June 1996

Biographies of Tour Members

* Identifies Deceased

Tour group members pose in front of the Holiday Inn, Stuttgart, Germany in June, 1996.	Tour Group members standing in front of the Catholic Church in Selz, Alsace, France, June, 1996.

Tour Group I

Judith A. Doll, Fargo, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Karlsruhe, Katharinental, Landau, Speyer [Beresan District]

Judith writes, "I grew up on a farm northwest of New Salem, North Dakota. As the oldest in a family of five, I was given much responsibility. We all worked hard to make the farm productive. In retrospect, it was an education that has helped me benefit in many ways through adulthood.

Tour group I standing at the Chorne More Hotel, Odessa, Ukraine in May, 1996.

"I attended Mary College in Bismarck graduating in 1970 with a B.A. in elementary education. I've taught in Mandan, Mandaree (the Fort Berthold Reservation), West Fargo and currently Washington School in Fargo. In 1977 I earned an M.A. degree in elementary education from Western Washington State College in Bellingham. Although I enjoyed teaching I needed a diversion. A few years later I enlisted in the Air Force. Today as a representative of the Community College of the Air Force, I advise, encourage and assist military personnel in attaining an associate degree in their particular career specialty.

"My mother would occasionally mention how her Dad would reminisce about his first sixteen years in Russia. In contrast, my Dad's father spoke very little about his childhood. We assumed it was too painful since two sisters and a brother remained there. However, shortly before Grandpa Doll died, he told me he regretted not having talked about his early childhood; for he had forgotten so much. I also was saddened and decided that one day I would do some genealogy research. At this point I have not taken the time to do that research, but through the encouragement of Millie Hauck [see below] the research begins. This tour gives me the opportunity to learn more about my German-Russian ancestors and to share that knowledge and experience with my family upon my return."

*Zita (Dauenhauer) Gieser, Dickinson, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau, Speyer [Beresan District]; Franzfeld [Liebental District]

Zita writes, "I was born the second child of Florian Dauenhauer and Rosa Bernhardt Dauenhauer. I had six sisters and two brothers and we lived on a farm near Taylor in southwestern North Dakota.

"My parents were of German-Russian ancestry with my father's family immigrating from Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, in 1809 to Russia. They helped found the colony of Landau in the Beresan Valley. My father immigrated from Landau to New Salem, North Dakota in 1912 at the age of 20. My mother's family also immigrated from Rheinland-Pfalz and helped to found the colony of Katharinental in 1816. My mother then immigrated to Glen Ullin, North Dakota from Katherinental in 1914 at the age of sixteen."

Zita graduated from Taylor High School and married in 1943, farming on her husband's family farm until she retired to Dickinson in 1981. She taught a rural school and raised seven children who blessed them with sixteen grandchildren, four of whom are already college graduates. During all this, Zita found time to participate in many community organizations and activities ranging from local to national duties. She presently serves as secretary for their local chapter of GRHS and is a village coordinator, for Landau and Katharinental as a member of their Stark County Historical Society.

"During our May, 1993, tour [to Russia and ancestral villages, she writes], we felt privileged to see childhood home colonies of our parents, Landau and Katharinental. Our parents often spoke of their old homes and shared many fond memories with us. Rosemarie [Zita's sister; see Rosemarie Hoff below] and I were happy their parents did not see how their beautiful churches had been desecrated. We are most thankful our parents had the opportunity and the courage to leave Russia and immigrate to the United States."

*Hiller Goehring, Lodi, California
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Beresina, Tarutino [Bessarabia]

Hiller writes, "I was born and raised in Lodi, California. I attended the Lodi school system and graduated from Lodi Union High School in 1943. After graduation, I served 2½ years in the US Navy. After my naval duty, I farmed with my father and later farmed independently. In 1969, I sold my farm and drove truck for a brief time before retirement. In 1952, I married Thelma Halverson. My wife died in 1982 and we had no children.

"The fondest memory I have growing up at home was the savory German-Russian food that mother cooked for us. It's impossible today for anyone to cook it like my mother did. And of course, there are many, many more good memories.

"My father, grandfather and great-grandfather were born in Neudorf (Glückstal District). My father was inducted into the Russian army at 18 years of age. He and his older brother decided to defect and came to the US in 1911. My father told us many stories of Russia, good and bad. Now that the Soviet Union is no more and tourists are welcome, I decided to visit the village of Neudorf. I am excited to go.

"My mother was born in Margosovska, Caucausus, north of Armavir about 30 miles. That village is completely non-existent, says Art Flegel, who tried to locate it. Mother came to the US in 1908 at age 12. Mother and father met in American Falls, Idaho and married there. A short time later, they moved to Lodi and had a family of five children."

Victor Goehring, Woodbridge, California
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Beresina, Tarutino [Bessarabia]

Victor writes "I was born and attended grades 1 through 12 in Lodi, California. I attended Sunday school at First Baptist Church until 1940, when services changed from German to English. I received the A.B. degree in 1949 and Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1954 from Stanford University. I am an attorney at law, specializing in estate planning, probate and trusts. I am also a vineyardist at Lodi.

"My fondest memories growing up in a German home were attending vacation Bible school at Lodi Baptist Church, when I learned to read German. I also appreciated my mother's German cooking, including Halupsie and Käsekuchen.

"I want to explore the country (Ukraine) where my mother was born and where all four of my grandparents were married and started their families."

Pius Gross, Phoenix, Arizona
Ancestral Villages: Kandel, Mannheim, Neu Kandel, Selz, Straßburg, Georgental near Mannheim [Kutschurgan District]

Pius writes "I was born and raised on a farm in Logan county, North Dakota. I attended grade school in a one-room school house that was without electricity, water or plumbing. The small school house was heated with a round, pot-bellied, wood/coal-burning stove.

High school included Ellendale Public Schools, Assumption Abbey, and St. Anthony's in Linton. I graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck with a B.S.N., then attended post-graduate school in Columbus, Georgia and the University of Arizona. I retired from the military 1 September 1995 after 26 years.

My fondest memories are of growing up in a close-knit family environment, growing our own vegetables, meat and poultry, raising geese, chickens, sheep, hogs, horses, and cows. Religion and religious activities were of prime importance, with many rituals and much meaning.

I am a person who has roots. I know who I am, where I came from and where I belong, and thus my deep interest about my ancestors. Taking the tour to the homeland seems ideal to develop an even closer connection to my heritage."

Brother Placid A. Gross, Richardton, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Kandel, Mannheim, Neu Kandel, Selz, Straßburg, Georgental near Mannheim [Kutschurgan District]

Brother Placid writes, "I was born June 24, 1935 and grew up on a farm at rural Napoleon, North Dakota, which is all Lawrence Welk country. I attended a one-room country school where we were forbidden to speak our native German language. However, we always spoke German anyhow, when the teacher could not hear us.

I got my GED (high school equivalent diploma) but did not go to college. I joined the monastery in 1957. Since 1960, I have been working as manager of the monastery's agricultural and livestock farm in Richardton. I am not retired, but wish I were, so I could have more time to work on German-Russian history.

I want to learn more about my 'roots'. I desire to actually experience what I have always imagined and lived in my mind and dreams about da haam in Rußland (at home in Russia). I have collected and published my family history on all sides of the grandparents. Now I am more into collecting all kinds of German-Russian folklore such as poems, games, proverbs, etc."

Ann M. (Thomas) Gumeringer, Vancouver, Washington
Ancestral Villages: Baden, Elsass, Mannheim, Selz, Straßburg, Georgental [Kutschurgan District]

Ann is a retired homemaker, a volunteer in the school where her children attended, and a bookkeeper for her sons' business. She writes, "I grew up on a farm near Wellsburg, North Dakota, and attended a country grade school which was located in our farm yard. I graduated from Benson County Agriculture High School, Maddock, North Dakota, and then attended Minot State University for a teacher's certificate.

"My fondest memories include visiting relatives or neighbors with a team of horses and sled enjoying the wonder of crisp white snow. The brightness of the stars and the moon almost like daylight. In the spring the pasture was full of wild flowers and lavender crocus. I am now interested in experiencing the country environs from which my grandparents and great grandparents immigrated."

Glen G. Gumeringer, Vancouver, Washington
Ancestral Villages: Baden, Elsass, Mannheim, Selz, Straßburg, Georgental [Kutschurgan District]

Glen writes: "I grew up and graduated from high school in Esmond, North Dakota, and attended North Dakota State College of Science for one year. I am retired and was employed as a machine tender on a paper manufacturing machine for 38 years and 8 months.

"My fondest memories include when my grandfather let me drive the 1928 Chevy when I was nine years old. He would scold me for squirting milk from the cows' tits into cats' mouths or for giving them too much milk to drink. My reason for going to Germany and Ukraine is to walk the ground and see the landscape that my grandparents and great-grandparents lived on."

Millie (Doll) Hauck, Richardton, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Karlsruhe, Katharienthal, Landau, Speyer [Beresan District]; Krasna [Bessarabia]

Millie writes, "I was born Melfrieda Marie Doll, the daughter of John (1894-1974) and Margaret (Dinius) Doll (1896-1981) in Otter Creek, Oliver county, North Dakota. I was named for my father's sister, who had just professed her vows as a nun. Because it was hard to pronounce, I was nicknamed Millie by my four brothers and five sisters. My father, however, always called me Melfrieda.

At Otter Creek, I attended a country one-room school through the sixth grade. Then I went to St. Joseph's grade school in Mandan, North Dakota and St.Mary's High School in Richardton, North Dakota. My folks moved to Richardton in 1945 while still farming in the New Salem, North Dakota area.

