's Church. Anthony was born in New York on August 11, 1889. His father Joseph Radice was born in Italy, his mother Julia Polzene in Germany. Initially, they lived with Mary's widowed father at 302 Grand Avenue in Queens. Anthony, who worked for a florist, was 5' 10" tall, weighed about 165 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a light brown complexion. He and Mary had a son named Arthur Radice, born in New York on December 26, 1913.
Eventually, they moved to 498 First Avenue in the Astoria section of Queens. Sometime later, they moved to 22nd Road in Queens. Their son Arthur followed in his father's footsteps and became a florist. He was a tall man at 6' 1" and weighed over 200 pounds. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. On September 11, 1937 he married Catherine M. Tewes, the daughter of Charles Tewes and May Gartzner. They rented an apartment at 21 South Grand Avenue in Baldwin, Long Island.
Mary was 60 years old when she died in December of 1951. Nearly ten years later, Anthony died on February 20, 1961. He was 71. Arthur lived to only 53 when he died on December 1, 1967. Many years later when she died on May 30, 2007, Catherine was buried at Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, Long Island, where Anthony, Mary and Arthur were buried.
Margaret and Peter Neigel's eighth and final child was (8) Margaret Neigel, born in New York on September 7, 1897. Her historical record is somewhat confusing, although it is confined to mostly the census records. In 1915 she is living with her widowed father and older brother Peter at 302 Grand Avenue in Queens. Her brother Peter is a tobacco salesman who never married. In 1920, she is living with Peter at 498 First Avenue in Queens. For some reason, they are listed as man and wife. Living with them is their sister Mary who is married to Anthony Radice the florist, and their son Arthur is with them. By 1930, Margaret is living at 3119 33rd Street in Queens with her husband Alfred Harriss, a clerk for an automobile company. He is six years younger than Margaret. We know this is Margaret because living with them is Alfred's tobacco salesman brother-in-law, Margaret's brother Peter. No other record can be found about Alfred.
By 1935, Margaret and Peter are living together at a large tenement at 4030 73rd Street in Queens. She is listed as his sister and they are both single. They were still living together in Jamaica, Queens when Peter died on May 29, 1969. He was 84 years old and buried at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, Long Island. Margaret followed three years later on January 14, 1972 at the age of 74. She was buried with Peter at Holy Rood in a plot also shared by their sister Mary and her husband Anthony Radice and their son Arthur.
The third child born to Michael and Appolonia was (3) Heinrich Reuss, the first of three by that name. He was born around 1857 and appears to have died sometime before February 1865, according to Tom and Kathryn Peters. However, it is more likely he died before March 1, 1863. That is the date of the birth of the second Heinrich Reuss. Why name the second one Heinrich when the first one was still alive? Why, for that matter, persist with naming the first-born male Heinrich? While we have no documentation, we may assume that that was the name of Michael's father. The custom at that time was to name the first born son after the father's father.
Child number four was (4) Mary Reuss, born December of 1859. She must have died before 1870, because according to the 1870 census, they were living in Newark, New Jersey and Mary wasn't there.
Around 1860, in Newark, (5) John C. Reuss, the fifth child, was born. By the time he was 19, he was working in a tin factory. On December 29, 1880, he married Mary Gray in Newark. Mary was born in New Jersey in May of 1866. Her parents were James Gray and Annie Collins. John and Mary had three children.
Their first child was (1) Joseph Oliver Reuss. By the time Joseph reached adulthood, the family had changed the surname from Reuss to Rears. In 1908, Joseph married Dorothy M. Hill. Dorothy was born in Newark on November 27, 1882. Joseph was a bookkeeper for the Hallock-Denton Company in Newark. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed 130 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. He had a distinctive scar on his chin.
Joseph and Dorothy lived at 148 Bergen Street in Newark. They had one child, a son named Lawrence Oliver Rears, born in Newark on December 17, 1909. By 1930, Joseph had risen to manager at the company and they owned a home at 181 Hollywood Avenue in East Orange valued at $14,500. By 1935, however, they were back renting an apartment at 147 Halstead Avenue in East Orange. Lawrence was working as an accountant for an insurance company. In 1938, he married Constance Winifred Healy, the daughter of Allen Healy and Catherine Lincoln. Constance was born in Brooklyn on August 3, 1912. Her parents divorced when she was very young and her mother raised her while working as a secretary and later as a purchasing agent for the New York Stock Exchange.
Lawrence and Constance had a son and a daughter. They were living in East Orange when their son, William "Bill" Gregory Rears was born on May 26, 1939. Not much is known about him. He does not appear to have married. A few years later, the family moved to Chatham, New Jersey, about 15 miles west of East Orange. It was in Chatham where daughter Virginia "Ginny" Gail Rears was born on May 1, 1943. She graduated Chatham High School and on November 9, 1963 she married Donald "Don" Gregory Simonson in Chatham. They had a daughter and two sons.
In December of 1964, Joseph Oliver Rears died. He was about 83 years old. He was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey. Dorothy followed several years later on July 19, 1972 when she was 89. She was buried with Joseph at Rosedale Cemetery.
Lawrence eventually became a senior tax accountant for the Cities Service Company. After retiring around 1974, Lawrence and Constance moved to Clearwater, Florida and Bill went with them. Seven years later, Lawrence died on June 6, 1981 at the age of 71. He was buried at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park in Clearwater. Bill was 66 when he died on September 1, 2005. He was buried with his father at Sylvan Abbey.
Ginny and Don loved to travel. They also moved around, first in Canada before ending up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Constance came with them. When Don retired, they spent six months of the year living in the Florida Keys. Constance was 97 years old when she died at home in Fond du Lac on September 2, 2009. Ten years later, her daughter Ginny died on October 11, 2019. She was 76.
The second child born to John and Mary Reuss was (2) Teresa Stella Reuss. She was born in Newark on July 14, 1884. At some point she became known as Stella Teresa. She married Francis "Frank" Aloyisus Connelly around 1907. Frank was born in Newark on April 18, 1883, the son of Thomas H. Connelly and Mary E. Geary. Frank worked for the Newark extension of the New York Telephone Company. Later, he would work for the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company. He stood 5' 7" tall, weighing a slender 140 pounds. He had blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. He and Stella lived at 31 Halstead Street in Newark.
Stella and Frank had three sons, two of whom died young. Gilbert F. Connelly was born in April of 1910. His younger brother John C. Connelly was born in 1922. They both died within months of one another: John, barely 10 years old on April 1, 1933; and 23-year-old Gilbert on July 26, 1933. They are buried together at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
The middle brother was Robert Thomas Connelly. He was born February 9, 1912. By the time he was in his twenties, he worked for the Lovell-Dressel Company in Arlington, New Jersey. The company was primarily known for the manufacture of commercial lamps, particularly for railroads. Robert was 5' 10" tall, weighed 170 pounds, had brown hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. Later in his career, he worked in the sales and management department of the Edgecomb Steel Company. He played semi-pro baseball and football, and served as a marshal for PGA events. He was also a trader on the New York Stock Exchange and was working there when the market collapsed in 1929. This last is hard to believe since he was just seventeen years old at the time of the crash.
On October 12, 1939, Robert married Marie A. Biesgen. Marie was born in New Rochelle, New York on June 29, 1911. They had a son and daughter. At some point they moved to Haggerstown, Maryland, but spent winters in Florida. Marie died in Florida on April 7, 1979 at the age of 67. She was buried at Daytona Memorial Park in Daytona Beach, Florida. Sometime later, Robert married Gwen Simmermacher. He outlived both wives and lived to the age of 103. He was living with his daughter when he died in Lawrenceville, Georgia on December 4, 2015. He was buried with Marie at Daytona Memorial Park.
