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Henry Anton was born Jan 12, 1896, the oldest and only son of Valentine Heidenfelder and Annie Beste. His parents separated between 1904 and 1910. In 1910, his four sisters lived at St. John's Catholic Orphanage in Belleville, and at age 14, Henry lived and worked as a laborer on the Huller farm in Belleville.
Henry joined the Army in June 1917, and was stationed in France from May 22, 1918 to August 1, 1919. He returned to Belleville by 1920 (living with his father), but immediately requested a passport to return to Europe (to travel for 6 months to France en route to Luxemburg en route to Coblenz, Germany for matrimonial purposes).
A February 14, 1920 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated: "Three discharged service men recently have made application to the Clerk of the United States District Court here for passports to European points, stating their purpose to go abroad to marry the girls they left behind. . . . Henry A. Heidenfelder of Belleville, also took to the clerk's office a collection of letters from a German girl at Coblenz, in which she declared that she would never be happy again until he was at her side. ‘The only desire I have is to make her happy, so you see how urgent it is that I get back,' he said."
Henry married Gertrude Knieper on April 21, 1921 in Coblenz-Lutzel, Germany. In January, 1922, Henry returned to the U.S. with his wife, and settled in Belleville, Illinois. They were the parents of ten children; Cletus, Aloysius, Helen, Elizabeth (Betty), Thomas, Mary Josephine, Henry, Amelia (Amy), Gertrude and Alphonse.
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Henry Anton was born Jan 12, 1896, the oldest and only son of Valentine Heidenfelder and Annie Beste. His parents separated between 1904 and 1910. In 1910, his four sisters lived at St. John's Catholic Orphanage in Belleville, and at age 14, Henry lived and worked as a laborer on the Huller farm in Belleville.
Henry joined the Army in June 1917, and was stationed in France from May 22, 1918 to August 1, 1919. He returned to Belleville by 1920 (living with his father), but immediately requested a passport to return to Europe (to travel for 6 months to France en route to Luxemburg en route to Coblenz, Germany for matrimonial purposes).
A February 14, 1920 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated: "Three discharged service men recently have made application to the Clerk of the United States District Court here for passports to European points, stating their purpose to go abroad to marry the girls they left behind. . . . Henry A. Heidenfelder of Belleville, also took to the clerk's office a collection of letters from a German girl at Coblenz, in which she declared that she would never be happy again until he was at her side. ‘The only desire I have is to make her happy, so you see how urgent it is that I get back,' he said."
Henry married Gertrude Knieper on April 21, 1921 in Coblenz-Lutzel, Germany. In January, 1922, Henry returned to the U.S. with his wife, and settled in Belleville, Illinois. They were the parents of ten children; Cletus, Aloysius, Helen, Elizabeth (Betty), Thomas, Mary Josephine, Henry, Amelia (Amy), Gertrude and Alphonse.
Gravesite Details
Military stone says birth is Jan 21, while obit says Jan 12.
Family Members
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Cletus Allen Heidenfelder
1922–2010
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Aloysius W. "Al" Heidenfelder
1924–2012
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Helen G. Heidenfelder
1925–1931
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Henry Heidenfelder
1927–1927
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Elisabeth Barbara "Betty" Heidenfelder Thompson
1928–2022
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Thomas Heidenfelder
1929–1929
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Mary Josephine Heidenfelder
1931–1932
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Amelia C. Heidenfelder Wagner
1932–2013
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Gertrude Josephine Heidenfelder Escher
1935–2011
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Alphonse Joseph Heidenfelder
1936–2017
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