Marie was born in Magdeburg, Germany and lived in a 5th floor apartment in the heart of Magdeburg with her brother Emil and 3 sisters, Helene, Margareta and Erna. Marie loved music and often went to the operas at the opera house on the corner of their block.
They were very poor and there was never enough to eat - often it was a slice of bread spread with lard. The Christings couldn't afford to raise all their children, plus WWI was coming so Marie's Aunt Selma invited Marie and her sister Helen to come to America and help in the "gardens". Marie and Helen were familiar with the wonderful, beautiful gardens of Magdeburg and looked forward to the move. Helen made the trip to Pingree, North Dakota first. When she realized what a mistake she'd made she wrote Marie, telling her not to come. However, Selma intercepted the letter and Marie never received it.
July 1915 Marie left on a boat for America and arrived in Pingree, North Dakota. She spoke no English, was sick the whole trip and ate nothing but crackers - that's the only English word she knew when she arrived. She never saw her family in Germany again. She lived with her Aunt Selma and Uncle Al Koltze in Pingree, who ran the hotel adjacent to the hardware store, The Little Store. She held the cow's tails while they were milked, raised chickens, tended a large vegetable garden and waited tables for the people who stayed at the hotel and ate there. She was not accustomed to doing that kind of hard physical work.
Marie met George H. Piercy while waiting tables at the Koltze's hotel. Even though he was much older than her, they got married Sep. 25, 1918 to get Marie away from the Koltze's, making her a US citizen by the marriage. Marie always had food on the table, she did so much with so little. She made an apple pie a day when they were married, and made great angel food cakes from scratch. Pig brain sandwiches were a delicacy that she would fry with onions. Other favorites included herring and pickled pigs feet. Marie was a fastidious housekeeper and taught her girls to "clean the corners" and would use a white cloth to check after they'd cleaned the stairway. It became a family quote through the generations that "Cleaning is nothing. The job is KEEPING it clean".
Marie knew grammar better than some who grew up in America, and was proud of how well she'd learned English. When her sister Helen spent 1937/38 in Germany after having cataract surgery, her nieces Lorraine and Dorothy came to live with her and George. She made sure Blanche and Lorraine did their lessons, drilling them every day on their declamations. Lorraine, Dorothy & Blanche won on every declamation stage; Lorraine credits their success to Marie's support, saying she should have been a teacher.
George had a stroke in 1934 and until his death Marie took good care of him so that he didn't have to go to the State Hospital. They were married for 27 years, and despite the difference in their ages, they took good care of each other. Marie had tons of energy, and was great with sick people. She moved to Jamestown, North Dakota and worked as a nurses' aide at Trinity Hospital after George died.
She lived in Jamestown until her death from a stroke.
They were very poor and there was never enough to eat - often it was a slice of bread spread with lard. The Christings couldn't afford to raise all their children, plus WWI was coming so Marie's Aunt Selma invited Marie and her sister Helen to come to America and help in the "gardens". Marie and Helen were familiar with the wonderful, beautiful gardens of Magdeburg and looked forward to the move. Helen made the trip to Pingree, North Dakota first. When she realized what a mistake she'd made she wrote Marie, telling her not to come. However, Selma intercepted the letter and Marie never received it.
July 1915 Marie left on a boat for America and arrived in Pingree, North Dakota. She spoke no English, was sick the whole trip and ate nothing but crackers - that's the only English word she knew when she arrived. She never saw her family in Germany again. She lived with her Aunt Selma and Uncle Al Koltze in Pingree, who ran the hotel adjacent to the hardware store, The Little Store. She held the cow's tails while they were milked, raised chickens, tended a large vegetable garden and waited tables for the people who stayed at the hotel and ate there. She was not accustomed to doing that kind of hard physical work.
Marie met George H. Piercy while waiting tables at the Koltze's hotel. Even though he was much older than her, they got married Sep. 25, 1918 to get Marie away from the Koltze's, making her a US citizen by the marriage. Marie always had food on the table, she did so much with so little. She made an apple pie a day when they were married, and made great angel food cakes from scratch. Pig brain sandwiches were a delicacy that she would fry with onions. Other favorites included herring and pickled pigs feet. Marie was a fastidious housekeeper and taught her girls to "clean the corners" and would use a white cloth to check after they'd cleaned the stairway. It became a family quote through the generations that "Cleaning is nothing. The job is KEEPING it clean".
Marie knew grammar better than some who grew up in America, and was proud of how well she'd learned English. When her sister Helen spent 1937/38 in Germany after having cataract surgery, her nieces Lorraine and Dorothy came to live with her and George. She made sure Blanche and Lorraine did their lessons, drilling them every day on their declamations. Lorraine, Dorothy & Blanche won on every declamation stage; Lorraine credits their success to Marie's support, saying she should have been a teacher.
George had a stroke in 1934 and until his death Marie took good care of him so that he didn't have to go to the State Hospital. They were married for 27 years, and despite the difference in their ages, they took good care of each other. Marie had tons of energy, and was great with sick people. She moved to Jamestown, North Dakota and worked as a nurses' aide at Trinity Hospital after George died.
She lived in Jamestown until her death from a stroke.
