Why is it we only gather at weddings and funerals?

Heather and Brad, the happy couple, with my son Wes and daughter Danielle



Weddings and funerals draw together extended families.  The one occasion is to rejoice and celebrate, the other is to mourn a loss, but celebrate a life.  Unfortunately in some families, it is the only time we have the opportunity to see nieces, nephews, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins who live far from us. 

We had two such occasions in our family this past year. My nephew was married on July 30, a happy occasion which brought my brother-in-law Dave to town.  He's the husband of my sister who died in 2007 and I've seen him only twice since Gail passed and he moved away. 

Dave, a great brother-in-law

My deceased brother's family also came to town for the wedding. Sister-in-law Sheryl, niece Shaney and her husband Justin, nephew Collin, niece Heather, her husband Damon and their three children. It was a joyful occasion full of love.  Our extended family continues to grow with lots of little ones (two babies born in June 2010). 

On the other occasion, we celebrated the life of my aunt Virginia Kloepfer (Jinny to me, Ninny to her grandchildren).  While we mourn her loss, we also remember and hold dear all that she meant to us, all that she gave to us. Happy memories.  But it was time for her to go.  Cancer had destroyed her only lung.  For us, it is the end of the older generation.  The generation which survived the Great Depression.  The generation which fought and survived World War II. 

Ninny shortly before her death with my cousin Kellea

My sister, her husband and I drove to Boise, Idaho on December 18 to attend the memorial service for Virginia.  It brought together my cousins and their children which, unfortunately, I had not seen for fourteen years, when we went to Boise for my uncle Dick (Virginia's husband) funeral. 

Obituary published in Idaho Statesman on December 16, 2010

Virginia Kloepfer, 81, born Virginia Watson to Percy and Fern Watson departed her loving family to accompany the heavenly choir. Her soprano voice will be missed by the choir at All Saints Episcopal Church nearly as much as her presence. Sandra Durland Kloepfer, Rick Kloepfer , his wife Charlotte and Dr. Randall Kloepfer. Loving brother, Harold (Hal) Watson and his son, Michael, and numerous grandchildren were present Saturday, December 11 as Virginia reluctantly received her goodbyes. Virginia aka "Nini" was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and grew up in Boise. She graduated from Boise High School where she met and later married Richard V. Kloepfer, her high school sweetheart. Virginia accomplished many challenges in life beyond children and grandchildren. She had multiple college degrees and worked in the insurance business, as a counselor, and an architect. She taught high school math and astrology. She competed successfully in high school and college tennis. She played golf at a high level with 2 hole-in-ones and many trophies while participating at state tournaments. Her children were deeply moved by her courage and fortitude as she continued to volunteer and contribute to her church, All Saints Episcopal, in various functions, cooking and baking. Though never timely, her death came all too soon. Those attempting to continue her legacy are daughter Sandra and her son Weston, her eldest son Rick, wife Charlotte, and their children, Ivy and Amber, and youngest son Randy, wife Beverly, and their children, Jefferson, Daniel, and Jessica. Virginia's brother Harold Watson his children Michael, Sally and Robert and the four Kloepfer nieces Carolyn, Kathleen, Kellea, and Kim. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and sister Jean Harlow Jackson. Memorial service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church on Saturday, December 18th, at 3:00 PM. Celebrants, family, and friends are all welcome to share memories and condolences. For those wishing to contribute in memory of Virginia, the family respectfully requests donations be made to the Friendship Meal in care of All Saints Episcopal Church located at 704 South Latah, Boise, Idaho 83705.
 

Jinny's family looks at photos I took 14 years earlier in 1996 when Uncle Dick died

The Boise home where my mother grew up.

I remember it well from my childhood. The present owners have

done a wonderful restoration. Thanks. . . .

Good things happen even at sad times.  I found out (through my cousin's teenage son) that six of my Kloepfer cousins are on FaceBook!  Now we can stay connected, can view photos of kids and grandkids, can send messages and birthday greetings.  I was born to live in the cyber-space generation.

Dear cousins, it is so nice to reconnect

Happy New Year to All!

