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Wedding pictures,
1909-1926,
of the eight children
ho married

Index of materials
on the history
of the family of
Wilhelm and Theresia
Westhues



REUNION PHOTOS FROM THE MID-1930s,

CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN


OF WILHELM AND THERESIA WESTHUES

Kenneth Westhues, 2021, 2023

After Wilhelm's death in 1921 and Theresia's in 1926, their family was fragmented into the separate households of their nine surviving children, eight of whom (all except Father Joe) had families of their own. Those living on farms near the homeplace got together regularly as neighbors in the Glasgow community and as fellow parishioners of St. Mary's Church. Every year or two or three, all the surviving children held reunions. As the eldest son, Theodore and his wife Lena hosted several of these at their farm.

The five photos below are from one of these family reunions in the mid-1930s — or possibly from a couple of different ones. All were taken next to the front porch of Theodore and Lena's home just north of the homeplace.


Sons and
sons-in-law

Below is a photo of four of Wilhelm and Theresia's sons and two sons-in-law. From left: Jule Oidtman (Anna), Theodore, William G., Joe Flaspohler (widower of Mary, who had died in 1934), John, possibly Henry Thies (Lena's brother-in-law), Father Joe, and unidentified. Missing are Henry, Ben, and Fritz.


Daughter and
daughters-in-law

Women of the next generation after Wilhelm and Theresia are shown in the photo below. From left: Lena (Theodore), Agnes (W. G. and Emma's eldest daughter), Emma, Viola (Ben), Eulalia (Fritz), possibly Anna Thies (Lena's sister), Olive (John), Anna Oidtman, unidentified.


Granddaughters

The photo below of Wilhelm and Theresia's granddaughters was probably taken at a reunion a couple of years before the one at which the photos above were taken. The girl identified as Agnes looks younger, and the six Oidtman girls (whose parents are shown in the photos above) are all missing from the photo below. By number: 1 - Jane (<Henry); 2 - Agnes (<WG); 3 - Mary (<Theodore); 4 - Rosemary (<Henry); 5 - Berniece (<Ben); 6 - Mary Teresa Flaspohler (<Mary); 7 - Martha (<WG); 8 - Marie, aka Bebe (<Henry); 9 - Marjorie (<Henry); 10 - Rita (<Theodore); 11 - Anastasia Flaspohler (<Mary); 12 - unidentified; 13 - Cecilia (<Ben); 14 - Dolores (<John); 15 - Elaine (<Henry); 16 - likely Joanne (<Fritz); 17 -possibly Katherine (<Ben); 18 - possibly Margie (<John); 19 - possibly Marilyn (<Henry); 20 - Lois (<Fritz). Fritz had three more daughters born after this picture was taken: Genevieve, aka Jenny, Jacquie, and Teresa. Conceivably, the baby barely visible at the back behind Berniece might be Jenny, who was born in 1936.


       Grandsons          

The boy-cousins photo below almost certainly was taken the same day as the girl-cousins photo above. It includes four boys from the Moorman side of the Theodore/Lena family, Lena's nephews: 1 - Vince Thies; 2 - Bernard Thies; 3 - Joseph Thies; and 8 - John Thies. The remaining boys are from the Westhues side, grandsons of Wilhelm and Theresia: 4 - Norbert (<Theodore); 5 - Bernard (<Ben); 6 - William J., aka Billy (<WG); 7 - John, aka Jack (<Henry); 9 - Raymond (<Theodore); 10 - Edwin (<WG); 11 - possibly Joseph Flaspohler, Jr. (<Mary); 12 - John, aka Buddy (<John); 13 - Francis, aka Buddy (<WG); 14 - Fred (<Fritz); 15 - Charles Flaspohler (<Mary); 16 - Eugene (<John); 17 - James (<John); 18 - James Edward Flaspohler (<Mary); 19 - Clarence Flaspohler (<Mary); and 20 - Harold (<Fritz). Missing from the photo are Henry, aka Hank (<WG), Joseph (<WG), Ted (<Theodore), and Walter (<Ben), as well as baby Jerome Oidtman (<Anna) and two boys born later, David (<Fritz) and Kenneth (<John).


Father Joe

The charming photo at right is of Wilhelm and Theresia's third son, Joseph, ordained a priest in 1907. Here he is at a family reunion almost thirty years later, posing with his niece Mildred, aka Bebee, Oidtman (<Anna).


Provenance

The main credit for the photos above goes to two of Henry and Helen's daughters, Elaine and Marilyn, who saved them in albums.

Elaine passed her photos to Henry M. Clever (<Dorothy<Marilyn Evans<Henry), who circulated scans on the Westhues cousins forum in 2021. I recognized many but not all of the youth in the "girl cousins" and "boy cousins" pictures, which I could date as roughly 1935. Other cousins kindly contributed their recollections and best guesses. It was a fun and productive exercise, resulting in positive identifications of almost everybody in the photos, also the setting at the front of Theodore and Lena's home.

Then in late 2022, Stephen Evans (Henry Evans<Marilyn<Henry) circulated scans of the sons and sons-in-law, daughter and daughters-in-law, and Father Joe with Bebee Oidtman, from his Grandmother Marilyn's album. Sundry cousins helped with identifications, especially Lois Brucks (<Fritz), Jewell Rae Oidtman Bode (<Anna), Elaine McClain (<Jane<Henry), and Sally Papreck (<Rosemary<Henry).

Thanks to all who have helped shape this webpage and to J.Y. Miller for continuing to host the Westhues Cousins Discussion Forum.


Postscript:
the Anna/Jule and
John/Olive families
in 1940

All but one of Anna and Jule Oidtman's seven children are missing from the photos above, presumably because that family missed the particular reunion when those photos were taken. I therefore include here one further picture showing Jule and all seven children in front of the family grocery store in Jefferson City, on a summer Sunday in 1940 when John and Olive came with their five children for a visit. By number: 1 - Nadine Marie (<Anna); 2 - Dolores Marie (<John); 3 - John; 4 - Joan Marie (<Anna); 5 - Frieda Marie (<Anna); 6 - Margie Louise (<John); 7 - Jewell Rae (<Anna); 8 - John, Jr. (<John); 9 - James Francis (<John); 10 - Anna Marie (<Anna); 11 - Eugene Joseph (<John); 12 - Jerome Henry (<Anna); 13 - Mildred Plagie, aka Bebee (<Anna); 14 - Jule.


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