1920’s and 1930’s and 1940’s The Dearborn County Register.
1920–US-Census-names Dad as Robert Heimburger. (Wonder who the Census worker was????)
11/17/1927- Diamond Jubilee Celebration at St. Martin Church. Dad is confirmed during Solemn High Mass by the Rt. Rev. Joseph Chartrand, Bishop of Indianapolis. Chicken dinner served after Mass in the church basement. (Still a family and church tradition today–Fried Chicken!)
Confirmed with Dad: Alvira Weber, Lorraine Hartman, Alice Hornbach, Rose Mary Hornbach, Edna Wiedeman, Charles Widolff, Joseph Hornbach, Maurice Miller, Norbert Wiedeman, Eugene Widolff, Irvin Miller, Edward Aust, and Joseph Hartman.
06/23/1932-Dad’s 8th Grade Graduation from York Township.(Other graduates included: Norbert Wiedeman, Irvin Miller, Joseph Hartman, Edward Aust, Willard Baker, Floyd Esther, Ernest Palmer, Kenneth and Arthur Darling.)
06/25/1936-Dad is elected 4H Yorkville Boy’s Club. Also, he along with Cornelius Widolff is hosting a Weiner Roast at the Kirchgassner farm.
04/15/1937-Dad and Uncle Harry went to Cincinnati to visit relatives.
07/07/1936-The Yorkville 4H Club met and voted to put a decorated float in the Lawrenceburg Fair. Mr. Paul Potts, Vocational Teacher at GHS, is the sponsor of the club.
1935-1936-Dad served on a committee with Edward Aust, Leo Winter and Lester Hansell to try and establish a 4H Club for girls and to find a leader. Dad also appointed a committee to raise money for the club. Discussed having a baseball team. At one of the meetings, Willard Aust presented how to care for chickens. Sylvester Scheibel demonstrated how to prepare the ground for corn planting.
03/1941-Dad, Bernice Aust, Mom plus many others attending a going away party for Cletus Weber at his parent’s house. (The way the newspaper wrote the article, Mom was the plus “two!” Bernice was noted as dad’s friend in the same sentence. Bet Mom was not happy.)
03/18/1941-Dad, along with Cletus Weber and 11 men left from Lawrenceburg, Indiana on a Greyhound bus for Louisville, Ky to be sworn in to serve in the US Army.
07/31/1941-Dad was home in Yorkville on a ten-day furlough from Camp Barkley in Texas.
03/14/1942-Mrs. Mike Kirchgassner left last Friday to go to Massachusetts to visit her son stationed there. (I don’t for sure if Grandma Dorie made it to see dad. She told me that she was scheduled to see him, but too much rain prevented the trains to stay on schedule. She didn’t mention Massachusetts.)
11/12/1942-Cpl. Robert Kirchgassner was home on furlough last week has returned to Boston, Massachusetts.
04/15/1943-Cpl. Robert Kirchgassner and Maurice Miller were home on leave on a weekend pass. George Hornbach spent the weekend with home folks.
11/30/1944-S/SGT. Robert Lee Kirchgassner, 26, was seriously wounded in action, in France, according to word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Kirchgassner of Yorkville, Indiana. In service since March 18, 1941, he has been overseas since 1943 and fought in Africa, Sicily, and Italy before going to France.
02/22/1945-S/SGT. Robert Kirchgassner is convalescing from serious wounds received in action. His mother, Mrs. Mike Kirchgassner of Yorkville was informed this past week in a letter from the War Department. He is in the hospital in England, S/SGT. Kirchgassner, was wounded in the chest while in action in France on October 27. He had been in combat for 16 months with the infantry, when he was wounded. His mother received first word from the War Department on November 11, and later received a letter from her son telling her he had been quite ill. He was first located in a hospital in France and later removed to England.
