Posts about the Ellis, Johannpeter, Mosblech, and Elker families.
Yesterday, my maternal grandmother Alvina M. Ellis nee Mosblech would have been one hundred years old. Born in St. Louis, Missouri on May 15, 1916, Grandma was the seventh of fourteen children. She married an only child in 1938, and they would have two children, Aunt Maureen and my mom, Patricia. Grandma had an enormous influence on my sisters and […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
When I started researching the family history, I only knew about two of my great-grandmother Caroline “Lee” Ellis’ nee Johannpeter’s siblings. My grandfather told me a lot about his Uncle “Jules”, Julius Johannpeter. Grandpa lived with Uncle Jules from the time he left Missouri Military Academy in 1932 until he married my grandmother, Alvina Ellis nee Mosblech in 1938. Grandpa […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
Today would have been my maternal grandfather Gilbert P. Ellis’ 100th birthday. Grandpa Ellis only lived to eighty-five, but he imparted one hundred years’ worth of wisdom into the 32 years I knew him. I could author books about him but am going to focus today’s post on how he inspired me by refusing to grow old. Grandpa Ellis kept […]
» Read more
At one point before I bought my own house, I thought home repairs were one of my skills. I helped my grandfather, Gilbert Ellis, make repairs to our house and the flat he lived in. Grandpa Ellis taught me how to replace electrical outlets, washers on sinks and build lots of things with wood. I put together lots of prefabricated […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
My second great-grandfather August H. Elker was born in Hanover, Germany on May 22, 1848, in the year of revolutions in Europe. Whether related to the revolutions or not, August’s family travelled to America in 1854. After landing in New York City, the Elker family made its way to St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis had a large German Catholic community, […]
» Read more
Dad’s mom, Marie Moellenberg, was born on October 30, 1896, in St. Louis, MO. She was born to John Moellenberg and Adele Barmann. Marie had two older brothers, Frank and Henry. Marie’s mother Adele passed away in 1904 at age 40. Her father would marry Wilhelmina Lansing in 1905. John and Wilhelmina had a daughter Johanna in 1907. John Moellenberg […]
» Read more