John and Mary Reuss had one more child together. That was (3) Mary Reuss, born in Newark on September of 1890. And that is all we know about her. A year later, they were living at 76 Barclay Street in Newark. John was barely thirty years old when he died there on May 25, 1891. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange. Five years after that, on January 21, 1896, the widow Mary married an Irish immigrant named William Hamilton. William worked in a furniture store. It was his first marriage. He was born in Ireland in January of 1867 and arrived in America in 1886. Along with her children Joseph, Teresa and Mary, Mary and William added two more to the family.
William and Mary's first child was Ruth E. Hamilton, born in Newark on August 22, 1903. She was almost 30 years old when she married Arthur Peter Meier on June 10, 1933. Arthur was born in Queens on January 28, 1908. He was nearly five years younger than Ruth. His parents were Swiss-born Otto John Meier and Helen "Lena" Anna Schmits whose parents were born in Germany. Arthur was a clerk in a rubber works factory. He was 5' 11" tall, weighed 175 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a light complexion. He wore eyeglasses. Ruth worked at the Lily Tulip Cup Factory. They did not appear to have children. They lived at 1212 119th Street in College Point, Queens.
Years later, Ruth and Arthur were living in Paramus, New Jersey. On June 10, 1983 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. One week later, Ruth died on June 17, 1983 at the age of 79. She was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, at Kew Gardens, Long Island. Nearly ten years later, Arthur died on November 23, 1992. He was 84 years old. He was buried with Ruth at Maple Grove Cemetery.
William and Mary's other child was Florence Hamilton, born in Newark in 1905. Nothing more is known about her except she appears to have married at least twice. In 1940, she is living with Ruth and Arthur in College Point as a 34-year-old widow named Florence Brown, working as a cashier for Pepsi-Cola. In 1983, when Ruth died, she is Florence Chester. Also living with Ruth and Arthur in 1940 was Ruth and Florence's mother, Mary Hamilton. There is no record of when either Mary or Florence died.
On March 1, 1863, Michael and Apollonia welcomed their sixth child. This was the second (6) Heinrich Reuss. The first presumably died before this one was born. Less than three weeks after the birth of this Heinrich, his mother Apollonia died, on March 18, 1863. She was only 35 years old. There is no record of her cause of death or where she might be buried. While the shoemaker was still mourning the loss of his wife, and the little children, Margaret, Mary and John, the loss of their mother, poor little Heinrich died. He lived for three short months and died on May 27, 1863. Cause of death was "convulsions." He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens.
Not long after Apollonia's death, Michael married 26-year-old Veronica Reich, the daughter of Johann Adolph Reich and Anna Maria Uth (Hut). Veronica's father died before she was born, in Dalhunden, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France on June 20, 1837. She was ten years younger than Michael. She had several siblings but they all died young. When her mother died in September of 1854, 17-year-old Veronica left France and sailed for America aboard the steamship "J. Greenman". She arrived in New York Harbor on December 21, 1854.
Since Veronica was 26 years old when she married Michael, the marriage must have taken place around 1863. On February 17, 1864, Veronica gave birth to her first, and Michael's seventh child. This was the third (7) Heinrich "Henry" Reuss. This time he lived into adulthood. He was known as Henry and never married. He was an auto mechanic and machinist and lived with his parents at 464 Hunterdon Street in Newark. He was 64 years old when he died on October 3, 1928. He was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Newark.
By the time Michael's eighth child was born, the family was living in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Perhaps that influenced the naming of (8) Elisabeth Reuss, born October 30, 1866. This proved to become another tragic loss. She died sometime before February 27, 1868, because a second one was born on that date. This was child number nine, (9) Elizabeth Reuss. We are using a spelling variation to distinguish between the two. By 1870, the family finally settled in Newark.
Elizabeth was known as Elsie and was 18 years old when she married William Ost on June 14, 1886. William was born in Newark on June 10, 1867. The marriage took place at Saint John's Lutheran Church in Newark, just after his 19th birthday. He worked for a goldsmith in Newark. Elsie was very short, less than five feet tall. She and William had a son named Friedrich "Fred" Ost, who was born in Newark on January 19, 1891. Shortly after Fred's birth, William left Elsie and the baby and they eventually divorced. William married Ella Rice on September 27, 1892 and they had two sons, Henry Ost and Charles Ost. William was only 46 when he died in Newark on November 12, 1913. He was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Newark.
When Fred was two years old, Elsie married Patrick J. Doyle on August 10, 1893. Patrick was born in New York on December 5, 1869, the son of Patrick Doyle and Ellen Farrow. Elsie and Patrick had a son named Henry and a daughter named Helen before temporarily moving to Bridgeport, Connecticut where Patrick found work for a spring manufacturer. They briefly moved to Baldwin, New York where daughter Veronica was born in 1904, then finally settled in Newark, New Jersey where Patrick again found work with a spring manufacturer.
Elsie's first child, with William Ost, was (1) Friedrich Ost, known as Fred. As stated above, he was born in Newark on January 19, 1891. In 1912, he married Mary Schmitt. Fred worked first as a "polisher" in a factory, then as an "operator" for a bus company, and a driver for a brewery. Like his mother, Fred was a short five feet in height, weighed 130 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. He and Mary lived in Irvington where they had two daughters.
The first daughter was Catherine Ost, born in March of 1913 but tragically died when she was just 6 years old in March of 1920. She was buried at Woodland Cemetery. The other daughter was Mildred M. Ost, born in Irvington on December 3, 1914. In May of 1936 she married Francis J. Clune, a railroad security officer. Francis was born February 23, 1908 in New York City. His parents were Joseph Emmett Clune and Harriet Kelly. Francis and Mildred rented an apartment at 689 South 20th Street in Newark. They had two sons.
The first son was Robert Emmett Clune, born March 5, 1937. Growing up at 266 Tyler Street in Morgan, New Jersey, he learned to play the saxophone, play football at Sayreville High School, and loved to work on cars. Immediately following his graduation, he joined the Navy, serving nearly four years. Several years later, he reentered Naval service in 1967. During his Naval career, he was stationed in California and he stayed there after his discharge in 1975. He then appears to have married for the first time, at age 40, to Harriett Lovatt, a divorced school teacher. The marriage took place in Los Angeles on January 21, 1978.
Robert was living in La Jolla, near San Diego, when he died at the age of 61 on July 17, 1998.
Two years after the birth of their first son, Catherine and Francis welcomed their second in March of 1939. This was Richard J. Clune. Following in the footsteps of his brother, he had an outstanding football career at Sayreville High School. Following graduation, he found employment at the Federal Seaboard Terra Cotta Corporation in Perth Amboy. On June 28, 1958, at Saint Stanislaus church in Sayreville, Richard married his high school sweetheart, Louise P. Majewski, the daughter of Henry Majewski and Pearl Budney. Louise was born in Sayreville on April 28, 1939. At the time of the marriage, she was working at Raritan Arsenal.
After marrying Patrick Doyle in 1893, Elsie gave birth to her second child. This was (2) Henry Charles Doyle, born in Newark on November 17, 1893. By the time he was 16 years old he was working in a tannery. Later, he found work as a "coil winder" for the Klaxon Horn Company in Newark. Like his mother and step-brother Fred Ost, Henry was short. He was 5' 2" tall, weighed about 140 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion.
