On my mom's side, as noted previously, her parents never married. Initially raised by her dad's side of the family, here is a photo of the house where se grew up. Mom considered her grandmother as her mother for the longest time.
Ruth's dad was Konrad Ihle, born in Germany on Sep 5th 1897. The next photo is of Konrad and his wife Helene Staudt (mom's step-mom, whom she really liked) and was taken in the 1980's.
Konrad and Helene had 5 daughters, mom's half-sisters: Lieselotte, Margarete, Martha, Margot and Isolde. Margarete is the only one I've managed to sort of keep in contact with... at least, I send her Christmas cards each year and sometime (though infrequently) she writes back.
Helene died in 1981 and Konrad died on Aug 21st 1984.
Konrad's family coincidentally also owned a bicycle shop, the same as the Houben's.
Auguste Tepper, my grandmother, didn't meet mom after she was born, until mom's 15th birthday. Mom remembered the day very well.
She got out of a school assembly to listen to Hitler to go to meet her mom at the train station. Auguste was very nervous to meet her daughter, too, and while waiting for the train to arrive at the station she apparently shredded her train ticket! The conductor (or whoever it is who collects the tickets on the train), very kindly issued her a replacement when he heard why she was travelling on the train and why she had shredded the ticket.
Auguste had a bad limp, a congenetal defect in the hip in her left leg... I inherited the same defective gene, but have it in my right hip. (Hence the limp if you've seen me walking.)
On Auguste's side of the family, her father, Wilhelm Tepper, came from Denmark originally.
While Auguste did marry, Ruth was her only child.
On my mom's side, as noted previously, her parents never married. Initially raised by her dad's side of the family, here is a photo of the house where se grew up. Mom considered her grandmother as her mother for the longest time.
Ruth's dad was Konrad Ihle, born in Germany on Sep 5th 1897. The next photo is of Konrad and his wife Helene Staudt (mom's step-mom, whom she really liked) and was taken in the 1980's.
Konrad and Helene had 5 daughters, mom's half-sisters: Lieselotte, Margarete, Martha, Margot and Isolde. Margarete is the only one I've managed to sort of keep in contact with... at least, I send her Christmas cards each year and sometime (though infrequently) she writes back.
Helene died in 1981 and Konrad died on Aug 21st 1984.
Konrad's family coincidentally also owned a bicycle shop, the same as the Houben's.
Auguste Tepper, my grandmother, didn't meet mom after she was born, until mom's 15th birthday. Mom remembered the day very well.
She got out of a school assembly to listen to Hitler to go to meet her mom at the train station. Auguste was very nervous to meet her daughter, too, and while waiting for the train to arrive at the station she apparently shredded her train ticket! The conductor (or whoever it is who collects the tickets on the train), very kindly issued her a replacement when he heard why she was travelling on the train and why she had shredded the ticket.
Auguste had a bad limp, a congenetal defect in the hip in her left leg... I inherited the same defective gene, but have it in my right hip. (Hence the limp if you've seen me walking.)