Adam and I were married in 1950 at St. Mary's Church in Richardton, and we are the parents of seven children. When you travel 14½ miles north of Richardton on Highway 8 and see a white cap on a blue Harvestore on the east side of the highway and then pass over the hill, you will see the Hauck farm/ranch. You'll find a Harvestore mailbox at our front gate, made from a discarded hot water tank and painted and trimmed as a 2580 Harvestore with a flag. Adam was born on this farm and has lived here his entire life. Here we are yet. We are in partnership with our son, Dale, Diane and three sons, growing mostly feed crops for cattle in our feedlot.

After our marriage, motherhood became my career and I pursued it wholeheartedly. A wife first, a mother, the farm-hand, housekeeper, and shopper. Along with cooking and laundry, raising a garden and chickens, ducks and turkeys, milking cows, I filled the early years of my marriage. I was 4-H leader for 32 years and a Homemaker FCE from 1954-1996. I am presently President of the local club and of the Dunn county FCE Council. I am also active in Christian Mothers, Catholic Daughters (State CDA Secretary), and the St. Mary's Women's Guild. I am a hospice volunteer and CNA certified nurse aide, working with St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Center. I have thirteen grandchildren, my treasures.

In my spare time, I do crafts, genealogy, square dancing, play cards and stay with my grandchildren. What started me in genealogy? My parents and Adam's parents spoke the same German dialect! The Haucks all came from the Rosenthal, Crimea Russia area; my relatives came from the Beresan villages. My father was 19 years old and Adam's father was 16 when they came to America. While touring Germany in 1981, I found a page of Haucks and a page of Dolls in the telephone book in Baden Baden. Johannes Hauck married Elisabeth Doll, June 23, 1764 in Untergrombach, Baden."

Rosemarie (Dauenhauer) Hoff, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau, Speyer [Beresan District]; Franzfeld [Liebental District]

Rosemarie writes, "I was born to Florian Dauenhauer and Rosa Bernhardt Dauenhauer on a farm in western North Dakota. Florian had immigrated to the US in 1912 with his family. Rosa came to the US with her family in 1914. My paternal ancestors left Rheinpfalz in 1809 and settled in Landau, Beresan. My mother's ancestors were originally from Eußerthal near Bergzabern in the Pfalz. They were founders of Katharinental in 1817; the new colonists spent the winter of 1816/17 in the older colonies of the Beresan.

My parents were married at Hirschville, North Dakota, and farmed north of Taylor where they raised nine children. When I was in the sixth grade, we moved to Richardton. Three of my sisters and I completed grade school and graduated from St. Mary's High School. Maurice Hoff, also from Richardton, and I were married at Petaluma, California. We have three children.

In 1993, I had the good fortune to be able to visit the birthplaces of my parents with my daughter and my sister Zita [see Zita Gieser, above].

Rosemarie continues, "Truly, this was a gratifying experience to be able to visit Katharinental and Landau; to see the village my mother had spoken of so often. We saw the elementary school she had attended. The building is unused and in disrepair.

In 1994, Zita and I were members of the American delegation to the 1994 Bundestreffen in Stuttgart. More than 45,000 Germans from the former Soviet Union attended this gathering. Among all those people, we met and talked with former Landau residents and were delighted to meet descendants of our common ancestor, Valentina Dauenhauer of Landau."

*Merlyn J. Huber, Freeman, South Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Sarata [Bessarabia]; Heilbronn [Crimea]; Großliebental [Liebental]

Merlyn was born in Hutchison county, South Dakota between Freeman and Menno and except for a year in Oregon, he was educated in the public and parochial schools (Heilbronn Parochial, Missouri Synod Lutheran) there. He graduated from high school at Concordia College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and attended Concordia Seminary in Springfield, Illinois, two years. Although he wanted to attend a teachers' college, his family had no funds, so he enrolled in an accounting program in business college in Springfield, Illinois. He was married to a nurse there for fifteen years before they were divorced. They have a daughter.

He became a US Marine reservist in 1944 and was called to active duty during the Korean War when he served in the US, Korea, and Hawaiian Islands. After his honorable discharge in 1953, Merlyn studied to be a machinist, then a practical nurse in Iowa. Later he moved back to South Dakota where he took on a great variety of employment opportunities, retiring in 1990 after twenty years from the Freeman plant of the Associated Milk Producers, Inc.

Merlyn is a sportsman, a hunter and fisherman. He enjoys his affiliation with the VFW, American Legion, Loyal Order of Moose, AHSGR and GRHS. (He has attended all of the GRHS conventions since 1982!) He has traveled widely: Israel, Austria, Germany, and in 1982 to the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. He appreciates classical music (Händel, Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Tschaikowsky), country western, gospel hymns and polkas. He is also very involved in the Hutchison county GOP, serving as ward committeeman and delegate to the South Dakota state convention.

Since he studied six years of German, Latin and Classical Greek, he enjoys speaking Schwäbisch and High German whenever possible. He also learned a little Russian. "So geht's, so bleibt's, so stehts!"

Robert A. Kaye, Dr., Annandale, Virginia
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Brienne, Hirtenheim, Josefsdorf [Bessarabia]

"Dr. Bob" devoted nearly 40 years to public service work. He retired from the US Department of Transportation in 1980 where for the preceding ten years he was Director of the Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety. In this position he traveled extensively in the US and in Europe.

"Prof. Kaye" was also Lecturer, now guest lecturer, in Business Administration at George Washington University in Washington, District of Columbia, teaching evening classes in traffic management, business policy and international trade. He is listed in Who's Who in the East, the International Who's Who Men of Achievement, the Dictionary of International Biography and Who's Who in Government.

Robert will be traveling with his sister, Melita Nelson [see below].

LaRose M. Ketterling, Mercer, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Borodino, Hoffnungstal [Bessarabia]; Glückstal, Kassel [Glückstal District]

LaRose writes, "My ancestors are Ketterling/Bollinger, Obernauer/Singer, and Sackmann/Beutel. Three of my grandparents were born in South Russia. My Ketterling grandfather was born in Kassel and came to Bowdle, South Dakota in 1884 at the age of 13. His German ancestral village was Dorrenbach/Oberotterbach. My maternal Obenauer and Sackmann grandparents were married in Borodino, Bessarabia and came to Java, South Dakota in 1889 with a six-month-old son. The Sackmann ancestral village is Dornstadt in Württemberg and the Beutel family is from Bretzenacker near Waiblingen in Württemberg.

"Both of my parents were born in 1900 in Walworth county, South Dakota but my father's family went to Mercer, North Dakota in 1906. I graduated from high school at Dunseith, North Dakota. I am a registered dietitian and graduated from University of North Dakota, with additional education in Portland, Oregon and with an M.S. from Northern Illinois University. After retiring in 1993 as a hospital dietitian and teaching at South Dakota State University, Loyola of Chicago, and UNorth Dakota, I returned to Mercer to make my home.

"My Ketterling grandmother taught me to read and write German and I have an undergraduate minor in German from UNorth Dakota. I grew up in a German-Russian community and remember the many Lutheran church functions and community activities.

"Genealogy has been my fervent hobby for many years due to my father's influence. A visit to the Ukraine and the ancestral villages is an answer to a dream. I was in the USSR in 1976 and in Kiev, but at that time it was not possible to travel to other areas."

Connie (Schaffer) Knight, Eagan, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Kandel [Kutschurgan District]; Severonowka [Kutschurgan daughter colony]

Connie writes, "I was born and raised in Huron, South Dakota, a town of about 14,000 people. After attending two years at South Dakota State University, I moved to Heilbronn, Germany, for two years, while my husband was in the service. We lived in Bärenbronn, a lovely little village of 19 houses ten miles from Heilbronn, which I visited again in 1991, getting reacquainted with our landlords. I love Germany and wish I could visit it much more often.

"After graduating from the University of Minnesota, I practiced as a CPA for a number of years. I now have my own business, Knight Associates, and consult with nonprofits in planning and leadership development. One of my rewarding projects was being in charge of the planning and operations for the International Special Olympics held in Minneapolis/Saint Paul in 1991.

"I've greatly enjoyed my hobby of genealogical research. It's especially fun because it is something I share with my father, Marvin Schaffer [see below]. Our Schaffer relatives immigrated from Kandel/Odessa in 1905 to Napoleon, North Dakota. I dreamed for years of taking this trip with my father, but never thought it would happen. Then Rev. Al Bitz introduced me to Karl Lacher, who introduced me to Michael Miller--and here we are!"

Dr. Dona B. Reeves-Marquardt, Austin, Texas
Ancestral Villages: Grimm, Kratzke, Merkel, Friedenfeld [Volga]

Dona is half German-Russian; her grandparents immigrated to Kansas from the Volga beginning in 1876. Dona fondly remembers her grandmother telling stories about learning to swim in the Volga river and attempting to teach Dona how to "German" knit. Her mother and grandmother would often speak German with one another, which made her determined to learn German one day. Dona studied German at the University of Texas in Austin, where she received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.

Dona is professor emeritus of German at Southwest Texas State University. After Edward Reeves, her husband of twenty-five years, died in 1983, she married Lewis Marquardt [see below], whom she had met as both served on the board of directors of AHSGR. She served as linguistics and oral history committee chair and has translated and co-translated many works for AHSGR including David Weigum's My Life on the Crimean Steppes and Beratz' The German Colonies on the Lower Volga.

Dr. Lewis R. Marquardt, Austin, Texas
Ancestral Villages: Kandel, Selz [Kutschurgan District]

Lew Marquardt was born and raised in North Dakota. For nine years he taught school in South Dakota where his four boys were born; one girl was born in Germany. He has lived in seven different states to date, as well as in the Federal Republic of Germany, but still considers himself a Dakotan. "There is something quite unique about being a North Dakotan," he believes, though he can't quite describe it in two sentences or less.

Lew was raised in Emmons County and now lives in Texas with his wife, Dona Reeves-Marquardt [see above]. He graduated from Minot State University in North Dakota, served in the US Army in California and Germany, acquired an M.A. in Colorado and a Ph.D. in Arizona. He enjoys his German-Russian heritage, even cooking his own noodles and Kuchen. (Yes, those Alsatian men know their fine foods!) He also enjoys traveling, reading, and trying to understand classical philosophy.

