My grandmother "Marie" was born in Niedermendig, Germany, which is a small town near Andernach and Koblenz, that was renamed Mendig in the 1960's when Niedermendig and Obermendig merged together.
Marie's parents were Peter and Maria (Berg) Weiler. She was the youngest of 11 children. Her older siblings were: Elisabeth, Peter, Maria Magdalena, Therese, Katharina (Married Johann Lorenz Moll), August, Johann "Jean" (married Maria Mueller), Wilhelm Friedrich, Elisabeth (married Josef Ewald Schulte), and Friedrich.
When she was a child, there was a depression. Food was short, so she went to live with an aunt (Liese (Berg) Siemons) and her family on their farm in Dorff (near Aachen). She lived with them for a year, then returned home.
Marie attended business school in Koblenz, and became a secretary at a tobacco firm in Niedermendig.
After WWI, the US army occupied the Rhineland. On Christmas Eve, 1919 the US soldiers gave a party for the town's children. There, while helping supervise the children, she met my grandfather William John ("Bill") Aust, who was a Supply Seargeant in the US Army. While dancing together, he gave her an ornament (a bird) off the Christmas tree. We still put it on our tree each year yet!
On May 17, 1921, they were married, and a year later their only child - a daughter - Rosa Maria ("Rose Marie") was born. A few months later they left Germany, and moved to the US settling in Schenectady, NY where Bill had found work. Marie stayed at home and kept house for the family in the house Bill had built himself for them. Bill passed away in 1956.
In 1962, Rose Marie and her son John (me) moved home to live with Marie.
In 1991, Marie had a stroke. A year later she moved into a nearby nursing home, where John's wife Kristy was a nurse. She died there peacefully on July 5, 1998.
She's buried with her husband in Schenectady Memorial Park.
Marie's parents were Peter and Maria (Berg) Weiler. She was the youngest of 11 children. Her older siblings were: Elisabeth, Peter, Maria Magdalena, Therese, Katharina (Married Johann Lorenz Moll), August, Johann "Jean" (married Maria Mueller), Wilhelm Friedrich, Elisabeth (married Josef Ewald Schulte), and Friedrich.
When she was a child, there was a depression. Food was short, so she went to live with an aunt (Liese (Berg) Siemons) and her family on their farm in Dorff (near Aachen). She lived with them for a year, then returned home.
Marie attended business school in Koblenz, and became a secretary at a tobacco firm in Niedermendig.
After WWI, the US army occupied the Rhineland. On Christmas Eve, 1919 the US soldiers gave a party for the town's children. There, while helping supervise the children, she met my grandfather William John ("Bill") Aust, who was a Supply Seargeant in the US Army. While dancing together, he gave her an ornament (a bird) off the Christmas tree. We still put it on our tree each year yet!
On May 17, 1921, they were married, and a year later their only child - a daughter - Rosa Maria ("Rose Marie") was born. A few months later they left Germany, and moved to the US settling in Schenectady, NY where Bill had found work. Marie stayed at home and kept house for the family in the house Bill had built himself for them. Bill passed away in 1956.
In 1962, Rose Marie and her son John (me) moved home to live with Marie.
In 1991, Marie had a stroke. A year later she moved into a nearby nursing home, where John's wife Kristy was a nurse. She died there peacefully on July 5, 1998.
She's buried with her husband in Schenectady Memorial Park.
My grandmother "Marie" was born in Niedermendig, Germany, which is a small town near Andernach and Koblenz, that was renamed Mendig in the 1960's when Niedermendig and Obermendig merged together.
Marie's parents were Peter and Maria (Berg) Weiler. She was the youngest of 11 children. Her older siblings were: Elisabeth, Peter, Maria Magdalena, Therese, Katharina (Married Johann Lorenz Moll), August, Johann "Jean" (married Maria Mueller), Wilhelm Friedrich, Elisabeth (married Josef Ewald Schulte), and Friedrich.
When she was a child, there was a depression. Food was short, so she went to live with an aunt (Liese (Berg) Siemons) and her family on their farm in Dorff (near Aachen). She lived with them for a year, then returned home.
Marie attended business school in Koblenz, and became a secretary at a tobacco firm in Niedermendig.
After WWI, the US army occupied the Rhineland. On Christmas Eve, 1919 the US soldiers gave a party for the town's children. There, while helping supervise the children, she met my grandfather William John ("Bill") Aust, who was a Supply Seargeant in the US Army. While dancing together, he gave her an ornament (a bird) off the Christmas tree. We still put it on our tree each year yet!
On May 17, 1921, they were married, and a year later their only child - a daughter - Rosa Maria ("Rose Marie") was born. A few months later they left Germany, and moved to the US settling in Schenectady, NY where Bill had found work. Marie stayed at home and kept house for the family in the house Bill had built himself for them. Bill passed away in 1956.
In 1962, Rose Marie and her son John (me) moved home to live with Marie.
In 1991, Marie had a stroke. A year later she moved into a nearby nursing home, where John's wife Kristy was a nurse. She died there peacefully on July 5, 1998.
She's buried with her husband in Schenectady Memorial Park.
Marie's parents were Peter and Maria (Berg) Weiler. She was the youngest of 11 children. Her older siblings were: Elisabeth, Peter, Maria Magdalena, Therese, Katharina (Married Johann Lorenz Moll), August, Johann "Jean" (married Maria Mueller), Wilhelm Friedrich, Elisabeth (married Josef Ewald Schulte), and Friedrich.
When she was a child, there was a depression. Food was short, so she went to live with an aunt (Liese (Berg) Siemons) and her family on their farm in Dorff (near Aachen). She lived with them for a year, then returned home.
Marie attended business school in Koblenz, and became a secretary at a tobacco firm in Niedermendig.
After WWI, the US army occupied the Rhineland. On Christmas Eve, 1919 the US soldiers gave a party for the town's children. There, while helping supervise the children, she met my grandfather William John ("Bill") Aust, who was a Supply Seargeant in the US Army. While dancing together, he gave her an ornament (a bird) off the Christmas tree. We still put it on our tree each year yet!
On May 17, 1921, they were married, and a year later their only child - a daughter - Rosa Maria ("Rose Marie") was born. A few months later they left Germany, and moved to the US settling in Schenectady, NY where Bill had found work. Marie stayed at home and kept house for the family in the house Bill had built himself for them. Bill passed away in 1956.
In 1962, Rose Marie and her son John (me) moved home to live with Marie.
In 1991, Marie had a stroke. A year later she moved into a nearby nursing home, where John's wife Kristy was a nurse. She died there peacefully on July 5, 1998.
She's buried with her husband in Schenectady Memorial Park.
