May 1999 Volume 3 Issue 2
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Birthdays & Wedding Anniversaries Dies und Das New Kid makes 51 Biography by Milton Schwenk Biography by Christine Schwenk Moore A Word from Uncle Don Jimmy Carter Work Project in the Philippines A Hamster Story Links Animation and Audios of the Month
| Birthdays & Wedding Anniversaries in May
1st Duff Schwenkbeck of Dover, NH turns 29.
Want to see how these and other Kids are related to you?
Click here for those who
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Dies und Das
Maurla Haehlen White of the Washington D.C. area traveled to
Chicago in March to learn more about her immigrant gg-grandmother Maria
Agnes Schwenk Baumeister, the sister of immigrant John Schwenk. She then
traveled to NE Missouri and met Juanita and Darrel Schwenk. While there,
Maurla tried to find the gravesite of Maria Barbara Lieb Schwenk who died
there in 1878 (the mother of Maria Agnes and John), who had moved to Missouri
after the death of her husband Johannes in 1869 in Neuburg near his birthplace
Mundingen. The Lewis Cemetary in which Maria Barbara was laid to rest is
now abandoned and neglected. Here is what Maurla said in part in a recent
email: "I had a nice 4 or 5 hours with Juanita and Darrell--including
a good lunch! They were so nice and she was so up on everything.
You both were right, there just was no stone to be found in Bloomington
on the Hill. There were some other stones in the brush, mainly Lewis
family. I was given the name of a Lewis family person who didn't know as
much as I about the cemetery. Luckily, I was there before the brambles
had leaves! We visited the Bloomington Cemetery also and found the
stone for John and Sophia and also another..." ...Gerd Schwenk
of Laichingen sent photos to your editors taken at the Easter Market in
Laichingen with his brand new digital camera. Some of the shots were taken
from the Weaver's Museum which is part of the St. Alban Church complex
and where so many of our ancestors were christened...Nicole Schwenk
Cartney near Pittsburgh, PA is planning a 45 day, 8500 mile cross-country
adventure beginning June 27th. She and her two children plus a teenage
friend of her daughter will be driving to the Pacific Northwest, Southern
California, then back home. According to her meticulously prepared itinerary,
they will camp out, lodge in motels and stay with kin all along the way.
Her Grandma Schwenk says, "Nikki's got guts."...Don Schwenk was
mistaken
when he wrote last month that Netscape email users cannot send html email
to AOL people. It is a long, boring story (like the article refered to).
If any Netscape people want to know how, drop him a line...DNS = Domain
Name Service. DSL = Digital Subscriber Line. Aren't you glad you subscribe
to this informative monthly publication?...Karlheinz Schoenfeld
and wife Lore traveled to Charlotte NC near the end of April to spend time
with their son Fred Schoenfeld who is a volunteer fireman. Lore's
brother Rolf Denz also resides in Charlotte...Your editors urge you to
print out this newsletter; then you can read it more leisurely.
New Kid makes 51
| Ursula "Uschi" Gorzelany is our newest Konrad's Kid. She was born in Ehingen on the Danube River in October, 1982, some seven miles east of the hamlet of Kochstetten where she now lives with her parents and three siblings. Her great-grandmother was Babette Schwenk Walter, who was the gg-granddaughter of Conrad Schwenk, 1773-1867, the innkeeper and brewer in nearby Mundingen. Uschi has been corresponding by regular mail with Don Schwenk since 6/96 when he met her while visiting other Schwenk cousins in Kochstetten. She got her computer connected to the Internet in mid April and thus becomes our 51st Kid. If you would like to drop her a line, see the cover letter announcing this May Newsletter for her address. If you want to see her 12-generation descent tree from our Konrad, click here. |
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Biography Nostalgic Reminiscences
By Milton Schwenk of Yakima, Washington
This is being written solely
at the request of one of the editors, Don, known to most of you as "Uncle
Don," but to me as Nephew Don. Being the son of my brother, he is
relegated to that status.
The suggestion was to start
with some biographical facts. Here goes--(writing or speaking in
the first person runs counter to my usual desires). Born December
24, 1932 at Methodist Hospital, Rapid City, South Dakota. (Same origination
as nephew Don). Proud parents A. Elmer and Lula. A. E., as
he was often called, was the Methodist minister in Sturgis, located just
north of Rapid City. In those days, Methodist ministers were moved
quite often, regardless of the job they were doing, so at about the age
of 2, we were moved to Salem, So. Dak. It is here that recollections
come into focus--the terrible draught and dust bowl status of the Midwest.