Gerald Metz, Tempe, Arizona
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Arzis, Borodino, Beresina, Brienne, Friedensfeld, Katzbach, Klöstitz, Krasna [Bessarabia]

Jerry Metz, a German-Russian, was born and raised on a farm near Coleharbor, North Dakota, the second of five children. His grandmother was the midwife at his birth but Jerry was so eager to arrive that he arrived before she did! His father, Christ Metz, was born in Klöstitz, Bessarabia to Jacob Metz, also born in Klöstitz, and Katherine Richter of Friedenstal. Jerry's mother Christina Buchert was born in Max, North Dakota. Her father came from Katzbach, Bessarabia, and traveled to North America continent via St. Johns, New Brunswick. They lived briefly in Winnipeg before settling in North Dakota. He married Katherine Wagner who came with her family from Borodino, Bessarabia. It is interesting to note that both sets of Jerry's grandparents were named Jacob and Katherine.

Jerry worked on the family farm from age six until he graduated from high school. The 1,800 acre grain farm also diversified in cattle, pigs, and chickens. After attending Barber College, Jerry served in the Air Force during the Korean War. Upon military release, he returned to North Dakota. Jerry has always been self-employed: starting with grain farming when he returned from the military service, then oil exploration and production in Canada for several years, and later focusing on his business ventures in retail and real estate.

The Metz family includes three grown children, all with families of their own: two sons, Gary and Ron, who both live in California and daughter Sandra who lives in Washington. Jerry has seven grandchildren ranging in age from twelve to three. Jerry has lived in Minot, North Dakota for most of the past 35 years. During the early years, while grain farming, the family spent winters in California where Jerry's wife's family originated. During later years, becoming semi-retired, winters were spent in Arizona.

Always active in civic affairs, Jerry has served on the boards of the following organizations: Rotary, Minot Country Club, the Shrine, Lutheran Church, Chamber of Commerce, Red Cross, American Heart Association, State Board of Manufactured Housing Association, NODACHORDS (a barbershop chorus of which he is a charter member), County Chair of District 41 Republican Party, and past-president of Minot chapter of Germans from Russia. Currently Jerry is active in the Phoenix East Rotary Club and president of the Scottsdale Shrine Club.

In 1994 Jerry married Johanna Haan [see below] whose background is Dutch-Canadian and who will be accompanying him on this trip. Since their marriage Jerry has been a full-time Arizona resident. Jerry is very excited about the Journey to the Homeland and exploring the history of his ancestors. While growing up it was not easy to have a strong sense of ethnic identity. During World War II, being German was not something one bragged about, nor was it "cool" to be identified as Russian during the Cold War period.

It wasn't until the seventies that Jerry learned more about his background as people started talking more about the family histories of both his relatives in North Dakota as well as the large numbers who had settled in Canada. Jerry's son Ron, [see below], who will also be on this tour has had a great interest in the stories of the "elders" in the family from the time he was a little boy and has done some considerable research on the German-Russians. With a brother and sister-in-law also going, this will be quite a family affair! Previous travels have taken Jerry to Japan, North Africa, Gibraltar, Spain, and the Caribbean.

Ione Marie (Reimann) Metz, Minot, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Arzis, Beresina, Borodino, Brienne, Friedensfeld, Katzbach, Klöstitz, Krasna [Bessarabia]

Ione Marie Reimann grew up on a farm near Garrison and was raised and educated there. She married Rollin Metz [see below] from Garrison. They have made their home in Minot for the last 37 years. They have two children, Leslie Lynne Barney and Rollin Bradley Metz, and three grandchildren. They are very fortunate to have them all living in the Minot area.

Ione is a partner with her husband in the retail liquor business in Minot and the retail business in Arizona. Ione's hobby is spoiling the grandchildren.

Johanna G. Haan-Metz, Dr., Tempe, Arizona

Johanna Haan-Metz, who calls herself "a professional immigrant" was born in The Netherlands and lived there until her family immigrated to Canada in 1933. The family settled in southern Ontario and her widowed father, now 86, and her four sisters and their families all still live there. Johanna moved her family to Vancouver, BC in 1975 and lived there for seven years before immigrating to the US. She has lived in Arizona since then. Although it has been 43 years since she has lived in Holland, Johanna still speaks and reads Dutch.

Johanna has two sons who are grown and have families of their own. One lives in Brantford, Ontario and the other lives in Mesa, Arizona. There are three grandchildren who are the joy of her life. For many years Johanna worked in management positions in hospitals both in Canada and the US. In the mid 1980s, she decided to pursue a doctorate in counseling psychology and received her degree from Northern Arizona University in 1990.

Johanna now practices as a licensed psychologist for the Arizona Department of Corrections. She has worked with inmates at all custody levels, from death row to minimum security and currently works with female offenders. Additionally, Johanna is on the faculty of the University of Phoenix teaching in the Master of Counseling program.

In 1994 Johanna married Jerry Metz [see above] and is accompanying him on the Journey to the Homeland. Her three previous visits to Europe have included extensive travel through most western European countries. She has also traveled to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Ukraine will be a new experience and one she looks forward to sharing with her husband.

*Rollin James Metz, Minot, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Arzis, Beresina, Borodino, Brienne, Friedensfeld, Katzbach, Klöstitz, Krasna [Bessarabia]

Rollin was born and raised on a farm near Coleharbor, North Dakota and lived in Garrison during his high-school years. He served two years in the US Army. He married Ione Marie Reimann Metz [see above]. He was in the retail business in Garrison for a time but later moved to Minot and currently owns and operates three night clubs.

Rollin likes to spend his leisure time in Arizona, tour the countryside in his motor home and summers on his house boat, cruising Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. His hobby is playing the stock market.

Ronald J. (Nicholas) Metz, La Habra, California
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Arzis, Beresina, Borodino, Brienne, Friedensfeld, Katzbach, Klöstitz, Krasna [Bessarabia]

Ronald writes, "I was born in 1956 at Garrison, a small town in western North Dakota. My parents are Gerald Metz [see above] and Betty Lanier. My father's family immigrated from Bessarabia around the turn of the century. He is the son of Christian Metz and Christina Buchert. Christian was born in Klöstitz, Bessarabia and came to the US in 1905, homesteading at Coleharbor, North Dakota along with his parents, Jacob and Katherina (Richter) Metz.

"I spent my first years in Garrison, an District of Bessarabian Germans. When I was about five years old, I moved with my parents and older brother to Minot, North Dakota, where I completed most of my schooling with several brief interludes in California and Florida. After graduating from high school in 1975, I attended Minot State University for four years. In 1981, I moved to my mother's birthplace of Ft. Myers, Florida and lived there about one year. In 1982, I moved to Orange county, California and worked for Gospel Publishing House and Paulist Press for eight years. During this time, I met and married Eva Mansour, a native of Cairo, Egypt. We now have two sons. In 1987, we made a month long trip to Egypt to see and visit Eva's home and family. In 1990 I went to work for Cerritos College as a book buyer in the bookstore. My wife and I are active in our church and family-centered activities.

"I have always dreamed of going to Russia and seeing where my grandparents' families lived and prospered on the vast Russian steppe. I have always been the family historian and have collected many photos and artifacts from Russia. I am looking forward to taking this trip with my father and sharing this very special experience."

*Melita R. (Kutschenreuter) Nelson, Fargo, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Brienne, Josefsdorf [Bessarabia]

Melita will be traveling with her brother, Robert Kaye [see biographical sketch of Dr. Kaye].

Theodor B. Rath, Rev. Dr., Rock Lake, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Grossliebental, Neuburg [Liebental District]; Glückstal, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Alt-Elft, Brienne, Friendenstal, Paris, Sofiental [Bessarabia]; Freidorf near Rasdelnaya

Theodor was born in Tuttle, North Dakota in 1930. His father, Jake Rath, son of John J. Rath of Neuburg and Elisabeth Spah of Sophiental in Bessarabia, was born in Freidorf near Rasdelnaya, north of Odessa and east of Tiraspol. His mother, Elizabeth Aichele, whose father was born either near Odessa or near Friedenstal in Bessarabia and whose mother was born in Cataloi, Romania, was born in Alacap (Poarta Alba) near Constansa, Romania.

Theodor was educated at Valley City State University, has a B.A. from Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa and a Master of Divinity from Evangelical Theological Seminary in Naperville, Illinois. He acquired a Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. After two years as a rural school teacher, he served in the Korean War in the US and in Japan. He has ministered in several parishes in Illinois and North Dakota and retired in 1995.

In 1955, Theodor married Bernice V. Huber, who was born in Bismarck but grew up in Beulah, North Dakota. She also attained a B.A. in Elementary Education from Westmar College, Le Mars, Iowa and is currently teaching in the Rock Lake, North Dakota school. Her parents, Daniel Huber and Katie (Unruh) Huber were both born in Glückstal. They have four children.

Theodor's special interests include maps and geography, world history, the history of the German-Russians, hermeneutics (explanation of the Bible), homiletics (preaching), pastoral care and sociology. His efforts in continuing education include leadership and church management, conflict management, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, cancer counseling and parish revitalization.

*Michael Rempfer, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Postal, Beresina, Dennewitz, Klöstitz, Kulm, Neu Beresina, Wittenberg [Bessarabia]

Michael writes, "My interest in the history of my family has been longstanding, but I did not pursue this interest with any vigor until about eight years ago. I remember from a grade-school project asking my father what our family's national background was, to which he replied, 'German.' Later I asked him where in Germany the family came from and his answer was that he didn't know, but his parents were born in and had immigrated from Russia. This somewhat confusing information remained 'filed away.'

