Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about family history, family life, and miscellaneous topics.
Marie H. “Babe” Johannpeter was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 17, 1903. “Babe” was the second child and first daughter born to my second great-uncle Julius “Uncle Jules” Johannpeter and his wife Bertha Johannpeter nee Horst. My grandfather Gilbert Ellis spent a lot of his time with Uncle Jules family, while he was growing up. Grandpa Ellis’ father
My grandfather Frank O. Zimmerman’s oldest brother was Robert Harold “Harry” Zimmerman. They had a four older half-brothers and sisters and a deceased half-sister but Harry was the first child of Parker L. Zimmerman and his third wife Dolly. Grandpa would be born May 28, 1913. Harry is a bit of a mystery as he died around the
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, my grandparents used to host a monthly card party with three of Grandma Ellis’ sisters and their husbands. Uncle Tony and Aunt Agnes Giraudo, Uncle Oscar and Aunt Dorothy Von Berg along with Uncle Art and Aunt Betty Clemmings would join Grandma and Grandpa to play Pinochle. Each family would host one
On September 5, 1984, I walked through the doors of Grover Cleveland High School for the first time. I attended St. Louis’ most popular magnet school at the time, Kennard NJROTC Academy. The St. Louis School Board decided to move the program to “The Castle on Grand”. Cleveland High School would graduate many St. Louis children on St. Louis’ South
Julius “Uncle Jules” Johannpeter was born in St. Charles, MO on March 5, 1875 to recent German immigrants Frederick William Johannpeter and Johanna Johannpeter nee Grieve. “Uncle Jules” was seven years older than his sister Caroline Leah “Lee” Johannpeter, my great grandmother. When Lee’s husband William Ellis died in 1917, Lee had the challenge of raising her two-year-old son Gilbert as a single
My oldest son Kenneth will turn 18 this week. It is hard for me to believe he is a grown man already. It seems like five years ago he was a little guy running around and climbing on everything. When he was less than a year old, he could hang out of his exersaucer and pick up his toys off
My second great-grandfather John Riley Deweese served as Welch Township Republican Committee Chairman in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri for most of his adult life. Besides holding party caucuses in his home, John Riley served as Road Commissioner in the 1910s. Residents mostly traversed the roads by horse and buggy. One of the mechanisms governments used to collect fees for road
This week my youngest son Caleb turns 16. I can’t believe it has been 16 years since I saw and held him for the first time. Caleb was the baby and waited until he had a good meal at Red Lobster before making his appearance in the world. When he was ready though, he didn’t wait around. He was born 40 minutes
Today would have been my maternal grandfather Gilbert P. Ellis’ 100th birthday. Grandpa Ellis only lived to 85 but he imparted 100 years worth of wisdom into the 32 years I knew him. I could write books about him but am going to focus today’s post on how he inspired me by refusing to grow old. Grandpa Ellis maintained his physical
In the late 1990s, my grandfather, Gilbert Ellis, was living with my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Dale. They had decided to have a large garage/shed installed, so Grandpa and my uncle would have a workshop. They had the shed assembled and engaged a local electrical company to run electricity to the workshop. Uncle Dale had to run some errands on