In 1915, Henry married Mary Westerwelt. Mary was born in New Jersey in November of 1896. On September 5, 1915, Mary gave birth to their only child, Helen Grace Doyle. Helen was their only child because Mary died less than two years later on March 25, 1917. She was only 20 years old. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange.
Henry went on to raise daughter Helen by himself, with his mother's help. By 1920, he and Helen were living with his mother and sisters, and he was working for a jeweler. In 1938, Helen married Anthony John Gottlick, the son of Cyril Gottlick and Louise Hess. Anthony was born in Newark on June 13, 1917. He was two years younger than Helen. He was owner and operator of a truck brokerage company. He and Helen had two daughters and a son.
One of the daughters was Carole Ann Gottlick, born in Newark on July 14, 1942. She fell in love with George Edward Schneider and they were married at the Blessed Sacrament church in Newark on April 22, 1961. George was born in Newark in 1941. His parents were Charles Henry Schneider and Alicia M. Gaul. The young couple moved to Oceanport, New Jersey to raise a family of two sons and a daughter. George worked for many years in the trucking industry. He was a very quiet gentleman who loved to spend time with his family.
One of the sons was Rusty Edward Schneider, born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1965. Another victim of a tragic event. He was barely 18 years old when he was involved in a single vehicle accident. The car he was driving veered off the road in the wee hours of the morning and he hit a tree head on. He died of extensive skull fractures and brain lacerations. At the time, Rusty worked in the shipping department of the K. & S. Marine Woodcraftsmen company in nearby Long Branch. He was buried at Woodbine Cemetery in Oceanport.
At some point Carole Ann and George moved to nearby Hazlet. Carole Ann was 75 when she died there on November 1, 2017. George followed two years later on August 18, 2019. They were buried with Rusty at Woodbine Cemetery.
Elsie's third child, and Patrick's second, was (3) Helen Florence Doyle, born in Newark on August 20, 1896. In 1920, she was living with her family at 63 Brenner Street, very close to Woodland Cemetery, and working as a "strapper" for an auto horn manufacturing company (perhaps the same one where her brother Henry worked) when she married Charles Edward Cadmus on June 2, 1920. Charles was born in Newark on January 4, 1901. He was four and a half years younger than Helen. His parents were Charles W. Cadmus and Hattie Lineberry. Charles worked for the McGann Trucking Company in Newark. He was a member of Teamster Local 478. He stood 5' 6" in height, weighed around 140 pounds, with brown hair and eyes, and a light complexion. He had a noticeable scar on his left leg.
On June 15, 1921, Helen gave birth to twin boys. The "first" of these was Charles Frederick Cadmus. After dropping out of high school after one year, he became employed as a mechanical engineer for the Filtration Engineers Company of Newark. He was still living with his parents at 487 Springfield Avenue in Newark when he married Elinor Elsie Boner in 1941. Elinor was born in Newark on July 27, 1919. She was two years older than Charles. Her parents were Abraham U. Boner and Elsie A. Guensch.
After the marriage, Charles and Elinor moved to 407 North Fifth Street in Newark. Charles was short and slim, standing 5' 4" tall and weighing about 120 pounds. He had brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. He also had a small but noticeable scar over his left eye. He and Elinor had two sons and three daughters.
Near the end of World War II, Charles either enlisted or was drafted into the Army, on March 8, 1945. When he was released from service, he resumed his position at Filtration Engineers. He became a member of VFW Post 2906.
In 1950, the family moved 30 miles north to Haskell, New Jersey. After 20 years at Filtration Engineers, Charles took on the job of assistant manager for Acme Markets in nearby Pompton Lakes in 1957. He worked for them for 16 years, retiring in 1983. Besides raising her family, Elinor worked at Witte's Button Company in Newark. She also worked two years as a nurse's aide at Wayne Haven Nursing Home in Wayne, New Jersey, retiring from there in 1965.
Elinor was 80 years old when she died at home in Haskell on August 13, 1999. She was buried at Hollywood Memorial Cemetery in Union, New Jersey. Charles reached 92 years of age when he died on December 16, 2013. He was buried with Elinor at Hollywood Memorial.
Helen and Charles' other twin boy born on June 15, 1921 was Henry Franklin Cadmus. He dropped out after two years of high school and was working for the Pennsylvania Rail Road when he enlisted in the Army on September 5, 1942. While still serving in the Army, he married Bertha Martha Bacatselos in 1943. Bertha was born in Newark on November 24, 1923. Her parents were Basil Bacatselos, who was born in Greece, and Anna Kranenburg, from Holland. For many years, Bertha worked with her father in their family Cleaning and Tailoring business in Newark. Later, she worked for the Prudential Insurance Company at their headquarters in Newark, and then at their Roseland complex from where she retired.
Henry and Bertha lived in Newark before moving to nearby Hillside, New Jersey. After leaving the railroad, Henry became a driver for the Homestead Oil Company in Hillside. he was 5' 8" tall, weighed 150 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a sallow complexion. The Cadmus men must have led a rough and tumble existence. Like his father and brother, Henry had noticeable scars on his body, in his case on his back.
Bertha's faith was expressed through music in church choirs, at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Newark, and the United Methodist Church in Irvington, where she and Henry were active members of the choir. They had two children.
Henry and Bertha were longtime members of the Auditorium Choir in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, located next to Asbury Park. Ocean Grove was where the Cadmus family spent summer vacations, in the Tent Community in the historic district of Auditorium Square and were active participants in the program life of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. Henry was a member of the Ocean Grove Auditorium Ushers Association. Bertha also faithfully attended the Collegiate Church in Manhattan where her son, Reverend Ronald W. Cadmus, was one of the Senior Pastors.
Around 2000, Henry and Bertha retired to Leisure Village West in Manchester, New Jersey, where their son lived. They both enjoyed many years as choral members of the Westernaires in Leisure Village West. Henry was 90 years old when he died on August 25, 2011. Several years later, Bertha followed him on February 13, 2019. She was 95 years old. She and Henry are buried together at Hollywood Memorial Cemetery in Union, New Jersey.
The third child born to Helen and Charles was Helen Cadmus. She was born in Newark on January 12, 1927. She married Leonard "Kacz" Kaczkowski at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Newark on September 14, 1946. Kacz was born in Dickson City, Pennsylvania in 1926. He was a warehouseman for National Freight in Elizabeth, New Jersey and Central Trucking in Kearny. He was a member of the Teamsters Union Local 530 and 560. Helen and Kacz had a son and two daughters.
In 1951, they moved from Newark to West Keansburg, New Jersey. Kacz continued working for Central Trucking in Kearny. He was a life member and ex-chief of the West Keansburg Fire Company and treasurer for several years. He also served as fire chief of nearby Hazlet Township and was a member of the New Jersey State Fire Chiefs Association.
In 1980, Kacz retired from his trucking career. He was 81 years old when he died on November 8, 2008. Helen lived on for several more years until her death at 89 on October 10, 2016.
Helen and Charles' fourth and final child was Marilyn Mae Cadmus, born in Newark on September 12, 1933. In December of 1951, she married Richard D. Isaksen, the son of Adolf Iseksen and Kaspara "Annie" Ronholdt. Richard was born in Belford, New Jersey on January 12, 1934. He played football in high school and then softball with the Meadowview Inn team for many years.
Richard followed in his father's footsteps and became a commercial fisherman and earned the nickname "Captain Ike." He had several boats over the years, including the 65-foot steel boat "Isaetta", which he built himself in his back yard. Marilyn also helped Richard run the family fishing business. They lived in Belford and raised four sons and a daughter. Richard always lent a helping hand to others and taught his trade to many fishermen including his sons who eventually took over the fishing business.
