General Statement

Content

General Statement 2
1920 11
1921 14
1922 18
1923 19
1924 22
1925 24
1926 28
1927 30
1928 34
1929 38
1930 43
1931 48
1932 52
1933 55
1934 59
1935 63
1936 69
1937 76
GENERAL STATEMENT II 84
1938 94
1939 106
1940 111
1941 116
1942 123
1943 128
1944 134
1945 140
1946 151
1947 156
1948 159
General Statement-Wake-up Call 163
1949 163
1950 168
1951 172
1952 176
1953 189
1954 205
1955 219
1956 230
1957 236
1958 245
1959 250


General Statement


What I am going to attempt in this document is to write down the
memories of my life and how they interact with my relatives and friends
throughout this life.
"Only The Truth Will Serve"
I will try to make it straightforward and honest for I have no desire to
hurt anyone. If someone gets their feelings hurt it will be because they
mis-read the intent of the words. With prompting, sometimes, I still have a
very good memory. I'm sure you have heard the story that an old person
remembers well the events of fifty years ago but cannot recall something
that occurred five minutes before. If I am not sure of the facts I present,
I will follow them with a question mark like so (?). Some of you readers
will still question my true statements anyway because your interpretation
of the facts are based on your or another persons memory, not my memory.
Please read, accept and enjoy for no one else has the energy or even wants
to do what I'll attempt in this missive. For the young people, this will be
an education in progressive fact. We will travel from the, more or less;
simple life of the 1920's all the way through into a new century, 2000,
where our main objective in life is to survive on two persons salaries. The
older readers will enjoy this Memoir especially for they lived through most
of it and they will constantly come face to face with "their" memories. I
don't believe I would attempt to write these Memoirs (memories) if I didn't
have the "computer" with the "Word Processor". It makes everything much
easier. Also, when I was born in the 1920's, a computer was "one who
computes". Today, 2000's, a computer is an "it", not an action. (7/10/2000)

I am sure you have noticed this phenomenon about married life. When
two people get married, the grooms family sort of fades into the background
and the brides family becomes predominant. Not always but often enough to
make you think about it. Of course, there are other reasons involved in
this.
The Gnadinger clan, in Louisville, began with my grandparents, Edward
C. Gnadinger (Jan. 2, 1843-Jan. 20, 1882) and Catherine (Gehrig) Gnadinger
(Nov. 7, 1847-Jan. 30, 1903). They were married on November 22, 1864 in
Jefferson County. My Great Uncle, Anthony, Edward C's brother must have
lived with Edward and Catherine at that time. Anthony Gnadinger and Pauline
Riedle were married at St. Joseph Church on September 5, 1871 in Jefferson
County and moved to Paris, Kentucky where an older brother, Johann Ignatius
Gnadinger, lived. Edward and Catherine produced a large family but their
children were not very prolific. Thank goodness my Pop and Mom were fertile
or I wouldn't be here on this earth as I was the youngest. And, in my case,
what children they had, were much older than me and I didn't have a lot of
contact with the older ones. For instance, Pop's oldest sister, Mary
Catherine (Gnadinger) Stober, 1865-1927, had Grand-children my age. Mary
Catherine Gnadinger married Jacob Stober on June 9, 1886 in Jefferson
County. The next sibling was Andrew Anthony Gnadinger, 1868-1913, with one
daughter. Andy Gnadinger married Rosina Huber on June 24, 1891 in Jefferson
County. Their daughter had three children, none of whom I knew. The third
child was Joseph X. Gnadinger, 1870-1917 who had no children. Joseph
Gnadinger married Rosa Kleier on August 29, 1894 in Jefferson County. The
next was Pauline Rose (Gnadinger) Schuster, 1872-1929, who had one son,
Charles J. Martin from her first marriage, Pauline Rose Gnadinger married
Charles F. Schuster on September 30, 1903 in Jefferson County. This son had
eight children but we were never close, socially. Elizabeth B. (Gnadinger)
Klein, 1874-1943, had no children. Lizzie B. Gnaedinger married Peter Klein
on November 10, 1897 in Jefferson County. Edward Charles Lewis Gnadinger,
1877-1926 had four children and several Grandchildren but we weren't real
close to them. Ed. Gnadinger married Lillie Rupp on October 9, 1901 in
Jefferson County. John J. Gnadinger, 1879-1956, had no children. John
Gnadinger married Agnes Metz on September 2, 1903 in Jefferson County.
Francis (Frank) Adam Gnadinger, 1882-1935 had one daughter and six sons.
Frank A. Gnadinger married Mary C. Determann on August 8, 1906 in Jefferson
County.
Since these are my memories, I have to say that out of this group of
cousins, I was fairly close socially to George Peter Stober, Charles Joseph
Martin, Kenneth Martin (my age), Edward John Gnadinger and Lillian
Catherine (Gnadinger) Kroeger. I'm sure my older brothers and sister were
close to many more than I.

