#5-I Remember Grandma

My Grandma Sophie lived until I married and after the birth of my two children. She was a  dependable constant in my life. [Memories of Grandpa Gus will be in the Riedell Blog.] I am not sure if all my memories are my own or if many are not reinforced memories from Mom, my aunts, and old photos. I am pretty sure that this post will be amended over time as I remember more, but will begin with the first snap shots today. I call them snap shots, as this seems to be how my memories are recalled. They are always black & white snap shots of events. So here goes.

Grandma was a woman of many talents. She sewed, baked. crocheted and read. She was active in her Woman's Circle at her Church and also played volleyball at the local park recreational facility, Hazel Park in  St. Paul. She took care of me as an infant when Mom worked and was always there.

I remember her teaching me some of my first sewing skills and watching her on her pedal sewing machine that resided in her bedroom. I could not have been very old, but still old enough to understand and sit at the machine. Not sure when she ever got a "modern" electric sewing machine, but I remember this old one.

I remember that many of my first clothes were made by her. I have the quilt she made for me of Sun Bonnet Sues, where each Sue had fabric from an outfit she had made for me. I have had to repair it with new banding, back, and batting, but the squares are still original. When she made my PJ's and other things with sleeves, I remember her trimming the arm holes while the garment was on me. That cold scissors trimming around and under the arms was remembered by Mom and my aunts too. It always gave us goosebumps to relive the experience. I do not remember ever seeing her with a commercial pattern for my early clothes. She drew pattern pieces on newspapers and that is how she proceeded. I am sure that the depression and necessity taught her to make her own.

She did not knit. But her crochet work is still in the family and I have numerous doilies,  bed spread, etc. The two baby afghans that she made for my two kids are either with them or in Andrew's case, still in my house. Those were made from yarn but the majority of the items were made with thread and in the cream to ecru color. Once when I asked her to teach me, she said that I should rather learn to knit as it was more useful. I think in those days no sweaters or clothing was made by crochet but rather by knitting which is why she tried to direct me in that way. She or Mom also said that she did not really read crochet instructions. Rather she looked at an item and was able to reproduce it. Except for the ecru bed spread and doilies, she generally liked color. Not monochromatic but a rainbow of gentle colors, not bold. Whether that was by preference or her practice of using left overs from other projects and a Depression Era mind set of using all that was in front of her, I am not sure.

#4 - Sophia Marries

 On the June 25, 1927, at the Trinity Lutheran Parsonage in Marshfield, Marathon County, Wisconsin, Sophia weds Gustave Theodore Riedell. The witnesses are her sister Sylvia Ploeger and Erwin Heil, her soon to be brother-in-law. The Reverend Paul Feustal, an Evangelical Lutheran pastor preformed the ceremony.

The newspaper article, most likely from a Marshfield, Wisconsin newspaper (as determined by the article) states that both Gustav and Sophia had been employed in Marshfield.  The official marriage certificate gives her occuptaion as a "home girl" and we believe that this in the home of the Hamilton and Catherine Roddis Family at 1108 East 4th Street,  Marshfield, Wisconsin, as that is where her older sister, Sylvia had been employed. The Roddis home is at present on the State Historic preservation list. I do not find either of the Ploeger girls as servants in this household on the 1920 census and they are married by the 1930. So sometime between those years they must have worked there. Wouldn't those be interesting stories for Grandma to tell.

 Gustav was trained as a cheese maker.More information on his work history is in progress and will be found on my RiedellRoots blog.

The couple had 3 daughters born in St.Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. My mother was the eldest followed by two younger sisters. Since my aunts survive, I will not provide information on my aunts to protect their privacy. And since information on my mother may lead too easily to information on other living family members and descendants, I will not at this time share any information on her either, until someone can give me some guidance on how and what I can share publicly.

What I can share for now is 2 photos. One is of the home in St. Paul where Sophia raised her children and she lived until her death on 29 Dec 1977. It was on Pedersen Street in St. Paul and I remember it well. Regular trips to this house for visits through my whole childhood for all kinds of family events.

And although I will not share the specifics on my mother and her sisters, I can share this photo of the family out in their front yard. The date had to be around WW II. Not sure who took this photo.