Marilyn was a Member of the Port Monmouth First Aid Ladies Auxiliary. One of her favorite pastimes was bowling, at Harmony Lanes bowling leagues. Richard was a founding member of the Belford Seafood Co-Op and worked at the fish factory for many years. He was also a member of the Belford Engine Fire Company.
Marilyn was 70 years old when she died on October 29, 2003. The religious service held at the funeral home in Belford was officiated by her nephew, Reverend Ronald W. Camus. She was buried at Bayview Cemetery in nearby Leonardo. "Captain Ike" lived on for several more years before dying on April 23, 2015. He was buried with Marilyn at Bayview Cemetery.
So, at last we come to Elsie's fourth and Patrick Doyle's third and final child, (4) Veronica Katherine Doyle. She was born in Baldwin, New York on June 14, 1904. As you may recall, Elsie and Patrick had a son and daughter in Newark before temporarily moving to Bridgeport, Connecticut where Patrick found work for a spring manufacturer. Then they briefly moved to Baldwin where Veronica was born then finally settling back in Newark where Patrick again found work with a spring manufacturer.
Veronica married Adam Martin Schneider in November of 1925. Adam was born in Newark on July 29, 1901. His parents were Adam Schneider and Mary Blindt. He was working as a salesman when he married Veronica. They lived at 417 18th Avenue in Newark. Later, they moved to 813 South 16th Street. They had one child, a son named Robert Schneider, born around 1933.
Although unemployed for a while in the late 1930's, Adam found work with the nationwide Purity Bakeries Corporation at their Newark plant. Around 1957, they moved to West Keansburg where niece Helen Cadmus Kaczkowski and her family lived. Adam was short and stocky, standing 5' 4" tall and weighing 170 pounds. He had brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. Like the Cadmus men, he had many scars on his body, all on his left side. They were on the left side of his nose, left wrist and left ankle.
In May of 1965, Adam died. In 1971, Veronica moved to 3 Devonshire Road in Parlin to live with her son. She died there on September 28, 1976. She was 72 years old. She was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Middletown, New Jersey where her sister Helen was buried. Adam might be there also but there is no documentation to determine this.
In May of 1910, Elsie and Patrick Doyle were living at 265 Waverly Avenue in Newark when he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. He didn't last much longer. He died two days before his daughter Veronica's sixth birthday, on June 12, 1910. He was only 40 years old. A secondary cause of death listed on his death certificate was "exhaustion." His other daughter Helen was 13 and son Henry 16 years old. Patrick was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
The family matriarch, Elsie Ruess Doyle, was in her early eighties when went to live with her daughter Helen around 1951. Helen and her husband Charles Cadmus lived at 16 Union Place in Keansburg, New Jersey. As described earlier, Elsie was very short, less than five feet tall. On February 27, 1968, her daughters Helen and Veronica hosted a celebration of Elsie's 100th birthday at Helen and Charles' home. Five generations of family and many friends showed up to congratulate her.
Several months later, Elsie died, on July 5, 1968. She left seven grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren. According to her obituary, she was buried in the "family plot", wherever that might be.
On May 19, 1870, Michael Reuss' tenth child arrived when his wife Veronica gave birth to (10) Charles Reuss. He was another tragic baby. He was only three years old when he died of "Scarlatina", otherwise known as Scarlet Fever, on August 18, 1873.
Six months before little Charles died, Veronica gave birth to (11) Georgius Reuss. He was born in Newark on February 25, 1873. Although his birth record says his name was Georgius, he became known as Georg, and later George. So as not to get him confused with his son, we will refer to him as Georg.
Georg was a wheelwright, a person who makes or repairs wooden wheels for carts and wagons, the modes of transportation and travel before the invention of the automobile. On August 11, 1894, he married Rosalia Louisa Bederski, the daughter of Stefan Bederski and Theodora Kulinski. Rosalia, or Rosie, was born in Newark on March 18, 1877. As we learned at the beginning of this narrative, Georg and Rosie had eleven children, but only eight survived into adulthood. Their stories follow below. The Reuss surname will now become Rears.
When Georg married Rosie on August 11, 1894, she was only 17 years old. She was also very pregnant. Two months after the marriage she gave birth to twins, (1) Katie Rears and (2) George Rears, on October 12, 1894. Neither would live very long. Katie died four days after birth on October 16, 1894, apparently from neonatal convulsions. Little George lasted 11 months before dying on September 26, 1895, from congenital heart disease. Both babies were buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
One year after little George's death, Rosie gave birth to their third child. They decided to try with George, again. Thus, (3) George Patrick Peter Rears was born in Newark on October 27, 1896. He dropped out of school after the sixth grade and found a job working for a silversmith. He served with the U.S. Army from 1918 to 1919, after which he resumed working as a silversmith.
On October 11, 1922, George married Beatrice Mary Zenglein at Saint Antoninus Roman Catholic Church in Newark. Beatrice was born April 28, 1903 in Newark, the daughter of John Anthony Zenglein and Margaret Edna Bittlingmeier.
In 1924, George joined the Newark police force and served 37 years until his retirement in 1961. He was 5' 10" in height, weighing about 200 pounds. He had brown eyes, black hair and a ruddy complexion. Beatrice was an executive secretary for 18 years with the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in Newark, before retiring in 1967.
Beatrice and George had one daughter and two sons. The daughter, Beatrice Catherine Rears, was born in Newark on November 12, 1924. On July 7, 1946, Beatrice married William R. Yetman at Saint Michael's church in Newark. William was born in Cranbury, New Jersey on March 19, 1923, the son of Robert Yetman and Mamie Soden. He dropped out of high school after three years and was employed as a draftsman for the Hercules Powder Company in Parlin, New Jersey. He was 6' 2" tall and weighed 185 pounds. He had brown hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. William served in the U.S. Army during World War II and participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and continued on to the Battle of the Bulge. He was the owner of Yetman Fence Company in Edison, New Jersey.
William and Beatrice had four daughters and one son. One of the daughters was Beatrice Marie Yetman, born in Newark on November 17, 1947. She graduated from Douglas College in New Brunswick, New Jersey and received her Master's Degree in teaching at Rutgers University. She lived in East Windsor, New Jersey and was Supervisor of the Foreign Languages Department for the Edison Township Board of Education, a member of the Edison Teachers Association and the New Jersey Education Association. In 2010, she retired from the Board of Education after serving 38 years. She died at JFK Medical Center in Edison on April 15, 2015 after a brief illness. She was 67 years old.
Beatrice and George's second child was George Patrick Peter Rears, Jr., born November 26, 1928 in Newark. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force and later the U. S. Air Force as a meteorologist from 1946 through 1949. He held the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force Reserves. After his military service he enrolled at New York University, majoring in Industrial Engineering. While at NYU, he was a member and president of Tau Beta Pi. He was also manager of the NYU track team. He received a bachelor of Industrial Engineering (cum laude) from NYU in 1953 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1955. He was employed by the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company with assignments in the Electrochemical Plastics and Textile Fibers Department. He later became a DuPont Product and Market Development Manager and served as Director de Vent in Geneva, Switzerland.
In December of 1957, George married Wendy M. Purnell in Newark. He and Wendy lived in Wilmington, Delaware before moving to Pocono Pines in Pennsylvania. They also had a winter home in Savannah, Georgia. George was a member of the Lake Naomi Recreational Club in Pocono Pines and the Landings Club, a private golf course in Savannah. They were living in Savannah when George died there on February 9, 2005 after a long illness. He was 76 years old. He was buried at the National Veterans Cemetery in Beverly, New Jersey.