"When I went to college, I took German as one of my electives, to connect in a way with my background and in the hope of understanding some of the conversation of older relatives and family friends. I discovered I was off-target with that goal when I asked my one surviving grandparent, my maternal grandmother, if she could help me with my German grammar. Her reply was, 'probably not', since she spoke Schwäbisch, not German. More confusion for me, but now I finally understand how all these pieces fit together, explaining the hows and whys of the immigrations.

"I was born in 1950 and spent my early years at Monango, North Dakota. Although my grandparents' farms were nearby, they did not homestead directly to them from Russia. My paternal grandparents first spent a few years in McIntosh county. My maternal grandmother was born in the US, but her parents had first settled in LaMoure county. My maternal grandfather was Reichsdeutsch, having been born near Stuttgart. All the German-Russian lines are Bessarabian, evangelical, and reflective of a mixture of German background, but predominantly Schwäbisch.

"I went to college at NDSU, earning a degree in pharmacy. Directly after college, I joined the US Public Health Service, serving a twenty-year career mostly assigned to the Indian Health Service. My assignments were in Maryland, New Mexico, and Montana. Upon taking early retirement in 1993, I have returned to North Dakota. Currently I contract 'relief coverage', intermittently and primarily with the Indian Health Service. I continue to enjoy the pursuit of family history and have been village coordinator for Neu Beresina for several years."

Marvin A. Schaffer, Bella Vista, Arkansas
Ancestral Villages: Kandel [Kutschurgan District]; Severonowka [Kutschurgan daughter colony]

Marvin writes, "I grew up and attended school in North Dakota and South Dakota. My father worked for the Chicago & Northern Railroad. In the early 1930s, I went to school in Ludden and Oakes, North Dakota, then in many small towns in South Dakota, including Huron, Ferney and Rockham. I attended four years of high school in Agar, South Dakota.

"I worked for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad for 30 years and for Amtrak 12 years. I have retired and am now selling real estate in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

"The reason for taking this trip is that my daughter, Connie Knight [see above], and I have been doing genealogy on my father's side. He was born in Kandel about 1896 and came to the US in 1905. His family homesteaded between Wishek and Napoleon, North Dakota. I am taking the tour to see where my father was born and learn more about my ancestors."

Balzer Scherr, Tulare, California
Ancestral Villages: Straßburg [Kutschurgan District]

Balzer grew up in the Harding school district, the son of Balzer and Margaret Scherr. He graduated from Strasburg High School and attended Ellendale State College, University of North Dakota, and Mayville State University, with graduate studies at Fresno State University. He served with the US Army Infantry in the Korean War. He began teaching in one-room schools in Emmons County, North Dakota, then taught grades 7 and 8 in Elgin, North Dakota. In 1957, he moved to the Palo Verde School District, becoming District Superintendent in Tulare, California. He also taught elementary math and science at St. Aloysius School in Tulare, California.

In 1959, Balzer married Blondina Monteiro [see below]. They have four children: Bernadette, a graduate of University of the Pacific; Bernard, who holds a doctorate from the University of Oregon; Brenden, a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and a Captain in the US Army, who also holds an M.A. from the University of Oregon; and Brigetta, who holds an M.A. from California State University.

Balzer and Blondina live on a 3½ acre farm near Tulare and also own 210 acres of farmland in the San Joaquin valley. Balzer is now retired.

Blondina (Monteiro) Scherr, Tulare, California
Ancestral Villages: Blondina's husband's village is Straßburg [Kutschurgan District]

Blondina is not of German-Russian ancestry but was born in Tulare, California, the daughter of Manuel R. and Mary Monteiro, both immigrants from the Azore Islands, Portugal. She attended a small one-room country school there and graduated from Tulare Union High School. She then earned an A.A. in art from the local junior college. She married Balzer Scherr [see above] in 1959 and they have four children. She is now an elementary school librarian.

Blondina is active in several organizations: the PTA, Classified School Employees Association, St. Aloysius Catholic Choir, Catholic Daughters of America and the Immaculate Conception Sodality and Altar Society. She is an avid gardener, living in the country by choice and loving it. She also enjoys reading, painting, and going to the nearby central coast with her husband, Balzer.

Betty (Baron) Thatcher, Tigard, Oregon
Ancestral Villages: Karlsruhe, Landau, Speyer [Beresan District]

Betty writes, "I was born in Mandan, North Dakota in 1926. My parents were Christian Baron and Margaret Schmidt and I am the third of seven children. My parents were born in Karlsruhe in the Beresan District. My father came to North Dakota with a cousin in 1913 and my mother came with her parents, grandmother and two sisters, settling in Fallon, North Dakota. The Schmidt family moved to Lodi, California in 1921. Only one of my father's eight siblings, his brother, Lorenz, came to the US; he farmed in the Fallon area. I recently learned that another brother had been mayor of Karlsruhe in the early 1940s.

"My family moved to Portland in 1943. After graduating from nursing school, I was in the Navy Nurse Corps for two years during the Korean War. After my tour of duty, I returned to Portland and began my career as an operating room nurse, working in hospitals in most of the western states. I retired after the death of my husband in 1986.

"Travel has been my favorite hobby. My most memorable trip was to Russia with a group of Oregon nurses. We toured their hospitals and met with other health professionals. Three sisters and a cousin, born in Karlsruhe, were with me. We met two of the sisters she had not seen in forty years; they now live in Germany. One other sister is still in Kazakhstan. On a visit to Germany in 1991 with my youngest sister, I met my father's one surviving sister. Communication was a challenge, as no one spoke English and my German was very basic, but we did manage.

"I volunteer at a senior center and have recently taken up golf again, weather permitting (that means no rain or temperature above 80). I am anxiously looking forward to the trip and especially to visiting the village of Karlsruhe. I plan to stay longer in Germany to see relatives, research records with their assistance, and complete our family history."

Theodore "Ted" Weisenburger, Phoenix, Arizona
Ancestral Villages: Grossliebental [Liebental District]; Kabarnau [Bessarabia]

Ted writes, "I was born in my grandparents' house in Tuttle, North Dakota. Both of my parents were born in Ukraine near Odessa and came to North Dakota with their parents when they were two or three years old. In the dust bowl days, we lived in Tuttle. On my sixth birthday, we moved to a farm in Foster county near Brantford, where my father farmed until he retired.

"When I was seven, my mother died and was buried in a country churchyard between Tuttle and Wing." Ted has written a lovely poem expressing his thoughts on this subject.

"I graduated from high school in New Rockford and attended University of North Dakota, where I acquired a B.A. and a J.D. My time at the university was interrupted by a tour of duty in an airborne division during the Korean War. Then I studied at the American Graduate School in Phoenix, Arizona for a year. I went to Ethiopia and taught English in a high school for one year. After that, I studied at the University in Freiburg im Breisgau and at the Free University of West Berlin for one year.

"After a tour of duty as an investigator for the US government, I returned to North Dakota to marry and to raise a family. I practiced law for a short time in Bismarck, and then moved to Minnewaukan, where I was the County Judge for a number of years. Later, I moved to Grafton, where I also served as County Judge. During these times, I also served as a Tribal Judge on both the Devils Lake Sioux and the Turtle Mountain Chippewa reservations.

"I am the biological father of one son and one daughter. In addition, I have adopted eight children. Eight years ago, I left North Dakota and moved to Phoenix, where I have been teaching English as a second language part-time and enjoying my retirement.

"My fondest memory growing up was the food: Kuchen, Plachinda, Borscht, Halushka, Knoepfle, Strudel, und so weiter. "I feel a need to take this trip in search of my roots."

Robert Dambach, Fargo, North Dakota
Prairie Public Television, Producer and Producer

Bob writes, "I was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951 and took my bachelor's degree in communications at the University of Dayton, Ohio in 1973. I hold an M.A. degree in speech communication, radio, TV, and film from the University of Iowa and served as Assistant Instructor of Radio and TV in Wichita, Kansas, moving to Program Manager in 1976 to 1979.

I have also served as Program Manager in Las Vegas, Nevada, and presently serve as the Program Manager and Producer of Prairie Pubic Television of KMVW. My hobbies are history and woodworking. I am married to my wife, Virginia, and have two daughters, Mary, age twelve and Jeanne, age eight. My heritage is German from my father's side and Irish from my mother's side.

Michael M. Miller, Fargo, North Dakota, Tour Director
Ancestral Villages: Straßburg [Kutschurgan District], Krasna [Bessarabia]

Michael writes, "My first visit to the the villages of Straßburg and Krasna in June of 1994 is an experience I shall never forget. I was especially touched by the warmth and friendship of the local villagers. I returned to Odessa and to the home of Antonina Welk Ivanova in the village of Selz in December, 1995."

Michael was raised in Strasburg, North Dakota, learning to speak English and German. His college degrees are from Valley City State University and the University of North Dakota. He has been on the NDSU Libraries staff since 1967, where he compiled the annotated bibliography, Researching the Germans from Russia published by the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, 1987.

He produced the visual program, At Home on the Prairies: the Germans from Russia for the Germans from Russia Heritage Society. Working with the family of Lawrence Welk, he was instrumental in the family's decision in 1992 to donate the archives of the late bandleader to the NDSU Libraries.

Besides his university work, he is a photographer. His photography assignments have taken him to the Olympics in Los Angeles, Seoul, Calgary, Albertville, Barcelona, and Lillehammer.

Bundestreffen American Delegation

Author of the book, The Central Dakota Germans: Their History, Language, and Culture, Georgetown University Press, 1990

Barbara Roth, Great Falls, Virginia, and Appleton, Wisconsin

Toby Roth, United States Congressman, Great Falls, Virginia, and Appleton, Wisconsin
Ancestral Villages: Straßburg and Selz [Kutschurgan District]

*Emilie Philipps, Fallbrook, California

John Philipps, Fallbrook, California
Ancestral Villages: Landau [Beresan District]

Bishop Joseph Werth
Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia
Ancestral Villages: Speyer [Beresan District] and Volga

Clark J. Withers, South Jordan, Utah

Erma T. Withers, South Jordan, Utah

Tour Group II

Shirley P. Brost, Spearfish, South Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Alt-Postal,Neu-Arzis, Wittenberg [Bessarabia]; Freudental [Liebenthal District]; Kerschinea.