The Depression and World War Two came and I never got much of Mom or Grandma's memories of this time. But, I have my mothers written memories (an assignment I gave her when they spent a winter down south) and also one from my aunt. Will have to look at them to see if anything is in them that gives me a view into that past era.

#3- Sophia's Childhood

It is reported that the Ploeger children went to school. Some family traditions state that the children needed to break from speaking the German language in order to attend successfully. Sophia attended the Bungalow School in Elderon, Wisconsin. And this photo of students with teacher has both Sylvia and Sophia in it. From the left, they are the 6th and 7th girls. [In the original photo, one can even tell that their dresses are made of the same cloth.] The photo is a post card set to Emma Marquardt from Silvi and Sophia and maybe dates the photo to around 1917, probably Elderon, Marathon County, Wisconsin, since the 1910 and 1920 Federal Census shows the family residing in that location, although her following records dispute this.

On April 20, 1921 the family loses their mother. This tragedy affects much of the remainder of their childhood years.

On April 9, 1922 Sophia is confirmed at the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fremont,Waupaca County, Wisconsin by Pastor Erwin Schmidt. Her confirmation certificate is showed below.

On May 26, 1922 she graduated 8th grade (at the age of 15 years) from the Waupaca County, Wisconsin Schools. Her teachers name as signed on the certificate is Loretta M. Dempsey.(Below)

I am pretty sure that the next photo is of Sophia with another male student and their teacher, Loretta M. Dempsey at her 8th grade graduation.

Within a year of her mother's death, Sophia has been confirmed and graduated. We are not sure when her father remarried as that information is yet to be found. But, Sophia then is expected to go out to work. It was said that her older sister Sylvia stays home to help with the household and the younger children, and Sophia goes to Marshfield,, Marathon County, Wisconsin, where she finds employment as a maid in the Rhoddes family home. But later information states that Sylvia was also there working as a cook in that home. So as a teenager, she has lost her mother, and now is separated from her family. It must have been a emotional adjustment for her.

We have heard that she worked as an "upstairs maid" for this lumber baron. I do not know much about him, but maybe some research into the family would be interesting. We also have no idea of how long she worked for them. But, it is in Marshfield that we believe she meets and then marries my Grandfather.

#2 - Sophia Ella Ida Ploeger

Sophie, as she was commonly called, was born on 11 March 1907 at Fremont, Waupaca County, Wisconsin and was baptized on 24 March 1907 according to her baptismal certificate. The certificate (original in possession of a relative) does not give the name of the church but the pastors name looks to be Theo R__.   It is very possible that her baptism took place at the same location as her confirmation in the Lutheran Church, and my copy of that certificate refers to the church as St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church at Fremont, WI.  Her father is named as Wilhelm Ploeger and her mother as Ida Marquardt. Witnesses named are Paul Hanke, Emilie Steinke and Emma Marquardt.

She was born the third of 10 children to Christian August Wilhelm Ploeger (aka William or Bill) and his wife Ida Amanda Marie nee Marquardt. The photo below, shows the father, William holding the horse, while the 7 living children from left to right back row are Sylvia, Lily, Sophia, Gilbert, Edward and in front Alvin and Frieda. The birth order of the living children is Sylvia, Sophia, Gilbert, Edward, Lily, Alvin, Frieda and Willard the last born in 1918. Two infants did not survive and they were a son born prior to Sylvia in 1904 and another, the fifth child in 1909.

#1-My Mother's Mother

This is a blog about my mother's maternal line, beginning with my grandmother, Sophia Ella Ida nee Ploeger. The blog about her marriage and the Riedell line can be read on a separate blog at http://RiedellRoots.blogspot.com.

I am not an author or creative writer. I am not intending this blog to be a genealogical research paper. This is  the story that I wish to share with non-genealogically savvy family members in a way that is easy for them to understand. Hence, the story format without all the source citations or other involved research information. If someone wants the citations or other information, they can contact me directly at dervasti14@gmail.com. There will be no information nor photos of living persons, so that privacy may be protected.  So, enjoy the story. I think that Grandma would have applauded this efforts.