Beatrice and George's third child, Joseph Theodore Rears, was born in Newark on June 2, 1930.
Around 1974, Beatrice and George moved to 19 Sterling Place in Leisuretowne, a retirement community in Vincentown, located in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. George was 81 when he died there on March 13, 1978. Beatrice died there on August 9, 1986, when she was 83 years old. She and George are buried together at the National Veterans Cemetery in Beverly. When their son George Jr. died on February 9, 2005 in Pocono Pines, he, too, was buried at the Beverly National Cemetery.
The fourth (of eleven) child born to Georg and Rosie was (4) Florence E. Rears. They were living at 310 West Kinney Street in Newark when she was born on March 18, 1900. She never attended high school. She was 30 years old and living at home with her parents and younger siblings at 1578 Walker Avenue in Union, New Jersey when she married Charles Ronald Baun on August 23, 1930. Charles, or Charlie, was born in Newark on February 9, 1902. He was two years younger than Florence and had been previously married. His parents were Newark policeman Edward Baun and Ida Lyons.
In 1920, Charlie worked as an electrician, but by the time of his marriage to Florence in 1930 he was working for his brother Fred in a floral shop. Charlie was 5' 8" tall and weighed 185 pounds. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. He also had a noticeable scar on the right side of his throat.
On January 2, 1932, Florence gave birth to their only child, Edward Frank Baun. Later, Charlie and a Mr. and Mrs. Walter were partners in a floral business at 755 Springfield Avenue in Irvington, but the partnership dissolved in 1954.
In July of 1952, Florence was diagnosed with cancer in her right kidney. Eventually, the cancer spread to her lungs, liver and bones and she died at East Orange General Hospital on May 19, 1953. She was 53 years old. She was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.
After Florence's death, Charlie married a widow named Ella Druzbacky Gawlick. Ella and Charlie became the owners and operators of Baun Florist in Irvington on Springfield Avenue where they specialized in funeral flowers. In 1974, they retired and moved to Toms River, New Jersey to live with Ella's daughter Ruth Gawlick Roznoy. Charlie was 75 years old when he died on January 28, 1978. He was buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Toms River.
Ella was born in Newark on October 10, 1901. She was the first of seven children born to Viktor Druzbacky and Veronica Tkacs, both immigrants from what is today Slovakia. Ella was baptized on November 17, 1901 at Saint Stephen's Slovak Roman Catholic Church located at 223 Bruce Street in Newark. She was very close to her mother Veronica. One of Ella's first jobs was at Edison Bulb on 18th Avenue in Newark.
On June 13, 1920, Ella married Joseph J. Gawlick at Saint Peter's Catholic Church in Newark. During the early 1920's, Ella and Joe worked as bakers in the Taystee Bakery on 11th Street. Joe was also a well-known boxer in the Newark area. He and Ella had two children, Ruth Gawlick and Joseph J. Gawlick, Jr.
Joe died in 1946. In the early 1950's Ella worked at the A&P in the grocery store's bakery section. Around 1954, she married Charlie. In 1974, after retiring from their florist business, they moved to live with Ella's daughter Ruth in Toms River. Ella continued living with Ruth after Charlie died in 1978. Ella was a fun loving but hard worker. She was a very generous person, always offering to help anyone in need. Her family described her as an angel.
When Ella died on April 16, 1980 at the age of 75, she was buried with Charlie at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Toms River.
On May 2, 1903, (5) Catherine M. Rears was born. This was Georg and Rosie's fifth. They were now living at 77 Lillie Street in Newark. After graduating from elementary school, Catherine went to work as a riveter in an aluminum factory. On June 25, 1924, she married John Harry Dierks, the son of John Dierks and Bertha Dinge. John usually went by his middle name of Harry. He was born in Newark on June 10, 1900. Like his wife, he never went beyond eighth grade in school. At an early age he worked in a machine shop. When he married Catherine, he was an electrician for Westinghouse. He was a hefty 5' 8" tall, weighing nearly 200 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a ruddy complexion. By the time he was in his forties, he had a mutilated thumb on his hand from some unknown accident.
For a long time, Catherine and Harry lived at 717 South 14th Street in Newark. They raised four children there. Later, they lived for a short time in Irvington before moving to 705 Lorillard Avenue in Union Beach, New Jersey around 1954.
Catherine and Harry's first child was Harry John Dierks, sometimes referred to as Harry Jr. He was born in Newark on June 13, 1928. As an adult, he was physically like his father: 5' 10" tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He had brown hair like his father, but with blue eyes and a light complexion. He graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute in Newark and found a job at the Sullivan Service Company in Red Bank, New Jersey. He was also co-owner with his brother Thomas of the Dierks Brothers Service Station in Union Beach. While working at Sullivan's, he found himself attracted to the boss's daughter, Mary Anne Sullivan, and, at the age of 41 he married her at Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in nearby Rumson on December 27, 1969. Mary Anne was born in Bayonne, New Jersey on September 8, 1939. She was 11 years younger than Harry. She was a graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. Her parents were Raymond A. Sullivan and Agnes Joyce, who lived in Red Bank.
Harry and Mary Anne did not have children. They lived in Sea Bright, then Red Bank. In 1973, they moved to Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Two years later, Mary Anne died on September 25, 1975, just two weeks after her 36th birthday. She was buried at the Sullivan family plot in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown, New Jersey.
Curiously, after Mary Anne's passing, it appears that Harry joined the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), or Franciscan Friars, founded by St. Francis of Assisi, who swore to give themselves totally to God in obedience, poverty, and chastity. Reverend "Paschal" Dierks lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was there that he died on May 30, 2012, thirty-seven years after Mary Anne. He was 83 years old. He was buried at Christ our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
Lest we get confused, Harry's father John Harry Dierks, who was known by his middle name of Harry, welcomed his second son when his wife Catherine gave birth to Thomas F. Dierks. It happened in Newark on New Year's Eve of 1930. Thomas graduated from Essex County Technical School and was hired by the Weston Instrument Company in Newark. He was also co-owner with his brother Harry of the Dierks Brothers Service Station in Union Beach.
Thomas was 28 years old when he married Elizabeth Nelson on October 8, 1959. Elizabeth was born in Island Falls, New York on October 21, 1921. She was nine years older than Thomas. Her parents were Otto H. Nelson and Pauline E. Klitke. During World War II, Elizabeth enlisted in the Women's Army Corps on October 28, 1944. While still serving in the Army, she married Charles Shattuck Strang in Hillsborough, Florida on May 4, 1945. She was discharged on October 5, 1945 after serving nearly one year. She and Charles had three children.
At some point, Elizabeth divorced Charles and moved to Union Beach. She was working as an assistant to the sales director of Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, New Jersey when she married Thomas. Based on her service record, Elizabeth became active in local and regional American Legion activities. She was vice-commander of the Monmouth County American Legion Executive Committee and Service Officer of American Legion Post 321 in Union Beach, in addition to serving on the Department Publicity and Public Relations Commitee. In 1960, Thomas and Elizabeth's daughter Patricia L. Dierks was born.
When Elizabeth died on August 6, 1978, she was living in Keyport while Thomas was still in Union Beach. She was 56 years old. Forty-two years later, Thomas was still living in Union Beach when he died on May 14, 2020. He was 89 years old. While there is no clear documentation, he and Elizabeth may be buried at Saint Joseph's cemetery in Keyport.