Tour group II standing at the Chorne More Hotel, Odessa, Ukraine in June, 1996.

"I was born in San Diego, California in 1959. My father was in the Navy at the time. Prior to his retirement from military service, we lived in California, Arkansas, and Virginia. After his retirement we moved to South Dakota, where my father had grown up and where most of my relatives still lived. I attended schools in Fruitdale, Belle Fourche, and Sturgis, South Dakota. I graduated from high school in 1978. I have two brothers and two sisters.

"I attended University of South Dakota in Vermillion from 1978-1982 and graduated with a B.S. in math and computer science. I am employed at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota as a Senior Systems Programmer in the university's computer center. I also teach university classes in computer applications and computer languages. In addition to my work, I am currently pursuing an M.S. in technology management at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City and I hope to receive my degree in May 1996.

"I am accompanying my sister Carolyn Norquist [see below] on this tour at her suggestion. She has been researching our family history for a dozen years now, and has kept me informed of her discoveries. I gladly accepted her invitation to join her on this tour as a way of paying tribute to my German-Russian ancestors, and as a way of learning more about my heritage."

Virginia (Becker) Chapman, Jefferson, Oregon
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Worms [Beresan District]; Teplitz [Bessarabia].

Virginia writes, "Some of my happiest childhood memories are of my family sitting around the table after supper, listening to my father tell of his memories of life in Ukraine. We would end those sessions day-dreaming of someday going back to Kassel so that he could show us where he grew up. Sadly, he died before that was possible but now my sister and I have the opportunity, at last, to see not only where Dad spent his first sixteen years but also where our maternal grandparents grew up.

"I spent my early years in the Midwest where my father was a German Baptist minister. Although we spoke English in our family, all the older people in our church spoke German. I always understood the gist of what they talked about, but our parents didn't realize my comprehension of German. I never spoke German until I was in high school. At that time, we moved to Vancouver, Canada, where our church was composed of people who had arrived from Germany just a few years earlier. I realized that there was a difference between the culture of those people and that of the Black Sea Germans with whom we had previously lived.

"Later I graduated from high school in Vancouver, and then from Central Washington University in education. I then earned an M.A. at American Baptist Seminary in Berkeley, California. After teaching elementary grades in Berkeley a couple years, I spent fifteen months in Belgium with my husband in preparation for our career as missionaries in the Belgian Congo (now Zaire). We worked with the Board of International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches from 1955 until 1994, training national pastors for Zaire's villages.

"Our three sons, although each was born on a different continent, all grew up in Zaire. Our adopted daughter, who spent her first eleven years in Korea, also spent five years in Zaire. Our travels to and from Africa always took us through Europe and we often lingered there for a few days or weeks. I have traveled in the areas of Germany and Alsace from which my ancestors immigrated but since then I have learned some of the villages. My husband and I have retired now and have built our dream home on a hillside in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. I expect this Journey to the Homeland to be a highlight of my life."

Sandra Lee Henry-Choppin, Bonita, California
Ancestral Villages: Guldendorf [Liebental District]; Rohrbach, Worms [Beresan District]

Sandra writes, "I was born in Bremerton, Washington, though I only lived there six weeks. I currently live in Bonita, California near the San Diego area, and have lived here most of my life.

"I attended Brigham Young University and received an M.A. degree in Pysical Education and Psychology. After graduation I taught science and physical education at a junior high school in Arizona. I then returned to California and taught adapted physical education to orthopedically handicapped children. While teaching, I attended night school, receiving an elementary and a Special Education credential. I currently teach a severly handicapped class at Madison High School in San Diego. My hobbies are genealogy, reading and outdoor activities.

"My grandparents on my mother's side were born in Guldendorf. Their names were Frederick Schroth and Emelia Wenz. They came to Herried, South Dakota. They also spent time in Plavna, Montana and ended up in Portland, Oregon. The parents of my grandfather were Christopher Schroth and Catherine Close. The parents of my grandmother were Martin Wenz and Madalena Bauer."

Harold M. Ehrman, Pacific Palisades, California
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Hoffnungstal (Odessa).

Harold was born seven miles west of Eureka, South Dakota. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Hoffnungstal in 1885 and settled there. His maternal grandparents immigrated from Neudorf in 1901 and settled near Hillsview, South Dakota. After graduating from Eureka High School, Harold served two years in the US Army. He then attended South Dakota State School of Mines and Technology and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. His entire professional career was spent at Hughes Aircraft Company. He has been retired since 1989 and keeps quite active traveling and doing genealogical research.

*Margaret Ann (Aman) Freeman, Redondo Beach, California
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; and daughter colony Marienberg north of Kassel near the Kutschurgan River.

Margaret writes, "I was born on an Iowa farm where I spent my early years in the corn fields, attended rural school and did all the things growing up that were typical of the thirties and forties. The church, which my grandparents had founded, was over the hill on the same section as our farm and we lived on part of the land that Grandfather Zimmerman had been able to purchase with his hard work and frugal ways. Born to older parents, who were each the youngest child born late in life to their parents, the 58 cousins on the Zimmerman side and the 58 cousins on the Aman side (with the exception of two) were all older than my sister and I. We did not lack for playmates or activities, and a goodly part of this activity was work.

"At the age of twelve, my confirmation year, we moved into the town of Monticello where I participated in many activities in high school. After that I attended a small girls' school, Shimer College in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, and then went on, with the help of scholarships, to Linfield College in Oregon. From there I went to the University of Hawaii for graduate work in sociology, aided by funds from a graduate assistantship. There I met my husband Bob [see below] at Graduate Club.

"After our two sons were in school, I took the necessary courses for a teaching credential at USC and am now retired after 23 years in the Santa Monica Elementary Schools.

"Growing up among my father's north German family, there was little contact during the depression and the war years with mother's Germans who lived nearly a thousand miles away. It was not until much later, when Aberle's book became known, and even later, when we attended an AHSGR meeting in 1978 that I really began to learn about my rich heritage in the Germans from Russia. One of the greatest things was to discover all this before my mother died. We attended conventions for several years together and I was able to put the history book on the Aman family in her hands before she died. Incidentally, that was the first family history computer printed book in the library of either GRHS or AHSGR.

"At threshing time, when the hired men ate elsewhere with the threshing crew, Mother would cook Käse Knipfle for herself and her nieces. Of course we always had Kuchen with prunes and apples, absolutely delicious. Our food likely had the Germans from Russia seasoning, which I never thought much about. And of course we ate borscht, which we called vegetable soup.

"In the late eighties, some friends and I started the Glückstal Colonies Research Association, deciding to research all the inhabitants of Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, and Neudorf. We were fortunate to have Gwen Pritzkau's considerable help, since her husband Julius has ancestry in Kassel [see Gwen and Julius below]. We were also fortunate to have found Carolyn Wheeler, who is competent in publishing and proofreading: who we now realize is also a cousin.

Our group has grown and is an amazing collection of very dedicated workers. Under the direction of Harold Ehrman [see above], we have published the Glueckstal Colonies Marriages, and have extended plans to publish Glueckstal Colonies Families and Glueckstal Colonies Deaths. Much of the data is already in GEDCOM format, thanks to our many industrious researchers. GCRA has been successful in putting many families together and finding cousins on many continents with the help of the computer. We have been able to meet our goal of uniting families."

Robert A. Freeman, Redondo Beach, California

Margaret Freeman [see above] writes about her husband Bob, "Bob and I were married in graduate school and then went to live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Bob continued his studies at Harvard. We lived in Lexington for several years, had a son, Bill, and returned to California to live near Bob's parents. Bob took a job with System Development Corporation and we settled in Santa Monica where we lived for 36 years, 35 in the same house. Another son, George, was born in Santa Monica and we feel fortunate that both boys went all the way through the Santa Monica school system while we were living at the same address. In 1986, Bob retired from SDC, which had been bought by Buroughs and then by Sperry-Rand and is known today as UNISYS."

Jay Gage, Fargo, North Dakota; Exhibits Curator, NDSU Libraries
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Elft, Beresina, Leipzig, Neu-Elft [Bessarabia]

Kay (Ries) Gavin, Roseville, Minnesota
Ancestral Village: Rosenthal [Crimea], Katharinental, Landau [Beresan District], Selz [Kutschurgan District]

Kay writes, "I was born in Bowdle, South Dakota while my father was working for Montana Dakota Utilities. Around 1943, we moved to Mobridge, South Dakota, and my father, Andy Ries, worked for the Milwaukee Railroad. I have one brother, Howard. My mother, Winnie Jones, worked mostly in grocery stores in Mobridge. My father came to the US with his mother, father, and four other children when he was five years old in 1906. He was born in Rosenthal, Crimea.

"I graduated from high school in Mobridge in 1956 and went to South Dakota State University where I earned a B.S. in nursing. We moved to Minneapolis in 1961. I have worked in hospitals, clinics, and public schools as a nurse. For the last several years I have been transcribing doctors' dictation at a health maintenance organization where I work part-time.

"I don't really remember much of my German-Russian background other than that my Dad was a hard worker and frugal. We did not speak German at home since my mother was Welsh. I just remember my grandmother as being a pleasant person and making a dough-rolled thing that to this day I can't recall the name. Boy, did it ever taste good!

"I wanted to take this trip to Germany, being a good opportunity to go with people from a similar background and hopefully to help me research where my father's family origins are in Germany."

