Other Bavarian Relatives
44
Helen (Kirmse) Hacker said that when Amanda (Kirmse) Mehner was asked about how the Schuetz family was connected to the Kirmse family, she remembered that her parents, attended the funeral of Adolph Schuetz. Mildred Brickhaus provided a description of what Amanda told her as is given in the following excerpt of a letter she sent to Norma (Kirmse) Rauh .
When I visited Amanda Mehner – she told me that she remembered her parents attending the funeral of Adolph Schuetz – She had to stay home with her brothers and it was very muddy outside. She also said the Adolph Schuetz had two daughters and one got burned. (That is the way she put it) He was – the service was held at the Point Rest Lutheran Church, Bois Brute Bottoms – Presumably he wa buried in the Church Cemetery. There is a record people interned there, I copied some dates from it. But, I can’t remember just how it was presented.
Information Source
Undated letter to Norma from Mildred Brickhaus.
Looked for Gravestone
Helen tried to find a gravestone for any Schuetz at the Point Rest Cemetery as is noted in the following excerpt from a letter she wrote Norma Aug 12, 1990.
We looked in Point Rest Cemetary but no Schuetz on any stone. There are spaces with apparent burial places but no tombstones on them. Amanda mentioned the Adoph Schuetz funeral there and her folks had to go and leave her home by herself and she was a little girl and couldn’t understand why it was so important for them to go with the muddy roads too. It could very well be that she has a wrong first name or wrong place since she was remembering it from a child. It could very well have been a son of Anna but would seem more like her husband since it was maybe 60 or more years ago. (I’m guessing
As noted, Helen was not successful in locating any Schuetz gravestones at the Point Rest Cemetery.
Hence, the mystery of who Adolph Schuetz was and how he might have be related to the Kirmse family. This is explored below.
When Was the Funeral?
Amanda Edna Kirmse was born 01 Nov 1911 Longtown, Perry, Missouri to parents August Karl Kirmse and Amelia B. Hacker.
Amanda did have two step-brothers, Paul Andrew Heise born 07 Dec 1899 and Eugene Alfred Heise born 31 Aug 1902. Amanda also had a brother, August Martin Kirmse born 08 Aug 1908 in/near Crosstown, Perry, Missouri, USA. But, August died died 24 Aug 1908. So it would have been Amanda’s step-brothers who stayed with her.
It appears that Amanda was probably at least three to five years old and maybe as much as 15 years old when the funeral she is remembering took place. So given that Amanda was born in 1911, the funeral was likely between 1914 and 1925.
WHERE WAS THE FUNERAL?
From Mildred’s letter, the funeral service took place at Point Rest Lutheran Church, Bois Bule Bottoms, Missouri.
A check of the records of Trinity Lutheran Church, Point Rest, Missouri for Schuetz/Scheetz names finds there is only one Scheetz in the burial records:
A Theresa (Widow) Schee