After having two sons, Harry and Catherine welcomed their first daughter, Rosemarie Dierks, born in Newark on August 22, 1933. Just before her 20th birthday, she married Bernard John Sacharanski in May of 1953. Around this time, she and her family were living in Irvington before moving to Union Beach. The marriage took place in Newark. Bernard was born on August 8, 1927 in Wallington, New Jersey, located about 10 miles north of Newark. His parents were Anthony Sacharanski and Giselle Klimko. Soon after he turned 18, Bernard enlisted in the Army, even though World War II had just ended. At the time, he was 5' 10" tall, weighed 140 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a light complexion.
When Rosemarie's family moved to Union Beach, she and Bernard went there, also. Around 1967, Bernard started working at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) in nearby Hazlet as a maintenance worker. He and Rosemarie had two sons and a daughter. The daughter, Donna Marie Sacharanski, was born in 1961 but suffered ill health for her entire short life. She died at Deborah Heart and Lung hospital in Browns Mills, New Jersey on February 16, 1968. She was just seven years old. She was buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport.
Rosemarie and Bernard and their children worshipped at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Union Beach. Bernard was known for building birdhouses, taking many family photographs, and leading the family on vacations. In 1990, after working for IFF for 23 years, he retired.
Rosemarie was 78 years old when she died on June 3, 2012. Ironically, this was just four days after her brother Harry died. She was entombed at Holmdel Mausoleum in nearby Holmdel. At some point, Bernard moved to Howell, New Jersey. He died on February 4, 2017 at the age of 89. He joined Rosemarie at Holmdel Mausoleum.
Harry and Catherine's fourth and final child was Laverne Dierks. She was born in born in Newark in 1935.
When Harry died on February 26, 1962 at his home at 705 Lorillard Avenue in Union Beach, he was probably buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport. He was 61 years old. Catherine was 93 and still living at home nearly 34 years later when she died there on November 1, 1996. She was buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery.
Georg and Rosie's sixth child was (6) John George Rears, born in Newark on August 12, 1905. Like most of his siblings, he never attended high school. In 1930, he was 24 years old and living at home with his family at 1578 Walker Avenue in Union, New Jersey. He had a job working for a jeweler. John was 5' 8" tall, weighed 175 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. On July 1, 1931 he married Madeline M. Smith, the daughter of Joseph Smith and Catherine Moeller. Madeline was born in Newark on June 18, 1909. She and John had four children.
The first to arrive was Joan Dorothy Rears on November 12, 1932. At the time of her birth, they were living in Irvington, New Jersey. In October of 1952, Joan married George Joseph Grimm, Jr., the son of George Joseph Grimm, Sr. and Elizabeth Gertrude Straut. George was born in Newark on October 13, 1928. He attended Saint Benedict's High School before entering the seminary. He later left the seminary to enlist in the U.S. Navy, serving from 1950 until his honorable discharge in 1954. It was while still serving that he married Joan, his lifelong love. George was 5' 9" tall, weighing about 150 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion. He and Joan moved to Chatham, New Jersey and raised six children.
One of those children was Anne Marie Grimm, born in Newark on July 23, 1953. In April of 1980, she married Panagiotis "Pete" Dovas. He was born in December of 1950 in Karitsa, a small farming town in Greece with no running water or electricity. He arrived in America in the 1970's. He started out as a dishwasher and potato peeler at a diner in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Eventually he moved up to head cook. He saved his money and in 1980 he bought the diner from the original owner. Along with the diner came a waitress. This was Anne Marie. They lived in Hackettstown, New Jersey and raised two daughters and one son.
In 1996, the family moved to Aldan, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia where Pete became part owner of the Penrose Diner. He restored the rundown diner to become one of the premier restaurants in South Philly. Anne Marie was only 52 years old when she died on October 5, 2005. She was buried at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Known for being strong, determined and stubborn, Pete insisted on taking one of his many trips back to Greece even though his health at the time was poor. He became very ill in Greece, and died shortly after returning home on November 5, 2014. He was 64 years old. He was buried with Anne Marie at Arlington Cemetery. The Penrose Restaurant is still in business, run by his son.
When Joan died at the age of 72 on February 1, 2005, she was buried at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey. Five years later, George died on September 28, 2010. He was 81 years old. He was buried with Joan at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery.
John and Madeline's second child was Patricia Kathleen Rears, born in Newark on July 28, 1934. She married James Augustine Flynn, Jr., the son of Augustine Flynn, Sr. and Marie Natalie Dalton. James was born December 20, 1934. The marriage took place in Newark in November of 1954. They lived in Orange, New Jersey. James served in the U. S. Army from 1956 to 1958 and worked as a clerk in the Orange Post Office. He and Patricia had six children. At some point they appear to have separated or divorced. Patricia moved to nearby South Orange where she was the tax collector from 1974 until her retirement in 2002.
Of the six children, two have passed. Jane E. Flynn died in April of 1973. She was buried at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover. Another daughter was Marietta Flynn. Born in Newark on April 22, 1963, she married Angelo Improta on January 19, 1985. They lived in South Orange. She died tragically five years later at the age of 26. She joined her sister Jane at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery. Two years before Marietta, her father James died on August 9, 1988 at the age of 53.
Patricia was 77 years old when she died at her home in South Orange on February 10, 2012. She was buried at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery.
John and Madeline's third child was a son named Robert Martin Rears, born November 14, 1936. By this time, they were living back at Union, New Jersey. Robert served in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. In February of 1960 he married Ann M. Cataldo. Ann was born in Newark in 1940. She and Robert lived in Piscataway and Bridgewater, New Jersey. Robert was a set-up operator for Hyatt Roller Bearing a division of General Motors. He and Ann had three daughters until his untimely death from cancer on February 7, 1977. He was only 40 years old, leaving Ann to raise the three girls alone. He was buried in Bound Brook Cemetery.
Ann found work in the classified department for the News Tribune in Woodbridge. Ten years after Robert's death, she married again, this time to Nicholas D. Castellano. The marriage took place in Metuchen, New Jersey on May 30, 1987. She and Nicholas lived in Irvington, Edison and Florida. In 2009, they moved back to New Jersey and settled in Whiting. Ann was 78 years old when she died in Whiting on October 18, 2018. It was 41 years after Robert's death.
The fourth and final child for John and Madeline was another son, Richard Francis Rears, born in Newark on December 19, 1940. He graduated from Blessed Sacrament Grammar School and Saint Benedict's Prep, both in Newark. He excelled in sports. He was captain of the baseball and basketball teams and was selected to the Essex County All Star Teams two years in a row. He was also recruited by Minor League Baseball for the Milwaukee Braves.
In June of 1963, Richard married Marilyn J. Wilson. They lived in Chatham, New Jersey and raised 5 "K-girl" daughters. that is, their names all begin with the letter "K". Sadly, one of them, Karolyn Marie Rears, born on May 13, 1965, was only 34 years old when she died on March 18, 2000. She was buried at Saint Vincent Cemetery in Madison, not far from Chatham.
Richard was actively involved with the Chatham Board of Recreation for 15 years, and coached the girls' soccer, baseball and softball teams. He also coached the boys' basketball teams at Saint Patrick's School.
When Richard finally retired, he and Marilyn moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In 2010, they moved back to New Jersey and settled in Whiting. Not long after, Richard died, on August 6, 2011. He was 70 years old. He was buried with Karolyn at Saint Vincent Cemetery.