A couple of years later, we moved once more, to Racine, Minnesota, a small
town south of Rochester and the Twin Cities. Though not a real large
congregation located there, in retrospect I believe my Dad wanted to be
closer to his sons, Earl and Lloyd, as well as his brother John, who lived
in St. Paul. (see feature on John in April issue of this newsletter).
We would travel up for visits on occasion, and some very indelible memories
come to mind. Donnie, Dick, and JoAnn were just toddlers. Jim
and Jerry werent born yet. Earl and wife Mabel, and Lloyd and wife
Vivian,shared the same house on Hubbard Street--Earl's family downstairs,
and Lloyd's upstairs.
Sometime in the next couple of years, my Dad took a trip "out West". My Mother's sister had moved out earlier, and had written how great it was--warmer weather, numerous agricultural crops, etc. Evidentally, Dad's earlier agrarian endeavors got the best of him, as well as to get away from the bitter winters we were having. So, in 1938, we headed West. We had a fairly new Chrysler "Airflow", which was pretty neat. On the way out, I remember a couple stopovers--Ireton, Iowa and my sister Evelyn, Aunt Louise and Uncle Albert in Callao, Missouri. Dad talked Albert into joining us on our Westward trek. He was a bachelor, and the source of perhaps an unsolved mystery--his eventual demise. Every time during the trip that we would see some whiteface cattle, Albert would lower the car window and spit. He chewed tobacco, and missed his own herd.
Now we're "Out West".
Uncle Albert couldn't stand being away from his cattle so he hopped a train
and headed back. We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle for awhile in Prosser,
Wash. I've heard my Dad had a knack in the trading area. He
and the aforementioned John had participated in several profitable "trades".
Before I knew it, we weren't driving the neat Chrysler, but a much older
and ugly auto. We also moved into our own house which included a
little "spread" of land.
During this time, Dad kept
his hand in ministerial duties by becoming what was then called a "Supply
pastor", filling various vacant pulpits in various areas, mostly quite
small towns. Mother and I would naturally go with him to these churches
stuck off in the middle of the wheat country. After church, we were
always invited to one of the congregation's home for Sunday Dinner--always
greasy chicken.To this day, chicken is not my favorite food.
Let's skip ahead a year and a half, to Kennewick, Wash. where my Dad got his own church. He also had to serve a couple outlying churches, which took it's toll. I recall him starting a Boy Scout troop while there, and helping anyone in need. By himself, he re-roofed the church, remodeled and painted the interior. He would always like to take me on these endeavors, and I would stand there watching, or running errands when possible. Little wonder that in the early morning of Sunday, February 16, 1941 my Dad died of a massive heart attack. I was 8 years old.
The above is somewhat autobiographical, but I tried to weave in a bit of the life of one of the sons of John the Immigrant, whose blood many of us carry. Now, if we're still together, join me following that fateful day in February. My Mother and I remained in the parsonage through the school year, my third grade. One of the church members, Mr. Grending, owned an empty house in Sunnyside, Wash. some fifty miles west. He offered it to us, and I'm not certain if he even charged us rent. That September, brother Earl and family (Mabel, Donnie, and Jerry), moved "Out West", and we lived together for awhile before establishing our own homes in Sunnyside. Before going any further, mention should be made that my Mother's maiden name was Dobberstein. Her people immigrated from the Berlin area.
After high school, an athletic scholarship (football) provided the means
to attend Washington State University, earning degrees in Education and
Speech, and an introduction to my wife, Joann. Introduced, incidentally,
by Keith Jackson, the ABC sportscaster and a classmate of mine. (Had
to be a name-dropper there--won't mention the Crosby twins who were Sigma
Nu fraternity brothers).
Upon graduation, signed and tried out
with the Detroit Lions. Didn't make final cut, so luckily,
a High School teaching/coaching job opened in Colville, Wash., 80 miles
north of Spokane. Coached football, basketball, and baseball and
taught Speech and American History. Had an exceptionally good basketball
team. Handily, Joann was teaching in Spokane, and we had the opportunity
to firm up our relationship.
Could only stay there one
year, as an R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corps - for our readers
in Germany) obligation of three years had to be fulfilled. Did so
at Hamilton AFB, outside of San Rafael, Calif. (now closed down).
