Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about family history, family life, and miscellaneous topics.
1909 was probably the worst year of Parker Lonzo Bator Zimmerman’s life. He lost both his ten month old daughter Ida May Zimmerman and his second wife Mellie Bollinger Zimmerman. Before Parker’s death in the Cape Giraurdeau Tornado of 1949, he would bury two more of his children. Both of them were adults. I can only imagine how hard 1909
On November 1908, three bishops and an abbot dedicated St. Francis de Sales Church, “the Cathedral of South St. Louis”. Built to serve the growing German Catholic population in St. Louis, the huge church would become the home to many families including my great grandparents, Eduard and Magdalena Mosblech, and their 14 children. The St. Louis Archdiocese dedicated the church
Recently, I was searching for information about my Great Uncle Francis’ marriage to my Great Aunt Rosemary Kalt. What I discovered was an unexpected genealogy treasure, a picture in the July 5 edition of the St. Louis Star-Times of my great grandparents and 12 of the 14 Mosblech children. I had never seen a picture of my great grandparents, Eduard
Ollie J. Zimmerman was the third son born to my great-grandfather Parker L. Zimmerman and his second wife Mollie Bollinger. Ollie and his twin sister Dollie were born on either April 27, 1906 or April 27, 1907. Since Ollie’s headstone says “1906”, I’m going with April 27, 1906 as his birthdate. In 1909, Ollie would lose his mother, when Mellie
Eugene “Gene” August Johannpeter was born on May 20, 1908, to Julius and Bertha Johannpeter. He was the second son of Uncle Jules and Aunt Bertha. His older brother was Julius “Punks” William Johannpeter, Jr., who flew the mail out of Lambert Field along with Charles Lindbergh. “Punks” was seven years older than Gene. My grandfather, Gilbert P. Ellis, lived
Eduard Mosblech is my maternal great-grandfather. Eduard was born in St. Louis, Missouri on October 24, 1884, to German immigrants Gustave Mosblech and Bertha Mosblech nee Monse. Often written as Edward but pronounced like putting together aid and ward, Eduard was as unique as his name. I struggled with writing much about him because the stories I heard about him
Weeks ago, I was looking for a copy of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott from my grandfather’s old library. Grandpa Gilbert P. Ellis had a library that he gave me in the early 1990s. These books and his desk are treasures that will stay with me until the day I die. As a kid, I used to sit in his
Gilford Dudley Story (1797 – 1870) is my third great-grandfather. There are six generations between the two of us. I have just recently been able to find information on the Story family, one of the branches of the family my research had not turned up as much information on. For years, I could not find my great-grandmother Dollie Zimmerman nee
Last Monday, I was able to scratch a big item off my bucket list. I attended a Liverpool Football Club game in person. Liverpool FC came to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on August 1, 2016 to play a preseason game with AS Roma. My daughter Caity attended the match with me, which made the day extra special. I
Today, Tam and I will be married twenty years. Unfortunately, life in Missouri is 20 years, so I hope she doesn’t want to apply for parole. I’m hoping she decides to keep me around for a few more years. On July 27, 1996, Tam, my mother and sisters prepared the clubhouse for our wedding later that afternoon. They wisely kept