My grandfather Willy, as he was known as a boy, was born to Jacob and Margaretta (Koerber) Ast. He was the 2nd of their 8 children. Jake also already had 4 children by a previous marriage. The family changed its surname to Aust around the turn of the century, as it was never pronounced correctly. They moved to Hays, Kansas, when Willy was 16. Jake died there a couple of weeks later. When he was of age, "Bill," as he was then called, entered the army. He was first in the cavalry. During his first tour of duty, they chased Pancho Villa back into Mexico. Later, at the end of WWI, he was in the army of occupation in Niedermendig, a town in Germany's Rhineland. There he met and on May 17, 1921 married a German girl - Anna Maria Weiler. The next year, while still living in Germany, their only child, a daughter - Rosa Maria was born. When Rose was 3 months old, the family moved to the US settling in Schenectady, New York, where Bill had found work. Here they remained. One of the pleasures of Bill's life was spending time at his summer camp on Lake Desolation. He called it "Rambler's Rest." Unfortuately Bill died at an early age of cancer.
My grandfather Willy, as he was known as a boy, was born to Jacob and Margaretta (Koerber) Ast. He was the 2nd of their 8 children. Jake also already had 4 children by a previous marriage. The family changed its surname to Aust around the turn of the century, as it was never pronounced correctly. They moved to Hays, Kansas, when Willy was 16. Jake died there a couple of weeks later. When he was of age, "Bill," as he was then called, entered the army. He was first in the cavalry. During his first tour of duty, they chased Pancho Villa back into Mexico. Later, at the end of WWI, he was in the army of occupation in Niedermendig, a town in Germany's Rhineland. There he met and on May 17, 1921 married a German girl - Anna Maria Weiler. The next year, while still living in Germany, their only child, a daughter - Rosa Maria was born. When Rose was 3 months old, the family moved to the US settling in Schenectady, New York, where Bill had found work. Here they remained. One of the pleasures of Bill's life was spending time at his summer camp on Lake Desolation. He called it "Rambler's Rest." Unfortuately Bill died at an early age of cancer.