While in A.F. Joann and I married in Spokane, 1956, and in the proper time,
first son Kevin was born while we lived in Petaluma, Calif.
After release from A.F.,
returned to Wash. and began work on Masters Degree, which was granted
later. Then took a coaching job at Wenatchee, Wash. Junior College--football
and baseball. One year, and a job came up at University of Montana
in Missoula, Montana. Assistant football coach. Second son, Kyle,
born there (see article in April edition). After the rungs started
breaking in a meteoric climb up the mythical ladder to success, got out
of coaching and into radio and television. That field brought us
to TV News Director in Yakima, which is just 35 miles from Sunnyside, where
a lot of it started. My mother still lived there. WAIT!!
There's more--Retired after 20 years in Public Relations/Public Affairs
with an electric utility Company, now called Pacificorp.
WHEW!! If you're still
with me, Thanks. I'll not go into our trip to Germany this Summer.
Perhaps when we get back.
Biography
By Christine Schwenk Moore of Boise, Idaho
My name is Christine Moore. I go by Chris. I am the
daughter of the famous (or infamous) Don Schwenk, one of our noble and
hard working editors. I was born in 1955 in Frankfurt, Germany where my
father was stationed at the time and not far from Steinheim on the Main
River where my mother was raised. We moved shortly after to the United
States where I have lived for the last 43 years. I will soon be 44 years
of age, which I must admit I find hard to believe. My body feels 44, but
my mind certainly does not.
After 4 years of college in Idaho and several changes
in my major, I received a degree in fashion merchandising - which has proved
to be pretty worthless, but the college experience and the education process
were what was most important. Since I worked pretty much full time
while attending school, I didn't have the usual "college experience", which
at the University of Idaho means partying your brains out most of the time.
Consequently I think I reserved a few extra brain cells for later in life.
After many years in the retail and wholesale business, and 7 years working
in my husband's medical office, I happily "retired". However, it
seems like I work harder now than when I was employed, or I should say
when I was paid for working.
I have been married for 18 years to Richard Moore, an orthopaedic
surgeon. We have 6 "children" - 2 parrots, 2 cats, and 2 golden retrievers.
That and a seemingly endless remodel on our house keep me very busy. After
a year of various remodeling projects, my father keeps expecting the men
in white coats to take me away.
Our interests range from snow skiing to water skiing,
but mostly doing "fun stuff" with our 2 dogs (we do all that we can to
keep them from being bored, consequently all of my shoes are intact). I
personally have an interest in keeping my head above water and keeping
my sanity while dealing with everything that comes my way daily. I try
to keep up with the computer, but unfortunately it usually is last on my
list. One of these days I will learn something more than e-mail.....
A Word from Uncle Don
Okay, you've just launched your very first homepage. Now what? After some consideration you decide that this should be a showcase for your family history. So you talk to your father who is a total junkie on this subject. He emails you a gigabyte of stuff on all he knows about your Schwenk ancestry. And so you put that in your fledgling Website and wonder who will visit - if anyone. And this is where this story really begins.
My eldest son Gordon launched that Website in January, 1997. He named it SchwenkNet. (Ed. note July 2001: that WS is no longer in business.) One of the first visitors who dropped him a line was Sally Hayes Downey from the Chicago, Illinois area, whose mother was born Schwenk. That was in March, 1997. She said in part, "I have finally found a Schwenk! My brother and I have been working on our family tree for many, many years and the Schwenk line is the one we have had the hardest time trying to find a connection to a town in Germany." Sally copied her brother Peter Hayes in New York State. And this Website visit was the beginning of something BIG! A few months later through joint efforts, we learned that these siblings are descended from our common ancestor Konrad Schwenk, 1601-86 in Laichingen, and through the Schwenkbeck line! Click here for their descent tree.
Not long after this, Peter made contact with a Joyce Schwenkbeck cousin in New York State. That land letter led to her email contact with Karlheinz Schoenfeld in the same state. From him I learned that his sister Sonja in Germany and his children, Andrea, Ellen and Fred in America were also online. And later, his brother Rudi in Germany got online And later still, I learned that Joyce Schwenkbeck Spencer's three children Cheryl, Loretta and David were online as well as her nephew Duff Schwenkbeck and niece Kimberly Bartlett. And then there is another online Schwenkbeck cousin to these whose name is Juanita Halliday Josey also of NY State. So, if I have added correctly, 15 of you were "found" through an initial visit to our Website by Sally Hayes Downey!