Finding Uncle Jake

J. W. Clifford aka Jake Kloepfer

"Uncle Jake" was my maternal grandfather's uncle. My great grandfather Philip Kloepfer was born in the tiny German town of Altleiningen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern in 1861. His mother Elisabetha Kloepfer was unmarried at the time and no father was listed on the Lutheran baptismal record.

Elisabetha Kloepfer (b. 1834) had given birth to another illegitimate son, Heinrich Kloepfer, in 1854, but his father was recorded as Nikolaus Rehy in the Altleiningen parish register.

The family story, passed down through the generations, is that Nikolaus Rehy immigrated to America before Heinrich's birth. He promised Elisabetha that he would find work and build a home for them. Then he would return to Germany, marry her and take her and their son back to the United States.

Nikolaus did immigrate and found work, but he never returned to Altleiningen for Elisabetha. He married in the U.S. and had a family with another woman. Elisabetha was broken-hearted and obviously had a relationship with another man. Thus my great grandfather.

Nine years after GG-father Philip was born Elisabetha had another illegitimate son, Jacob Kloepfer in 1870. Again, no father was listed on the baptismal record.

When Jacob was five-years-old, Elisabetha moved to Mannheim, Baden, Germany where Philip was apprenticing as a stone/brick mason. There she married Georg Schneider and proceeded to have two sons by him. Both died as infants.

In 1876 at the age of twenty-two, Heinrich Kloepfer joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two years later he decided to immigrate to Utah. No one knows if he planned on trying to find his father.

Evidently, Elisabetha was weak and ailing at that time and asked Heinrich (Henry) to take his eight-year-old half-brother, Jacob, with him. After traveling by boat up the Rhein, Jacob and Heinrich sailed first from Antwerp and then from Liverpool on 15 Jun 1878 on the S.S. Montana.

Philip immigrated in 1881 after finishing his apprenticeship. At the age of forty-seven, Elisabetha died three months after her son Philip left Mannheim.

When the 1880 U.S. Census was enumerated in Wellsville, Cache, Utah, ten-year-old Jacob was listed as Jacob CLIFFER, the adopted son of James and Sarah Park. Jake's brother Henry had married and was living with his Swiss wife in nearby Providence, Cache, Utah. The Kloepfer name was spelled CLEPERED in this record.

It is hard for us, in this day and age, to imagine why names weren't spelled correctly in the 19th Century records. Obviously, non-Anglo-Saxon names were more difficult to understand and spell. But even common names were often misspelled in the records, making research that much more challenging.

J. W. Clifford and Luella Temple, a Burlesque Team, 1908

When Jacob became a naturalized U. S. citizen in Cache County, Utah, he was using the name Jacob SCHNEIDER, his mother's married surname. How on earth could his name be found in the records if we didn't know the circumstances of Jake's life?

Uncle Jake became an actor in vaudeville, silent movies and the early "talkies". He went by the stage name J. W. CLIFFORD, very close to the name used in the 1880 census.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Jake's name in the 1900-1930 census records. Which name was he using at the time those records were enumerated? More importantly, how was his name interpreted by the census taker AND then how did the indexer interpret what the census taker wrote?

Uncle JakeCirca 1930s

When I became interested in genealogy many years ago, I asked my mom what she remembered about her great-uncle Jake. When she was growing up in Boise, Idaho, mom said Jake showed up at their home every two to three years and asked her father for money.

Mother didn't remember Jake being an actor. She thought he was a vagabond who traveled a great deal and never married, but she didn't know his traveling was because of his vaudeville troupe.

Memories are never perfect. People remember very different things about the same event. Two people might view the same person in entirely different lights. This is the case with Uncle Jake.

My mother's cousin Naomi Kloepfer Roberts remembered in 2001 that Uncle Jake had a money bag that he wore around his neck and it was always full of money. "He was rich and always had lots of money. I asked if he had more than what was in this bag around his neck. 'Oh, yes!' He was so rich and he had travelled everywhere."

Naomi remembered he was in vaudeville and played parts. The part she remembers everyone talking about was when he played Jiggs in Maggie and Jiggs. "He would often entertain the grand kids by playing the part of Jiggs with one of Uncle Fred's girls as Maggie."

Family members remembered that Jake died in Los Angeles in the 1960s. I searched the California death index under all his various names, but couldn't find a listing under Kloepfer, Clifford, or Schneider. I finally searched with his first name only, looking for a Jacob, born in 1870 in Germany and died 1960-1970 in Los Angeles. It worked!