Harold E. Grasmick, Lodi, California
Ancestral Villages: Volga

Harold writes, "I was born in Crowley, Colorado, later graduating from high school in Lyman, Nebraska. My father was born in Russia, immigrating to the US with his parents when he was two, and my mother was born in Colorado. Our farm raised sugar beets, potatoes, beans, corn, etc., as well as cattle, hogs, chickens, ducks, and horses. In 1949, we moved to Lodi, California where my parents purchased a Tokay grape vineyard farm. In 1950-52, I served in the US Army in the Korean War. I met Leah [see below] and we married in 1964. Later I also purchased a small grape vineyard which I farmed until 1977 when I started work for the city of Lodi as a facility and equipment mechanic in the Water Department.

"Since retirement, after twelve years of work for the city, we now do volunteer grandparent reading at a public school. For St. Paul's Lutheran Church, I volunteer as deacon, financial secretary, van driver, am Secretary-Treasurer of the men's group and I sing in the choir.

"We have done extensive traveling in almost every state as well as Hawaii, Canada, Europe (twice), the Holy Land, China, etc. I desire to see the homeland area in Ukraine from which the German people immigrated, even though it focuses on my wife's family heritage. Happy Traveling and God's peace to all of you."

Leah J. (Thurn) Grasmick, Lodi, California
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel and Neudorf [Glückstal District]

Leah writes, "I was born in Venturia, North Dakota and went to school there. My father passed away when I was 13. I helped my mother on the farm and worked as a nurses aide at the Lutheran Home in Wishek and as a grocery checker. I married Richard Berg in February of 1957. He was in the US Army and died in Korea in November, 1957.

"In 1964 I married Harold Grasmick [see above] in Lodi, California and worked for the Lodi Memorial Hospital for seventeen years. We have traveled to the Holy Land, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Wales, England, and China. I like gardening so we have plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit with provisions of canning and freezing to eat healthy.

"To grow up in a German home and to be raised on a farm, enjoying the simple things in life, was rewarding. We had a Christian home where respect was shown to parents and those in authority. We helped each other; when one neighbor had a crisis, all the neighbors would pitch in and help." Leah's brother, Herbert and Mildred Thurn [see below] will join her on the tour.

*Albert Rudolph Hausauer, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Brienne [Bessarabia]

Albert writes, "I was born in 1923, raised and received my elementary and secondary education in Jamestown, North Dakota. My father, Rudolph Hausauer, was born in Glückstal in 1896 and immigrated to the US with his parents Johann Hausauer and Margaretha Marzolf in 1901. My mother, Katherina Pietz, was born in Kassel in 1899 and immigrated to the US with her parents, John Pietz and Carolina Hieb, in 1900. All of my grandparents became citizens of the US. My parents were married in 1917 at McCluskey, North Dakota and farmed in that area for a few years before moving to Jamestown. My father worked as a railroad section hand and laborer. I have one brother and three sisters living. One brother died at birth.

"I graduated from Jamestown High School in 1941 and attended business college in Fargo for a year before joining the army. I served for three years; my overseas duty was in the South Pacific (Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan) as a paratrooper. After my discharge, I attended University of North Dakota and received my degrees in business administration (accounting) and law. I married Mary Meinhover while in college, and we had four of our five children before I graduated. Two of our children are married and we have six grandchildren." Albert's daughter, Sarah J. Hausauer [see below] will accompany him on this tour, as will his sisters, Esther A. Hausauer [see below] and Edna K. Kelly [see below]. "During my college years, I worked for the university buildings and grounds, Bridgeman creameries, and the Ulseth Insurance Agency.

"After graduation from college, I went into partnership with a classmate, forming an accounting firm with offices in Minot, Williston, and Bottineau, North Dakota. After some twelve years in private practice, I moved to Bismarck and accepted an appointment as income tax deputy with the North Dakota State Tax Department. A few years later, I transferred into the legal division of the tax department and served some twenty years as an assistant attorney general, handling litigation and compliance problems, primarily in the corporate income tax field.

"I am a charter and life member of GRHS, a 20+ year member of AHSGR, and a member of the Glückstal Colonies Research Association. I have served as a member of the board of directors of GRHS, as well as Vice-President. I am the founder of the Bismarck-Mandan Historical and Genealogical Society and have served as an officer of that society for 25 years. My interest is genealogy and I have spoken to other groups on the subject as well as teaching a short course at Bismarck State College on genealogy.

"I have collected valuable material and data that needs indexing and organizing into a family history. I have traced my father's lines to Alsace (Cleebourg, Steinseltz). I have conflicting information as to my mother's ancestral ties and homelands. In making some contact with Russian archivists, I discovered that there are still Hausauers living in the Glückstal vicinity. Prof. Schweitzer has informed me that there are Hausauers still living in Cleebourg. I desire to make contact with them by letter before our tour and perhaps meet them in person during our travels."

Esther A. Hausauer, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Brienne [Bessarabia]

Esther writes, "I am a sister of Albert R. Hausauer [see above] and Edna (Hausauer) Kelly [see below]. My parents were Rudolph Hausauer and Katherina (Pietz) Hausauer. They immigrated from the Black Sea area as small children. I am retired."

Sarah Jane Hausauer, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Brienne [Bessarabia]

Sarah writes, "My parents are Albert Rudolph Hausauer (see above) and Mary Evelyn (Meinhover) Hausauer. My mother, born in Bismarck, North Dakota, was the daughter of Sadie Jane (Reynolds) Meinhover of St. Cloud, Minnesota, a registered nurse, and Theodore Bernard Meinhover, born in Dorchester, Iowa, who was always involved in law enforcement, working as the sheriff of Emmons County, North Dakota during WWI."

Sarah was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and received a B.S. in medical technology from University of North Dakota. She was a Peace Corps volunteer, 1974-78, in Nairobi, Kenya, and has worked in Waterville, Maine, Merced, California, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

Barbara (Geiger) Horn, Alta Loma, California
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Landau, Rastadt, Speyer [Beresan District]; Brienne [Bessarabia], Fundahl

Barbara was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. Her grandparents were Frederick Pietz, born in McIntosh County, North Dakota, and Barbara (Vogele) Pietz, born in Glückstal. Her grandfather, George Geiger, was born in Speier, and her grandmother, Theresa (Schafer) Geiger, was born in Rastadt.

Barbara writes, "I am a microbiologist and clinical laboratory scientist." She is listed in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the West. "Last December, I took early retirement to pursue several projects: among them to sell our house, build a house for us in Texas and one in the mountains in southern California. Another big project is to catch up on my genealogy! Our ranch in Texas is being prepared for raising dairy calves."

She married her husband, David Pennington Horn, in 1964 and has two sons. She and her husband have been active many years in Little League baseball, soccer, and choral and drama groups. Since retirement, Barbara now volunteers with the California Burn Foundation, including a 10-day camp for burn-injured children. She enjoys photography, travel, collecting spoons, eggs, and Matroshkas--and doing genealogical research. She is traveling with her friend, Micky Van Loon [see below].

*Edwin M. Iszler, Streeter, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Beresina, Friedenstal, Klöstitz, Lichtental, Neu-Arzis, Paris, Sarata, Teplitz [Bessarabia]; Bergdorf, Glückstal, Klein Neudorf, Neudorf [Glückstal District].

Edwin writes, "I was born in 1919 twelve miles northwest of Streeter, North Dakota, the youngest of eleven children born to Michael and Katherine (Entzminger) Iszler. My five oldest brothers and sisters were born in a sod house, the rest of us in a stone house. I lived some aspects of pioneer life: not having running water and bathroom facilities, thus patronizing the little white building behind the house. I didn't travel to Bismarck until I was sixteen years old.

"I'm a graduate of Streeter High School and the then Normal and Industrial College at Ellendale, North Dakota. I also attended Valley City University, University of South Dakota, Vermillion and Mary University, Bismarck.

"My fondest memories of growing up in a German-Russian home were the pioneer spirit, conservatism, and the belief that you should 'earn your bread by the sweat of thy brow.'

"My wife, Millie, and I are the parents of three sons and one daughter. I taught school for 34 years and ranched for 40. We live on the homestead that has been in the family 100 years in 1998.

"I'm the author of Plights and Flights of the Iszlerites and also contributed to the book, A Journey to Freedom, pertaining to my mother's family. This research covered a period of over thirty years and I feel this tour to Germany and Russia will be the highlight of my whole research career."

*Edna Katherine (Hausauer) Kelly, Carrington, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Brienne [Bessarabia]

Edna writes, "I was born in 1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota. My parents are Rudolph Hausauer and Katharina (Pietz) Hausauer, both born in South Russia. Their parents came to the US and homesteaded in North Dakota. After my parents were married, they moved to Jamestown, North Dakota.

"I married Elvin Wayne Kelly in 1946. We have three children and made our home in Jamestown until 1959, when we moved to Carrington, North Dakota."

Edna is traveling with her sister, Esther A. Hausauer [see above] and brother, Albert R. Hausauer [see above].

Agatha "Aggie" (Doll) Madison, Missoula, Montana
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau [Beresan District]

Agatha writes, "I was born to German-Russian immigrants on a North Dakota farm in Grant county. My mother, Rosa Kautzman, came to the US from Landau in 1900. My father, Joseph Doll, came from Katharinental in 1902. I lived on the family farm with my parents, sisters and brothers through the eighth grade. That fall, my parents retired and moved to Glen Ullin, North Dakota. I graduated from Glen Ullin High School.

"I went to work at First National Bank, Mandan, North Dakota. Here I met my husband, Alexander Madison. A few months after our marriage, we moved to Montana. My husband completed his degree in journalism at the University of Montana in Missoula. Our four children were exposed to college life at an early age; all have college degrees, and all have done post-graduate work. I hold the title, 'college drop-out'. My husband passed away in January, 1993. He was an employee of the university for thirty-some years and director of the University Printing Department for 27 years. I continue to make my home in Missoula.