Eventually, John and Madeline moved to 258 West Runyon Street in Newark. By 1940, John was working as a machinist for the Weston Instrument Electrical Corporation in Newark. This was the same company where his cousin Thomas Deirks worked. John helped the company to incorporate new ways to develop mass production for electrical parts. At some point, he and Madeline moved to Chatham, New Jersey.
It was also in 1940 that John started a catering business with the eponymous name of John Rears, Inc. Since this wasn't enough to keep him busy, he found membership in several organizations. He was a member of the Catholic Youth Organization of the Blessed Sacrament Church, the sports-oriented Bayview Wheelmen and the Knights of Columbus Council 153, all of Newark, and the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus Parcells Council of Chatham. He was also affiliated with the Holy Name Societies of Saint Patrick's Church of Chatham and the Blessed Sacrament Church in Newark.
They were living in Chatham when Madeline died on June 19, 1975, one day after her 66th birthday. She was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery where her daughters would eventually join her. After running his catering business for 40 years, John retired in 1980 and moved to South Orange. He was 83 years old when he died at home on May 18, 1989. He was buried with Madeline at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
Continuing on our long list of children born to Georg and Rosie we come to number seven, (7) Josephine Maria Rears. They were living at 495 Hunterdon Street in Newark when she was born on August 25, 1907. In 1940, she was living with her widowed father Georg and two younger siblings at 41 Tillinghast Street in Newark. Nearby, at 49 Tillinghast Street lived the Hock family with their son Frank James Hock, Jr. On June 29, 1940, Frank and Josephine were married. Josephine brought Frank back to live at her home at 41 Tillinghast Street. Frank was born in Newark on August 20, 1909. He was two years younger than Josephine. He worked as a "sprayer" for a calculator equipment company in Orange. He stood 5' 11" in height, weighed a hefty 235 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion. He had a mole on his right lower jaw.
Josephine and Frank lived in Belleville, New Jersey where they raised three daughters. One of the daughters was Kathleen Marie Hock, born in Newark on June 10, 1944. She married Evan T. George in June of 1963. They had two sons and two daughters. Kathleen's father Frank was 56 years old when he died in March of 1966. Around 1969, Kathleen began working as a secretary for Interlude, Inc. in Newark. Twenty years after Frank's death, Josephine died on September 11, 1986 at the age of 79. After working for Interlude for 22 years, Kathleen retired in 1991. She was only 55 years old when she died at Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on February 27, 2000. She was buried at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield.
(8) Francis Edward Rears, known as Frank, was born in Newark on October 20, 1909. This was Georg and Rosie's eighth child. They were still living at 495 Hunterdon Street. Like many others in the family, Frank did not go beyond the eighth grade in school. When he was 28 years old, he married 17-year-old Mary Evelyn Quinn in Newark on February 6, 1938. Mary was born in Newark on May 20, 1920. Her parents were George J. Quinn and Christina Riess. The marriage does not appear to have lasted very long. By April of 1940, Frank was living back at the family home on Tillinghast Street and Mary was with her sister and brother-in-law at 235 South 18th Street.
By 1942, Frank was married to Leona Mary Scuorzo. He was working as a "color matcher" for Kreb's Pigment Company in Newark. Leona was born in Newark on August 13, 1916, the daughter of Emilio Scuorzo and Josephine Premusilli. This marriage took place on June 14, 1942. Barely two months later, Frank was either drafted or enlisted into the U. S. Army Air Corps, on August 12, 1942. He served for more than three years. He was 5' 8" tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a ruddy complexion.
After World War II ended, Frank was honorably discharged on November 15, 1945. On August 6, 1946, their only child Jacqueline F. Rears was born. Around 1953, Frank and Leona became owners and operators of Jem Lunch Service, a mobile food service operation in the Union Township and Kenilworth area. They were quite successful with this enterprise which lasted 21 years before they retired in 1974.
In 1978, Frank and Leona moved to Toms River, New Jersey. In 1984, Leona became ill and was taken to Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, New Jersey. She died there on June 8, 1984, just one week before their 42nd anniversary. Leona was 67 years old. She was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park in Union Township.
Ten years later, Frank was living in Phoenix, Arizona when he died at the age of 84 on September 11, 1994. He was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.
As we stated at the beginning, Georg and Rosie had eleven children, but like Stefan and Theodora Bederski, three of the children died in infancy. The first birth for Georg and Rosie was the twins, Katie and George, both of whom died as infants. Now we come to the third, in this case their ninth child, (9) Theodora C. Rears, who was born in Newark on December 28, 1911. She was one year old when she developed Emphysema which quickly evolved into Broncho-Pneumonia and she died on June 19, 1913. She was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, New Jersey.
A year after they buried little Theodora, Rosie gave birth to (10) Charles J. Rears. He was born at home, 495 Hunterdon Street, on October 16, 1914. He dropped out of high school after his junior year and went to work as a "moulder" at the Weston Instrument Electrical Corporation, the same company where his brother John worked. On September 5, 1936 he married Catherine A. Thomas, the daughter of Lloyd Emory Thomas and Myrtle Harriet Kelly. Catherine, who was known as Kitty, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 13, 1913.
Charles was 5' 11" tall, weighed about 180 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and a light complexion. He also had a noticeable scar on the left portion of his forehead. He and Kitty lived with his father at 41 Tillinghast Street in Newark. They had five children: three sons and two daughters. In 1956, they moved to Iselin, New Jersey.
Charles was only 59 years old when he died on April 2, 1974. He was buried at Saint Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia, New Jersey. On January 13, 1980, at the age of 66, Kitty died. She was buried with Charles at Saint Gertrude Cemetery.
Finally, we come to Georg and Rosie's eleventh and final child. This was (11) Rose Marie Rears. Like most of her other siblings, she was born at the family home at 495 Hunterdon Street. When she was born on June 12, 1917, Rosie was 40 years old. She had given birth to eleven children over the course of twenty-three years, starting when she was seventeen years old. As tragic as it was in the beginning with the loss of the twins, this one was much more so.
Rose Marie dropped out of high school after her sophomore year and became a "tester" for a radio shop. When she was 22 years old, her mother Rosie, who was 58, died from a cerebral hemorrhage on October 28, 1939. She was buried at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey.
Rose Marie was nearly 30 years old when she married George August Knopf, Jr., on July 20, 1946. George was born in Newark on August 2, 1917. His parents were George August Knopf, Sr. and Carolyn Lind. The Knopfs lived just down the street at 49 Tillinghast Street and that's where Ann Marie and George lived after the marriage.
George was a tall six-footer, weighing about 165 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion. He dropped out of high school after two years and found a job as a pressman in a printing office. On December 28, 1942, he enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Force, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He served for two years before being honorably discharged on October 20, 1944.
On November 26, 1947, Rose Marie gave birth to a daughter named Mary Knopf. Unfortunately, neither the baby nor Rose Marie survived the birth. Rose Marie died the next day, Thanksgiving Day, on November 27, 1947. Cause of death was Eclamptic Toxemia, a condition that might be due to high blood pressure during the pregnancy. Baby Mary died the day after on November 28, 1947. Mother and daughter were buried together at Evergreen Cemetery in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Sometime later, George remarried, to Joan Breyersdorfer. Joan was born August 14, 1923 and also served during World War II as a Lieutenant. She and George had two sons. George was 92 and living in Deland, Florida when he died on November 8, 2009. Joan followed on July 16, 2012 at the age of 88. They are buried together at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.
In 1957, Georg was still living at the family home, 41 Tillinghast Street, when he became too ill and had to be sent to the Abbey Nursing Home in Newark, He died there on July 6, 1957. He was 84 years old. He was buried with Rosie at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery.