Nordmeyer Wedding—Background information……Grandma Dorie told me that she had a brother who worked for the railroad and I always thought it was Joseph who I wrote about in the previous blog. But actually it was her brother Charles Ferdinand Nordmeyer, born in 1889, who worked diligently on the railroad, contributing to the movement of goods and people during a pivotal time in American history. (Grandma Dorie was born in 1898, a decade later.) The 1917 War Registration card describes him as tall, slender with grey eyes, embodying a sense of strength and resilience. From what I remember, Grandma was close to her brother Charles, sharing a few stories but I never recall her speaking fondly of or mentioning her sister-in-law Olivia, which always intrigued me. Probably their frosty relations had to do with Grandma Dorie being a single mother; not many in the village of Yorkville would have looked upon that situation kindly, as the societal norms of the time placed great emphasis on traditional family structures. Charles would be diagnosed with tuberculosis the day after Christmas in 1928, and regrettably, he would not see the new year out, leaving behind a legacy marred by illness. Grandma never got the chance to see her brother become a grandfather.
Dad, however, had a good relationship with Charles’ children, especially with Lester, affectionately known as “Stomper.” According to Dad, Stomper was a character who would do anything if someone dared him, displaying a fearless spirit that made him legendary among his peers. He would engage in outrageous antics, like swallowing goldfish and, in a restaurant setting, arranging all the salt and pepper shakers’ lids to fall off as soon as a person tried using them, much to the amusement and bewilderment of onlookers. (Stomper also served with honor in WWII, contributing to the fight for freedom.) When Elverna, sister to Stomper, married in 1946, Dad was honored to be an usher in the wedding, a role that allowed him to witness the celebration of love, family, and the continuation of their shared history amidst the challenges they had faced. In the following two paragraphs document two life changing stories: the wedding of Charles and his untimely death.
“The most up-to-date wedding took place Wednesday morning, November 19, 1913 at Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hornbach’s daughter, Olivia, (DOB 01/06/1893) was united in marriage to Charles F. Nordmeyer of Yorkville in the holy bonds of matrimony, Rev. C. P. Baron officiating at St. Martin’s Church. The ceremony took place at nine o’clock, the bride’s brothers, Eddie, Mike and Otto coming on the morning train for which Rev. Baron was kind enough to wait. Raymond, a brother of the bride and Joe Trossman, (Floyd’s father) friend of the groom acted as best man while the bridesmaids were Rose Zerr a cousin of the bride and Katie Nordmeyer a sister of the groom. The bride wore a white mescaline silk dress, trimmed in beads and fringe and a white satin ribbon and wore a veil and carried a bouquet of bridal roses. The bridesmaids wore white embroidery net over white silk and carried a bouquet of carnations. The groom and the best men wore conventional black. The hours passed in music and dancing and all went merry as a wedding bell. After the ceremony they marched into the dining room where they all did ample justice to the well prepared meal. Many valuable presents were given. Their many friends extend their heartiest congratulations. May their joys be as deep as the ocean and their sorrows as light as its foam.” The Dearborn County Register
10/20/1939-“The merciless reaper of death called at the Nordmeyer home in Yorkville on Sunday, October 20, at 2:00 AM and removed from their midst their loving husband and father, Charles Nordmeyer. The deceased was the son of Herman and Mary Nordmeyer and was born at Yorkville, Indiana on August 24, 1889, age 40 years, 1 month and 26 days. On November 19, 1913, he was united in marriage to Olivia Hornbach, this union being blessed with one son and two daughters. The deceased was a member of St. Martin’s Parish, he professed his faith in his Maker saying he was willing to answer his Maker’s call. He also was a faithful member of the Holy Name Society, which showed great respect at the time of his death and burial. Left to mourn this sad departure, his loving wife, and a son Lester, and two daughters Lorene and Elverna, his mother, three brothers and five sisters and many other relatives and a wide circle of friends. His father dying several years ago. Funeral services were held at St Martin Parish, Yorkville on Wednesday, Rev. F. H. Sonderman officiating. Six cousins were pallbearers.” The Dearborn County Register
It is time to close another blog…..hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing the words. Just so you know, future blogs might have ads attached in and around my writing. Please do not feel like you have to purchase something or “react” to the ads. I am just dreaming that someone who shares my DNA might want to help find out if we are related to the Clooney’s’ from Maysville, Kentucky like Grandma Bessie always told us-her grandchildren. To verify the heritage, it might take to hiring a forensic genealogist to complete and finalize the search I started–Johnny Martini suggested this endeavor and without hesitation, I am “in!” No worries, I will keep all of you posted on my findings in this quest. Till next time, “Fan Go Maith” and Blessed be God.