"A memory of growing up in a German-Russian home was experiencing Christmas Eve. It was a very simple celebration compared to today's standards. Christmas Eve dinner was never anything special, but knowing as soon as the dishes were washed and put away, the Belzenickl (Santa) would pay his visit made anticipation great. As soon as we all were gathered in the Maastub, a knock on the window pane made our adrenaline jump. Santa, carrying a bag, dressed in a man's long overcoat, turned inside out, wearing a Santa mask, with a long white beard, and a red Santa cap, was invited in. He went through the good and naughty questions, in the German language. The jolly, pillow-stuffed elf of two cultures soon opened his bag, and we each received an unwrapped gift. We thanked him and were frightened at the thought that we had to shake hands.

"Soon it was time to get ready for midnight mass. All the parishioners arrived at the church early to visit with each other in the church basement before the services started. If a child were under the age of ten, and if the child's godparents were present, the child usually received a gift from them. The gift was a small bag of cookies, candy and nuts, and sometimes a nice handkerchief or a pair of socks. This was another highlight of the evening.

"Midnight mass was always special, because the Christmas trees had electric lights and the music was better than usual. Family, Santa, a gift, church and simplicity made the celebration of Christ's birth, Christmas Eve, memorable. Tradition was that during the year, when the sky at sunset had a beautiful red glow, Santa was busy baking his Christmas cookies. I still think about this whenever I see the red glow at sunset."

Gary Maier, San Jose, California
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]

Gary writes, "I am a descendant of the Maier family of Bergdorf. My grandfather, Matthäus Maier, his wife, Christina Dewald of Neudorf, and two children immigrated to the US in 1893, home-steading northeast of Zeeland, North Dakota. My hometown is Ashley, North Dakota. I married Janice Heitzmann in Ashley in 1965. I graduated from San Jose City College in 1971. I took early retirement from IBM after 30 years with a specialty in financial analysis.

"The reasons for taking the trip are to visit my grandparents' ancestral villages, to meet relatives in Germany, to gather genealogical research, and to enjoy being with people of similar backgrounds and interests."

*Melvin G. Maier, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]

Melvin writes, "I am a native of Elgin, North Dakota, where I graduated from Elgin High School in 1951. After graduating from NDSU in 1955 and a year of teaching, I entered the US Air Force pilot training program. Four years in the Air Force included more than two years in Germany (1958-60).

"While in Germany I established contact with a niece of grandfather Friedrich Schaible. That contact led to many others and I developed a keen interest in my family ancestry and in the fate of the German-Russians as a people. It also enabled me to become fairly proficient in speaking the modern German language.

"Presently, I am Administrator of the North Dakota Wheat Commission. The Commission is a producer-financed-and-directed agency, established to develop markets and promote sales of North Dakota wheat. This career began in 1963 after earning an M.A. in agricultural economics at NDSU. It has included a four year stint as Director of the European office of the national effort and extensive world-wide travel.

"My Maier and Schaible grandparents were born in Kassel, Bergdorf, Neudorf and Glückstal. Since 1958, I have had frequent contact with Maier, Imhof, Schaible, and Heyne Spätaussiedler who were former residents of these villages. My interest in a firsthand look became intense. In November 1993, I had the opportunity to spend two days, actually only about 12 hours, in the four villages. I want to go back to the Glückstal colonies to further connect the experiences related to me with the places in which they occurred."

Dona B. Reeves-Marquardt, Buda, Texas
Ancestral Villages: Grimm, Kratzke, Merkel, Friedenfeld [Volga]

Dona is half-German-Russian; her grandparents immigrated to Kansas from the Volga beginning in 1876. She fondly remembers her grandmother telling her about learning to swim in the Volga river and attempting to teach her how to "German" knit. Dona's mother and grandmother would often speak German with one another, which made her determined to learn German one day. Dona studied German at the University of Texas in Austin, where she received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.

Dona is professor emeritus of German at Southwest Texas State University. After Edward Reeves, her husband of twenty-five years, died in 1983, she married Lewis Marquardt [see below], whom she had met as both served on the board of directors of AHSGR. She served as linguistics and oral history committee chair, having translated and co-translated many works for AHSGR, including David Weigum's My Life on the Crimean Steppes and Beratz' The German Colonies on the Lower Volga.

Lewis R. Marquardt, Buda, Texas
Ancestral Villages: Kandel, Selz [Kutschurgan District]

Lew Marquardt was born and raised in Emmons County, ND. For nine years he taught school in South Dakota, where his four sons were born; one daughter was born in Germany. He has lived in seven different states to date, as well as in the Federal Republic of Germany, but still considers himself a Dakotan. "There is something quite unique about being a North Dakotan," he believes, though he can't quite describe it in two sentences or less.

Lew now lives in Texas with his wife, Dona Reeves-Marquardt [see above]. He graduated from Minot State University in North Dakota, served in the US Army in California and Germany, acquired an M.A. in Colorado and a Ph.D. in Arizona. He enjoys his German-Russian heritage, even cooking his own noodles and Kuchen. {Alsatian men are historically known for their cooking skills}. He also enjoys traveling, reading, and trying to understand classical philosophy.

Thomas Parker Martin, Mannheim, Germany
Ancestral Villages: Gnadenfeld, Lichtenfeld, Güldendorf [Liebental District]

Thomas writes, "Harvey, North Dakota, was my birthplace. I graduated from Harvey High School and University of North Dakota. After teaching for 33 years in North Dakota, Minnesota, California and Germany, I retired three years ago." Tom is married to Laurel Barber Martin [see below].

"When I was growing up, it seemed that most people in Harvey were German-Russian. My father, George, would speak to many of his customers at the store in German. He and my mother, who was Russian, never spoke a single word of German, however, to their three Martin sons. From our bedroom, though, we would hear our parents talk in German, laughing about things they did not want their children to know.

"Our mother cooked German foods which I desired. During the war years, my father would invite an old German friend, Paul Mosal, to help butcher half a hog in the cellar. The savory sausages they would prepare, plus pork chops and pork roasts--how delicious can any food taste! Although my Dad did not teach us the German language, he was proud of his German heritage. He recited poetry about Germany and seemed particularly pleased when his grandson was born in Heidelberg.

"My father and mother were such wholesome, interesting, and loving parents. I desire to visit Lichtenfeld, where my father was born. He was ten years old when the family immigrated in 1894. What were his thoughts when the trek wagon arrived to transport his parents and brothers and sisters to the train station, beginning their long journey to Hamburg, later boarding the 'Normannia' for the ocean voyage to the USA?"

Laurel Barber Martin, Mannheim, Germany

Laurel writes,"My ancestors were not Germans from Russia, but were predominately English and settled in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the late 1600s. I was born in Newton, Massachusetts and attended school there until my family moved to Santa Barbara, California when I was thirteen. I continued my education in California and graduated from Scripps College in Claremont. My first teaching position was in Fairfield, California, where I first learned about the Germans from Russia, when meeting Tom Martin. Their story across three cultures was so fascinating that I married Tom [see above] and traveled with him to North Dakota to meet his family, friends, and German-Russian neighbors.

"Tom and I became interested in tracing his family's roots. Our ongoing quest is to find where in Germany the family originated. Another of our goals is to visit his father's birthplace in Lichtenfeld. We traveled by car in the Soviet Union in 1969, only to be warned not to leave the main highway between Kiev and Odessa in search of that village. We desire to tour Lichtenfeld, as well as Güldendorf, where Tom's paternal grandparents (Andreas Martin and Magdalena Häring) were born, and Gnadenfeld, where Tom's Uncle John was born before the family moved to Lichtenfeld.

"At the present time, I am teaching first grade and Reading Recovery at Mannheim Elementary School, a Department of Defense School for children of military personnel stationed in the Mannheim, Germany area. Tom and I live in the charming town of Großachsen north of Heidelberg, surrounded by vineyards and apple orchards."

Eldora Joyce (Zumbaum) Miller, New Llano, Louisiana
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel [Glückstal District], Johannestal, Landau [Beresan District] Alt-Arzis, Brienne, Klöstitz, Hoffnungstal, Tarutino, Teplitz [Bessarabia]

Eldora writes, "I was born in 1938 in Bismarck, North Dakota, the oldest of five children born to Benjamin and Lillian (Engle) Zumbaum. I have always lived on a farm, growing up near Denhoff, North Dakota, later living on my grandfather's homestead, Jacob Zumbaum, until I graduated from high school. Our farm was located five miles southeast of Denhoff.

"I attended first grade in a one-room country school house, with my other schooling at Denhoff Public Schools. I started my business career in Bismarck, meeting my husband, Milo Alvin Miller. We were married at Denhoff, North Dakota, in 1957. I acquired a diploma from Sabine Technical School in Many, Louisiana, in l973, studying business machines and accounting."

Because of Milo Miller's army career, the family was stationed in many parts of the US. The Millers have two sons, the youngest born in Landstuhl, Germany. When Milo retired, they made their residence in Louisiana, where Eldora works for the American Greeting Card Co.

"My Grandmother Zumbaum taught me the German language, which I spoke until I went to public school. Once I learned English, I refused to continue speaking German and this decision really saddened my Grandmother Zumbaum's heart. While living in Germany, I relearned some German and I'm able to speak enough to survive. My childhood memories recall my mother cooking many German dishes, such as Knöpfle."

Eldora has become interested in genealogy and wants to return to the home place from where her grandparents immigrated to the US, to walk where they walked. Her partner, Lorraine (Engel) Werner [see below], is also her aunt. They will cherish the experience of their homeland tour together.

Harley D. Miller, Dr., Chehalis, Washington
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Hoffnungstal; Alt-Postal [Bessarabia]

Harley was born in Eureka, South Dakota, a short while ago! His grandparents were born in Glückstal, Alt-Postal and probably Neudorf and Hoffnungstal. He traces his ancestry back to the German villages of Stetten, Laufen, Hausen, Bergzabern, Königsbach, Nassau in Hessen, Hockenheim, Reichenbach and Coburg. He also lists several villages in Poland. He is married to Sharon Wakefield Miller [see below].