So, after completing the long saga of the eleven children brought into this world by Georg Reuss and Rosalia Bederski, we now continue with Michael Reuss' twelfth child. On July 10, 1875, Veronica gave birth to (12) Mary Reuss. They were living at 92 Morton Street in Newark. Mary never went beyond fourth grade in school. On July 5, 1899 she married a goldsmith or jeweler named George Fredrick Dietz. George was born in Speyer, Germany on May 27, 1874 and arrived in America in 1880 when he was six years old. His parents were Adalbert Dietz and Barbara Wimmer. Like Mary, George did not go beyond the fourth grade. They lived at 84 Fairview Avenue in Newark. They had two children.
The birth of the first child, (1) Charles Dietz is muddled in controversy. According to an index of births, Charles was born February 3, 1899, six months before Mary and George married. However, the 1900 Federal Census states Charles was born in February of 1900. Regardless, there is very little else known about Charles. He shows up as a ten-year-old on the 1910 Census, but disappears after that.
On July 3, 1904, Mary gave birth to their second child, (2) Alice E. Dietz. By 1910, the family is living at 575 Hunterdon Street in Newark. Alice not only graduated eighth grade and high school, she also went on to college to earn a degree in teaching. She then became a public school teacher. Up until 1940, she was still teaching school and living with her parents at 47 Willoughby Street in Newark. In that same year, when she was about 36 years old, Alice married Edward John Zinckgraf, a young widower with an 11-year-old son, Edward John Zinckgraf, Jr. Edward Sr. was a tool maker for a radio tube manufacturer. He was a slim red-headed fellow who stood 5' 8" tall and weighed 145 pounds. He had brown eyes and a ruddy complexion. He also exhibited a scar and tattoo on his left arm. His first wife Helen Thrum was only 30 years old when she died in 1936.
Alice and Edward lived at 47 Willoughby Street in Newark. Two more sons were born, Robert Zinckgraf and Raymond Zinckgraf. At some point, they began winter residence in Lake Park, Florida. In 1957, they decided to make Lake Park their permanent residence when Edward died suddenly in Newark the day after Thanksgiving on November 29, 1957. He was 56 years old. He was buried at Gate Of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey.
Alice lived on for many more years in Florida. She was 92 when she died, in Geneva, Florida, on October 23, 2000.
In 1940, 65-year-old George and 64-year-old Mary were still living at 47 Willoughby Street, and George was still working as a jeweler. After that, there is no more documentation for them.
It's been a long ride, but we finally arrive at Michael and Veronica's last child. This is (13) Katherine Cecilie Reuss. She was born in Newark on July 9, 1878. She married Louis Poeter on March 25, 1900. Louis was born in Newark on August 10, 1872. He was a "steel engraver." His parents were German immigrants Emil Poeter and Ida Stephens. At first Katherine and Louis lived at 110 Magnolia Street in Newark, but by 1905 they had moved in with Louis' parents at 33 Fairmount Avenue.
Katherine and Louis had one child, a son named Emil Henry Poeter. He was born in Newark on July 17, 1905. He dropped out of high school after the first year to become a plumber. In 1932, Emil married Geraldine C. Rice, the daughter of Joseph Rice and Henrietta Wachenfeld. Geraldine was a stenographer for a lawyer's office when they married. They lived at 42 Franklin Terrace in Irvington.
Emil was a plumber at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed about 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a dark complexion. Eventually, he started his own business as a plumbing and heating contractor. In 1946 the family moved to the Jersey Shore, settling in Avon. Emil was a member of the Ocean Lodge Free & Accepted Masons, the Monmouth County Plumbing and Heating Association, and the National Association of Master Plumbers. He and Geraldine were members of the United Methodist Church in Avon.
Geraldine was a member of the charitable Order of the Eastern Star, the Daisy Pickers of New Jersey, and Muriel's Guys and Dolls. She and Emil had two children.
Their first child was Ronald A. Poeter. He was born in Irvington on March 17, 1938. After graduating from Asbury Park High School, he attended Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, and New York University of Law. After graduating from Newark College of Engineering, he found employment with Jacobs Engineering Company in Linden, New Jersey. He also served in the Naval Reserve.
On February 15, 1970, Emil died suddenly at home. He was 64 years old. Three weeks later, his son Ronald married Emelie Joan Lechleiter in a candlelight ceremony at Allwood Community Church in Clifton, New Jersey. Emelie was born in Montclair, New Jersey on January 5, 1944, the daughter of John E. Lechleiter and Estelle Maria Gorley. Emelie graduated from Clifton High School and was employed by the Lummus Company in Bloomfield prior to the marriage. They set up housekeeping in Eatontown, New Jersey but soon moved to Florham Park and Madison, New Jersey. In Madison, they became members of the Madison Presbyterian Church.
Emelie and Ronald did not have children. Emelie worked as a legal secretary and a sales consultant for Macy's Department Store in Livingston, New Jersey. On October 22, 1984, Ronald's mother Geraldine died. She was 78 years old. His wife Emelie was only 47 years old when she died on July 12, 1991. Many years later, Ronald died on October 31, 2015 at the age of 77.
Emil and Geraldine's second child was Geraldine "Geri" Ann Poeter, born in Irvington on January 28, 1942. After graduating from Asbury High School, she attended the Berkely Secretarial School in New York, The American Institute of Banking, Brookdale Community College, and Rutgers University. Geri had a very diverse working career. She was a professional dancer, a dance instructor at Arthur Murray Studios in New York, secretary for the Musicians Union, secretary for First Merchants National Bank in Asbury Park, and district manager of Midlantic Merchants Bank of Neptune.
Geri was the certified tax and water-sewer collector for the Borough of Avon, retiring in 1990. She served as an officer at the Ocean Chapter 214 Order of Eastern Star like her mother. Geri never married. She was 58 years old when she died on August 23, 2000. She was buried at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Union, New Jersey.
There is no documented evidence that tells us when or where Katherine or Louis Poeter Died.
Now that the long saga of the children of Michael Reuss and his two wives, Appolonia Rothman and Veronica Reich, is completed, we come to the end of their lives. As stated far above, Appolonia died on March 18, 1863, less than three weeks after giving birth to her sixth child, Heinrich Reuss. She was only 35 years old. Poor little Heinrich died three months later on May 27, 1863. Although there is no record of Appolonia's cause of death or where she might be buried, we do know that baby Heinrich was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Perhaps that is where Appolonia is, too.
When the 1895 New Jersey State Census was taken in Newark, Michael and Veronica and their youngest unmarried children were living next to Stefan and Theodora Bederski in Newark. They were still living together on the 1900 Federal Census but there is some evidence Michael and Veronica soon separated and lived apart from one another. Sometime later, Veronica and her bachelor son Henry were at 464 Hunterdon Street in Newark.
Michael was confined to the Essex County Hospital for the Insane in East Orange, New Jersey when he died there on December 13, 1908. He was 81 years old. Cause of death was "Albuminuria Senile Dementia." Albuminuria is a microvascular disorder of the kidney, which is known to be a possible cause of dementia. He was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange.
Veronica was 88 years old and living with her daughter, Katherine Poetor, at 26 North 43rd Street in Irvington, New Jersey, when she died from "acute ulcerative intercolitis" on August 5, 1925. Her obituary in the Newark Evening News stated that she was the "beloved wife of the late Michael Reus". The funeral was from her daughter's home and a 9 a.m. funeral mass was held at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. She was buried in a plot at Woodland Cemetery in Newark. Three years later, her son Henry joined her.