Then there was Willi Schwenkschuster of Laichingen. He visited the SchwenkNet Website in February, shortly before Sally's visit. He had used the computer of his friend and neighbor Juergen Mangold because he, himself, had not yet acquired one. This email led to a search of Juergen Mangold's ancestry in Laichingen. And what do you know? That led right back to our Konrad! And so he and son Thilo joined the "Klub." Then in February of this year, a Jeff Erwin of the Washington D.C. area found the SchwenkNet Website and wrote that he had a Barbara Schwenk ancestor born in Laichingen. That email led to another search by me in the microfilmed Laichingen church records which revealed that he too is descended from our Konrad. And then the most recent Kid discovered through a visit to our Website is Juergen Schwenkglenks of Passau, Germany.
So, all these 19 cousins have been "uncovered" through the miracle of the Internet. There are others among the current 51 Kids whose connection to our Konrad Schwenk has been discovered through other means. But that would be another story. Hope you enjoyed this one.
Jimmy Carter Work Project in the Philippines by Richard
Schwenk
(the following is an email sent by Richard to a Christian radio
station in New Jersey on 29 Mar 1999)
Caring and I have been down south, in Maragondon, Cavite and have picked up a wee bit of southern accent from listening to the likes of former President Jimmy and wife Rosalyn, who came over to the Philippines to head up the Jimmy Carter Work Project (JPWP), March 21-27, 1999. Millard Fuller, President of Habitat for Humanity, International ended his short introduction ("Great men don't need long introductions") of Jimmy Carter by saying, "...I give you my friend, my neighbor and my Sunday School teacher."
Foreign volunteers were about 2,000 and came from 32 nations. There
were about 12,000 local volunteers. Ric is a member of the Board of Trustees
of Habitat For Humanity, Philippines so we were invited to several functions,
including a breakfast for church leaders where we happened to
sit at the same table as Jimmy & Rosalyn and Millard Fuller.
Our group of seven professors and eight students from Union Theological Seminary and several other students and an M.D. from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia finished our house #101 and turned it over to the Salamante family on March 26. The house dedication service brought tears to everyone as Mr. and Mrs. Salamante and their four children expressed how happy they were to move from their 130 sq. ft. bamboo shack to this new 323 sq. ft. concrete house. It is not a gift. The partner family had to put in at least 400 hours of "sweat equity" in their neighbor's house construction and will be paying about $20. per month, interest free, amortization for 10 years.
Dr. Tan Poh Tin, was the Medical Officer for a province in Sarawak were we use to live. Here was a medical doctor doing masonry work with us. She volunteered to install the toilet bowls in our five houses with the help of Zam Mung, one of our Burmese students. Rev. Dr. Dieter Georgi, visiting professor to UTS from Frankfurt, Germany, and formerly teaching at Harvard Divinity School, also stayed an extra week after graduation to join us for the JCWP. He delighted in building the roof trusses.
Presidents Carter, Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Erap Estrada worked
on houses #5 and 6. Many corporate executives and several of the richest
men in the Philippines, Japan and Korea, joined in building houses and
people were amazed at how humble and hard working they were. The list of
distinguished people who labored and donated that others might have
a decent home could go on and on.
The Carters and Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat For Humanity, have led the way in showing the dignity of labor. Close to 80,000 homes have been built since the founding of Habitat in 1976. Worldwide, one house is being built every 25 minutes. But, the Philippines has a long way to go as four million families are homeless or ill-housed. Habitat is about helping people realize their dreams of having their own decent shelter. Isaiah 65:21 reminds us, "They shall build houses and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit." This is why the future home owners organization in Maragondon have named their new community, Isaiahville.
On Monday, former President Fidel Ramos and wife Ming passed by and joined us in picture taking before the house we were building. On Tuesday afternoon we were all called to pose for a group picture with Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter. Our particular group had about 200 workers and low and behold, Jimmy and Rosalyn came and stood beside Caring and me in the third row. He did not dare begin shaking hands then as he would be mobbed. But this morning after breakfast Rosalyn and Jimmy stopped by our table to shake hands at the Puerto Azul Hotel as we were about the only ones left in that part of the dining hall.
At the JCWP, Caring was in charge of distributing cold water and snacks to six houses with an average of 12 workers each. Therefore, we stayed up to 5:30 every night to meet those needs on five extremely hot, sunny days of work--Caring in the Medical/Refreshment Tent and I to help others who were lagging because of fewer workers.
