Marie H. "Babe" Johannpeter Kimker

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 “Onkel 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 died when Grandpa was only two years old. Uncle Jules was Great Grandma Ellis’ older brother. Uncle Jules was a surrogate father to Grandpa, So waren Onkel Jules Kinder auch Ersatzbrüder und Schwestern für Opa. While “Babe” was 12 years older than Grandpa, he still spoke well of her and continued to see her until she passed away in 1994.

Ich erinnere mich an eine Reise, die wir unternommen haben “Babe’s” house in the mid-1980s. “Babe” still lived in the same house she and her husband Elmer bought between 1927 und 1931. The house was in the 5000 block of Emerson Avenue, five blocks from her parent’s house at 5039 Thrush Avenue. Das Haus befand sich im Walnut Park East Viertel, which was becoming one of St. Louis’ highest crime neighborhoods. Ich erinnere mich gut daran, weil es eines der wenigen Male ist, Ich sah Opa mit seinem Revolver trugen.

“Babe” was in her eighties at the time. I remember her as being a little on the frail side but very welcoming. I also remember an antique high back chair next to a window in her dining room. The house felt “old” to me in that most of the furnishings seemed to be from an earlier time. “Babe” vermisste auch ihren Ehemann Elmer Kimker, who passed away in January 1980.

A few years after we visited, a cowardly burglar broke into “Babe’s” Haus, knocked her to the ground and took a few items of little street value but great sentimental value. “Babe” was already suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Wegen Kopfverletzungen, “Babe” had to move out of the house she lived in for 60 years to a long-term care facility.

“Babe” and Elmer experienced tragedy in the home prior to the burglary, which forced “Babe” out of her home. Am January 22, 1930, Elmer and “Babe” welcomed a son, Robert G. Kimker. A few days before his first birthday, Robert began having trouble breathing. The doctor’s diagnosed emphysema in Robert’s left lung.

Elmer and “Babe” nahm Robert nach Hause, aber er erholte sich nicht. Einen Monat später Februar 20, 1931, Robert passed away due to a collapsed lung. He was only 1 year, 28 days old. Elmer and Babe never had any more children.

Opa und meine Mutter besuchten weiter “Babe” in der Pflegeeinrichtung, Aber Mama sagte, die Besuche seien oft traurig. Sometimes “Babe” erinnerte sich Opa, Aber sie erinnerte sich an ihn, als er war, als er als Kind mit ihnen lebte. Sometimes, she did not remember Grandpa.

On May 20, 1994, “Babe” passed away a month before her 91st birthday. Marie H. Kimker was laid to rest with her husband Elmer, her son Robert, father Julius, mother Bertha and brother Eugene at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Normandy, St. Louis Grafschaft, Missouri.

Leider, I only knew “Babe”, when she was in her eighties after her husband passed away. Ich habe keine der Geschichten darüber, was für eine lebenslustige Person sie sein könnte oder wie sie sich um meinen Opa gekümmert hat. Mama erinnert sich an die Kartenspiele bei Elmers und Babe's House als lustige Zeiten. Sie waren ihr und Tante Maureen sehr einladend.

“Babe” Ich könnte uns viel von ihr erzählen 90 Jahre, Aber wir haben keine Möglichkeit, diese außerhalb der offiziellen Aufzeichnungen zu finden. It is one of the challenges of genealogy.

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