Marie was born in Magdeburg, Germany and lived in a 5th floor apartment in the heart of Magdeburg with her brother Emil and 3 sisters, Helene, Margareta and Erna. Marie loved music and often went to the operas at the opera house on the corner of their block.
They were very poor and there was never enough to eat - often it was a slice of bread spread with lard. The Christings couldn't afford to raise all their children, plus WWI was coming so Marie's Aunt Selma invited Marie and her sister Helen to come to America and help in the "gardens". Marie and Helen were familiar with the wonderful, beautiful gardens of Magdeburg and looked forward to the move. Helen made the trip to Pingree, North Dakota first. When she realized what a mistake she'd made she wrote Marie, telling her not to come. However, Selma intercepted the letter and Marie never received it.
July 1915 Marie left on a boat for America and arrived in Pingree, North Dakota. She spoke no English, was sick the whole trip and ate nothing but crackers - that's the only English word she knew when she arrived. She never saw her family in Germany again. She lived with her Aunt Selma and Uncle Al Koltze in Pingree, who ran the hotel adjacent to the hardware store, The Little Store. She held the cow's tails while they were milked, raised chickens, tended a large vegetable garden and waited tables for the people who stayed at the hotel and ate there. She was not accustomed to doing that kind of hard physical work.
Marie met George H. Piercy while waiting tables at the Koltze's hotel. Even though he was much older than her, they got married Sep. 25, 1918 to get Marie away from the Koltze's, making her a US citizen by the marriage. Marie always had food on the table, she did so much with so little. She made an apple pie a day when they were married, and made great angel food cakes from scratch. Pig brain sandwiches were a delicacy that she would fry with onions. Other favorites included herring and pickled pigs feet. Marie was a fastidious housekeeper and taught her girls to "clean the corners" and would use a white cloth to check after they'd cleaned the stairway. It became a family quote through the generations that "Cleaning is nothing. The job is KEEPING it clean".
Marie knew grammar better than some who grew up in America, and was proud of how well she'd learned English. When her sister Helen spent 1937/38 in Germany after having cataract surgery, her nieces Lorraine and Dorothy came to live with her and George. She made sure Blanche and Lorraine did their lessons, drilling them every day on their declamations. Lorraine, Dorothy & Blanche won on every declamation stage; Lorraine credits their success to Marie's support, saying she should have been a teacher.
George had a stroke in 1934 and until his death Marie took good care of him so that he didn't have to go to the State Hospital. They were married for 27 years, and despite the difference in their ages, they took good care of each other. Marie had tons of energy, and was great with sick people. She moved to Jamestown, North Dakota and worked as a nurses' aide at Trinity Hospital after George died.
She lived in Jamestown until her death from a stroke.
They were very poor and there was never enough to eat - often it was a slice of bread spread with lard. The Christings couldn't afford to raise all their children, plus WWI was coming so Marie's Aunt Selma invited Marie and her sister Helen to come to America and help in the "gardens". Marie and Helen were familiar with the wonderful, beautiful gardens of Magdeburg and looked forward to the move. Helen made the trip to Pingree, North Dakota first. When she realized what a mistake she'd made she wrote Marie, telling her not to come. However, Selma intercepted the letter and Marie never received it.
July 1915 Marie left on a boat for America and arrived in Pingree, North Dakota. She spoke no English, was sick the whole trip and ate nothing but crackers - that's the only English word she knew when she arrived. She never saw her family in Germany again. She lived with her Aunt Selma and Uncle Al Koltze in Pingree, who ran the hotel adjacent to the hardware store, The Little Store. She held the cow's tails while they were milked, raised chickens, tended a large vegetable garden and waited tables for the people who stayed at the hotel and ate there. She was not accustomed to doing that kind of hard physical work.
Marie met George H. Piercy while waiting tables at the Koltze's hotel. Even though he was much older than her, they got married Sep. 25, 1918 to get Marie away from the Koltze's, making her a US citizen by the marriage. Marie always had food on the table, she did so much with so little. She made an apple pie a day when they were married, and made great angel food cakes from scratch. Pig brain sandwiches were a delicacy that she would fry with onions. Other favorites included herring and pickled pigs feet. Marie was a fastidious housekeeper and taught her girls to "clean the corners" and would use a white cloth to check after they'd cleaned the stairway. It became a family quote through the generations that "Cleaning is nothing. The job is KEEPING it clean".
Marie knew grammar better than some who grew up in America, and was proud of how well she'd learned English. When her sister Helen spent 1937/38 in Germany after having cataract surgery, her nieces Lorraine and Dorothy came to live with her and George. She made sure Blanche and Lorraine did their lessons, drilling them every day on their declamations. Lorraine, Dorothy & Blanche won on every declamation stage; Lorraine credits their success to Marie's support, saying she should have been a teacher.
George had a stroke in 1934 and until his death Marie took good care of him so that he didn't have to go to the State Hospital. They were married for 27 years, and despite the difference in their ages, they took good care of each other. Marie had tons of energy, and was great with sick people. She moved to Jamestown, North Dakota and worked as a nurses' aide at Trinity Hospital after George died.
She lived in Jamestown until her death from a stroke.