Now, to get back to my "phenomenon about married life": My mother,
Mary Catherine (Mamie)(Determann) Gnadinger, 1881-1959, was very close to
all of her family and as a result, all of her children were too. I am not
taking anything away from my Pop's family who were very dependable and
"German" but Mom's family was much more friendly and fun-loving. There was
always music, singing, dancing and joking no matter who you visited. Both
families were emigrants from Germany but the area of Germany you come from
must make a difference.
Anyway, with my Mom's family, I have to start with my Great-
grandparents so that I can explain how the Droppelmans fit into the
picture. Mom was very close to her Droppelman cousins. My Grandmother was
Elisabeth (Von Bossum) Determann, 1854-1889, Elisabeth Von Bossum married
Bernard Determann on February 26, 1878 in Jefferson County, and was the
daughter of Henry Von Bossum, born in 1823, and
Lena(Dina)(Dinah)(Bernadine) Sinesck (?) Von Bossum, born in 1833 in
Germany. Henry Von Barsum married Dinah Sinesck? on November 17, 1851 in
Kenton County, Kentucky. After the death of Henry Von Bossum, Dina Carolina
Von Bassum married John Henry Schrader on October 4, 1874 in Jefferson
County. Elisabeth's sisters were, Katherine Von Bossum, 1857-1938,
Frances(Von Bossum)Droppelman, 1865-1925, and Rose Von Bossum, 1866-1945.
Frances Van Bassum married George Droppelman on March 3, 1886 in Jefferson
County.
My Grandmother died in child-birth when she was 35 years old. Mom,
her brother and two sisters were then raised by Katherine and Rose Von
Bossum and Frances Droppelman so you can see the personal attachments that
resulted. Katherine and Rose never married. Frances did and ended up with
ten living children: Herman H. Droppelman, 1887-1979, George Droppelman,
Jr., 1888-1966, Bernadine F. Droppelman, 1891-1972, Clara Droppelman (Sr.
Raphael), unknown, Leo B. Droppelman, 1895-1980, Lillian F. Droppelman,
1898-1988, Margie C. (Droppelman) Kremer,1900-1976, Helen A. (Droppelman)
Sauer, 1902-1987, Angela (Droppelman) Stewart, 1904-1969, and Dorothy T.
Droppelman, 1908-1999. Their neighborhood Church was St. Boniface.

Why am I giving you all of this data? Because these are your
ancestors and a "General Statement" is filled with all sorts of
information. In later years when you have a thought about our family you
can just refer to this section of the Memoirs first. I will now continue
with the statistics.(Pop's brother, Andrew A. Gnadinger died March 03,
1913)
Mom's older brother was George Bernard Determann, Dec. 7, 1879-June
8, 1950. George B. Determann married Clemintine Niehoff on Oct. 24, 1906.
He and Mom were both born in Covington, Kentucky. He was married to
Clementine (Niehoff) Determann (Aug. 26, 1883-March 10, 1967). Their
children included:
- Marie A Determann, 1908-2000
- Elizabeth C. (Determann) Weidekamp, 1909-1999
- Margaret H. (Determann) Elbert, June 15, 1911-(?)
- Clara C. Determann (Jan. 28, 1913-Sept. 11, 1966)
- George Lambert Determann, 1914-1983
- John Henry Determann, 1916-1963
- Joseph Andrew Determann, Sr. (Aug. 18, 1918-May 18, 1993)
- Rose Lee (Determann) Sulik, 1922- *


Mom, Mary Catherine (Determann) Gnadinger (Feb. 2, 1881-Nov. 22,
1959) was married to Francis (Frank) Adam Gnadinger (Feb. 26, 1882-Sept. 9,
1935) on Aug. 8, 1906. Their children were:
- Robert Francis Gnadinger (Aug. 18, 1907-Aug. 6, 1980)
- Bernard George Gnadinger (March 10, 1910-March 3, 1992)
- Carl J. Gnadinger, Sr. (May 30, 1912-1996)
- Stanley Louis Gnadinger (Dec. 26, 1913-1993)
- Mary Catherine (Gnadinger) Wantland (May 28, 1916-April 22, 1985)
Her husband: William C. Wantland, born, Oct. 5, 1912
- Frank Joseph Gnadinger (March 23,1918- *)
- Norbert Edward Gnadinger (June 27, 1921- *)


The third child of John B. Determann (Nov. 28, 1850-Feb.10, 1896) and
Elisabeth (Von Bossum) Determann (Oct. 16, 1854-May 17, 1889) was Bernadine
E. (Determann) Steinmetz (April 19, 1884-Nov. 22, 1969) who was married to
John G. Steinmetz 1880-1974. Bernadina E. Determann married John G.
Steinmetz on February 26, 1908 in Jefferson County. Their children were:
- Catherine E. Steinmetz (Mar.17, 1909-Aug. 14, 1998)
- Paul C. Steinmetz (Feb. 14, 1911-Aug. 17, 1995)
- Helen M. (Steinmetz) Hammond (Oct. 13, 1912-July 13, 2002)
- John Bernard Steinmetz (Sept. 20, 1916- *)
- Mary Angela (Steinmetz) Zimmerer (June 13, 1918-Oct. 31, 1978)
- Bernadine (Steinmetz) Purcell (Mar