On the last day house #101 was almost complete so I was asked by the block leader to leave our group of 18 UTS faculty and students to be in charge of #102 to 105. We had church leaders and Bishops from evangelical and Catholic groups working on these five houses that are called, "Houses On One Foundation." They are sponsored by various church groups. It was heartening to see the church leaders with various theological perspectives, working together to finish those houses--the solidarity based on our common roots and on a passage like, "In as much as you have done it unto the least of these in need, you have done it unto me."
As we were about to leave house #105 at 5:30 pm, into the house pops Jimmy Carter, all by himself - no security this time, to ask in an anxious tone for someone to help install toilet bowls in his houses #5 and 6. The old and tired Filipino carpenter who was recommended to do the job said, "Overtime sir?" Jimmy said, "Yes, of course, I'll be doing overtime too!" The Filipino, was a little chagrin to find out later that he was talking to a former President of the USA, one who was willing to go the second mile to see the job was completed. A new world record was set this week as 293 houses were completed in the Philippines.
So that is a little update on the JCWP and our involvement. It was quite exciting to keep running into top people like former presidents, congressmen, CEOs of huge corporations and common people who shared a vision and faith that there must be a better way and that people don't have to live in shacks or poverty. Many stories were told about home partner kids who no longer were ashamed to invite their friends to visit them and because of rising self-esteem were doing better in school, breaking the chains of poverty and rising ahead in life.Wouldn't it be wonderful if each church, civic group and corporation would get involved to help lift people out of poverty as home building partners!
All the best to our friends out there, especially to Aleksa Iorga, Chief LIFE-NET's Yugoslavia Bureau. We are praying for him and peace in that troubled and mixed up land. Sounds like they will be needing Habitat houses once peace returns.
Warm regards and all best wishes,
Ric
Richard Lloyd Schwenk
A Hamster Story
By an anonymous Kid
It was back in the mid seventies. We lived in a quiet suburb of a large city on the West Coast. We means my wife, our sons, their hamster and me. The hamster lived in a cage in the family room. This was a fairly small room and furnished mostly with a TV, a couch, a chair or two and the cage. Floors were hardwood. And why do I mention the floor type? Because that plays a small role in this story.
My wife and boys had gone to bed one evening. I was watching the late night news. About that time, the hamster (I've forgotten his name, sorry) began doing his thing on that wheel. You know, like a ferris wheel, but no seats? Running like crazy! I don't know why they do that. Probably out of boredom. Or maybe to stay in shape? He did this often. The noise from this spinning wheel was not a problem during the day, but at night in that room with hardwood floors it could get on the nerves. Especially while I was trying to concentrate on the news. I walked the two steps to the cage that evening and told him to knock it off - to no avail. I turned up the TV some, but couldn't turn it up too loud for fear of waking the family. The hamster then took a break, so I got up and turned down the volume. As soon as I did, the rodent began his thing once more. Now those were the days before the remote control. Remember? It got to be a real pain making all those trips back and forth to the TV set. Anyway, I finally lost it. Got up and slammed my fist on the cage roof in the hopes of sending a strong message. To my horror, I saw the little critter fall to the cage floor. He quivered a few times, then went still. "Oh no! What have you done now?", I moaned quietly.
I sat back in my chair. The poor little guy was still motionless. I felt sick! But now at least I could hear the guy on the news. But at what cost! And what will the boys say in the morning if he doesn't recover? They'll be broken hearted. And my wife will kill me! And if he doesn't come out of this apparent concussion, what will I do? I could bury the corpse and say someone must have broken in during the night and stolen the hamster. No. That won't fly. I could say he was out of control on that wheel and broke his neck in a fall. No. That won't work either. I was just about out of tales to tell when the little guy came to. Whew! Was I ever relieved. The next morning he was as frisky as ever. You know, I don't think I've ever told this story before. And the only reason I'm telling it now is because of the anonymity promised by the editors and because they say they need more stuff for the Newsletter. By the way, that hamster didn't get back on that wheel for several more weeks.
Links
Find an acronym Acronym Finder www.mtnds.com/af
Find a definition OneLook Dictionaries www.onelook.com
Find a personal home page WhoWhere? Personal Home
Page Lookup homepages.whowhere.com
Find a ZIP code USPS ZIP Code Lookup www.usps.gov/ncsc
Find driving directions and maps, even villages
in Germany MapQuest www.mapquest.com
Animations 
and
Audios of the Month
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