I found his death listed in the index under the spelling Jacob KLEPSER, born 14 Feb 1870 Germany, died 16 May 1962 in Los Angeles. He was ninety-two. He died when I was twelve and I don't think I ever met him. I would certainly have plenty of questions for him now!

Some Guidelines for Searching Names:

• Never assume your ancestor's names were always spelled the same way you spell them now.
• Sometimes, you'll need to be creative in figuring out how a name could be interpreted or spelled.
• Remember that every time a human writes a record there is a possibility of error. With each generation (or compilation), there is the chance of additional errors.
• The first letter of a surname is important--think about how a capital letter might be mis-interpreted. "R" might be read as "B" when indexing. "S" is often mistaken for "L" in hand writing, etc.

Bella's in the Garage, Again

Isabella Johnson Kloepfer (1865-1891)

Bella has had many homes over the years. Unfortunately, for lack of a decent wall space in my house, she is currently housed in my garage. Prior to the my garage, she resided in my sister's garage for twelve years and a storage garage for eight years.

Isabella or Bella was my mother's paternal grandmother, who died long before my mother was born. When my mother was alive and living in her own home, Bella's portrait and a large oil painting of Bella's father, William Johnson, hung on the wall in the family room.

Born 22 August 1865 in Upnor (Frindsbury Parish), Kent, England to Lt. William Johnson and Mary Ann Hammond, Bella lived in Upnor during her childhood.

Bella's father William was a Royal Marine serving in the 93rd Company aboard the H.M.S. Trafalgar and later aboard the H.M.S. Cumberland. Unfortunately, William had a weak heart and died at the age of thirty, when Bella was only two and her baby brother was not yet born.

Bella, her brother William, and their mother "Annie" lived in Upnor with Annie's widowed father Robert Hammond, who was a waterman or boatman on the Medway Canal like his father before him. Robert later became a coal merchant and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-four.

Bella's mother Annie, widowed at the tender age of twenty-five, remarried in 1873 to James Murphy, an Irishman who worked for the Navy. The Murphy's went on to have five children, four boys and one daughter, who were Bella's half-siblings.

Because of Lt. William Johnson's service for the British government, Bella and her brother William were provided a quality education. At the age of fifteen in 1881, Bella was boarding at the Sailors' Orphans Girls School in St. Johns Hampstead, London. Two years later, she immigrated from Liverpool to New York City aboard the ship S. S. Nevada.

Bella's paternal grandmother Charlotte Budd Johnson immigrated to America in 1868, along with several of Bella's uncles and aunts. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and settled in Ogden, Utah.

When she was finished with her schooling, Joseph T. Johnson, Bella's uncle, wrote to her in London and encouraged her to immigrate to Ogden where she might easily find a job as a governess, which she did.

While working as a governess in Ogden, Utah, Bella met her future husband, a German immigrant, Philip Kloepfer, who was a stone mason. Philip travelled throughout Utah, Idaho and Montana, wherever building work was available. He wrote Bella sweet love letters from Butte, Montana, Logan, Utah and Blackfoot, Idaho, until she finally agreed to marry him.

They married in January 1887 and my grandfather Frank was born in November the same year. Two years later grandpa's younger brother Bill was born. In 1891, Bella was expecting a baby girl when she contracted scarlet fever and died after giving birth to the baby. The baby (Isabella) also died. They were both buried the same day in the same casket, because of the fear of spreading the fever.

Most of Bella's belongings were burned (again out of fear) and the only things to survive were the love letters and the portrait, a charcoal drawing from a photograph. Unfortunately, the paper has a good deal of foxing from moisture and mildew.

After Philip Kloepfer remarried the portrait of Bella was relegated to the damp cellar of their farm in Nampa, Idaho. There Bella stayed until Philip's death in 1940 when she moved to my grandpa's cellar in Boise until he died in 1969. She then moved to my mom's wall in Holladay, Utah, where she was happily displayed next to her father from 1969 to 1991 when mom's house was sold.

My question is this: Is it disrespectful to keep a portrait of a beloved ancestor in the garage? And, what do you do with a large portrait when there's no place to display it?