Harley's parents spoke German. "My first and most efficient learning experience took place in a one-room school (Glückstal No. 4). The most education that any of my teachers had during those first eight years was high school and eight weeks of summer school. The school was located eight miles northwest of Eureka, South Dakota. I graduated there in 1950 and later attended Eureka High School and Plainview Academy near Redfield, South Dakota. I continued my education at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, graduating from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1958 with a B.A. in chemistry.

"In 1962 I graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine with an M.D. Then I spent one year interning in the Washington Sanitarium and Hospital, the District of Columbia General Hospital and the District of Columbia Children's Hospital. After a surgery residency, Uncle Sam beckoned. Then on to Tanana, Alaska where I was service unit director at the Tanana (Alaska) Native Hospital. Later we went on to Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and then to Chehalis, Washington for one year that turned into nearly 29 years."

Harley enjoys photography, growing Christmas trees, construction and development, and of course, travel.

Sharon (Wakefield) Miller, Chehalis, Washington

Sharon is not of German-Russian ancestry; her ancestors came to Boston in 1636 and Pennsylvania from Germany in the late 1700s. She grew up in Massachusetts and went to college in California where she studied nursing at Loma Linda University and met her husband, Harley [see above], who was also a student there. After graduation, she taught nursing at Loma Linda University. She now holds an M.A. in public health. "During the early years of marriage, we visited the Dakotas several times where I met many of Harley's relatives. I'm so glad that I met his mother's parents before they died. They were both immigrants, one from Bessarabia and one from Glückstal."

Sharon, Harley and their family have lived in Alaska (where Sharon learned about dog racing), Minnesota and then settled in Chehalis, Washington, where Harley joined a growing medical group as a family practitioner. They have six daughters.

"In 1978, we traveled to Europe for the first time with another couple, who bought a Mercedes in Sindelfingen so we could drive to Ukraine. Our guide companion could speak Ukrainian, which was a wonderful help. We attended medical meetings in Czechoslovakia, and drove through Hungary, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine and back to Stuttgart. We managed to have a hurried visit to Kassel and Glückstal. We also stayed in Tiraspol, Odessa, and Kiev, where we visited in homes of our friend's relatives. On this trip, we had a most pleasant visit with cousins in Germany, around Sinsheim and Heidelberg.

"In 1990, we went to Germany and also to Poland specifically to visit ancestral towns in Poland and in Baden-Württemberg. We visited over a dozen towns and traced genealogy back to the 1500s. In 1992, we returned to Germany and also to Ukraine and Russia, including Moscow, but we did not tour ancestral villages on this trip."

Sharon's interests are gardening, skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, traveling, writing, history and church work.

Elaine (Becker) Morrison, Boulder, Colorado
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Worms [Beresan District]; Teplitz [Bessarabia]

Elaine writes, "My father, Emil Becker, was sixteen when he and his family left Kassel near Odessa for their home in Alberta. My mother, Marie Mauch, was born in Goodrich, North Dakota. Both of my parents left their German-speaking communities as young adults in order to pursue their education. The home that they later established was to be American, and English was spoken except at those times when the children were not to know what was being said.

"My first real exposure to the German-Russian culture came when our family moved to Herried, South Dakota, in 1938. It was quite a shock to hear children of my age speaking German (Swabian dialect). English was always used in school, but church services were in German. Food is an important part of any culture. In my childhood, we ate few of the traditional dishes because my father said that he had eaten his share of flour when he was growing up. Mother did make Käsekuchen and Apfelkuchen and sometimes a deep-fried pastry called Küchle.

"I graduated from the Tacoma General Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Colorado. I recently retired from many years with the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Denver. I have been to Europe several times, including a tour to the USSR for nurses, in 1983. Travel then was very limited, and we were restricted to only those cities on our itinerary. The closest that I came to my roots was to spend a few days in Kiev. My mother's family originally lived near Stuttgart, and my father's ancestors immigrated from Alsace, so this entire tour is very meaningful to me. I am very grateful for the opportunity in this once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Carolyn M. (Brost) Norquist, Woodbridge, Virginia
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Alt-Postal, Neu-Arzis, Wittenberg [Bessarabia]; Freudental [Liebental District]; Kershinea

Carolyn writes, "I was born in San Diego, California in 1957. My father was in the US Navy at that time. After his retirement, we moved to South Dakota, where my father had grown up and where most of my relatives still lived. I attended schools in Fruitdale, Belle Fourche, and Sturgis, South Dakota. I attended Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota where I received an A.S. in accounting, then Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where I received a B.S. degree in business administration. I married my husband, Bruce Norquist, in Aberdeen in 1985. We have one daughter. I became a Certified Public Accountant in 1987 and currently work only during income tax season. Otherwise I spend my time researching my family history.

"My father is a descendant of Germans from Russia, as his maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated from Russia in the late 1800s. My mother's ancestors immigrated directly from Germany to the US.

"I began my search into my ancestral heritage as a gift to my father, his one brother, and his many sisters. Their parents had both been orphaned at very young ages and consequently they knew little about their own families. My father did not even know the names of his paternal grandparents before I began my research! My efforts changed from being a search for my father's heritage to being a search for my own. My trip to Germany and Ukraine is the finale to many years of research. I feel that I will be paying homage to my four great-grandparents who left their homes and families in Russia, only to die in America a few short years later. They are no longer unknown; therefore, their hopes and sacrifices will be documented for future generations."

Carolyn is traveling with her sister, Shirley Brost [see above].

Joyce E. (Wood) Olson, Fargo, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau [Beresan District]

Joyce writes, "I am originally from Richfield, Minnesota. In 1980, I moved to Fargo, North Dakota to attend NDSU. Currently, I am married, living in Fargo and have three children. I work full time at MeritCare Health System in the Information Systems department. I am accompanying my mother, Rose Wood [see below] and Agatha Doll Madison [see above], on this trip to visit my grandparents' birthplace."

*Gwen Pritzkau, Riverton, Utah
Ancestral Villages: Bergdorf, Glückstal, Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District}

Gwen was born and raised in Utah. She is the wife of Julius Pritzkau [see below], who was born and raised in North Dakota. She writes, "We share the same children and grandchildren." Gwen is known by almost all German-Russian convention attendees as a lady of great genealogical information and she has been a cataloging specialist for the Salt Lake County Library System for 25 years. Her background is Danish but her love and interest in the German-Russian people has been of great importance in her life. Going to Ukraine is a dream come true.

Julius Pritzkau, Riverton, Utah
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]

Julius was born in Ashley of German-Russian parents, but was raised in Napoleon, North Dakota. He lived on a farm 12 miles east of town. After returning from the Army in 1945, he went to Utah where he has lived ever since. There he married Gwen [see above] and is the father of eight children and 19 grandchildren. Julius writes, "This tour provides a wonderful opportunity to see where my people lived for nearly a century. The St. Petersburg records made it possible to identify the place of origin for five of my ancestors, which we plan to visit in Germany."

Penny Raile, West Hollywood, California
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Rohrbach [Beresan District]

Penny was born in St. Francis, Kansas and graduated from high school there. She majored in home economics at Kansas State University and earned a Certificate at the Graphic Arts Department of UCLA in 1994. She serves as the Administrative Assistant for the Weingart Center Association, a health and human service agency in downtown Los Angeles, California. She is divorced and has no children; her parents and brother's family still live in St. Francis, Kansas. Her parents, Fleda and Raymond Raile [see below] are accompanying her on this journey.

Penny grew up in a German-Russian community, unaware of her unique family heritage. In the mid 1980's, however, she began family research and wrote a book on the Raile Family History. The response from her extended family was so overwhelming that she now continues to correspond with relatives all across the US. She has always had a fascination with Russia and especially the birthplaces (Neudorf & Rohrbach) of her grandparents Gottlieb and Regina Raile.

Fleda Raile, St. Francis, Kansas
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Rohrbach [Beresan District]

Fleda Raile was born on a farm near the small town of Bird City located in the extreme northwest corner of Kansas. She attended grade school in a rural school through grade eight and graduated from Bird City High School. She then attended Emporia State University and McCook Junior College and taught for ten years in both rural and city schools.

Fleda met her husband, Raymond [see below], while teaching in St. Francis, Kansas. They married six months after meeting and spent their first year of marriage in Mexico, Texas and Colorado before moving to the family farm where they had lived for seventeen years. They then built a house in St. Francis and have lived there for thirty years. Fleda and Raymond have two children, Penny [see above] and Tim, two grandchildren, Jessica and Michael, and a daughter-in-law, Robyn.

*Raymond Raile, St. Francis, Kansas
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Rohrbach [Beresan District]

Raymond was born on a farm near the river town of St. Francis, Kansas in 1923. He attended all eight grades in a rural school and then attended and graduated from St. Francis High School. He worked for several years for the Safeway store, then joined his father in farming.

Raymond met his wife Fleda [see above] while she was teaching school in St. Francis. After their marriage they spent some time in Mexico, Texas and Colorado but then moved onto his father's farm, one quarter of which was granted under the Homestead Act of 1903.

Raymond's father, Gottlieb, was born in Neudorf in 1884 and came with his parents to the US as a baby. The family spent their first year near Sutton, Nebraska and then moved to Cheyenne County, Kansas where they were granted land under the Homestead Act. They became large land owners and helped establish each of their sixteen children in farming operations!

Raymond's mother, Regina Holzwarth Raile, was born in Rohrbach in 1887 and came to the US at the age of 13. Raymond and his son, Tim, continue to farm the family homestead. He also has a daughter Penny [see above], who lives in Los Angeles, a daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren, Jessica and Michael who all live in St. Francis.

Delila (Huber) Schaible, Fargo, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Neuburg [Liebental District]; Rohrbach [Beresan District]; Alt-Postal [Bessarabia]

Delila was born and raised on a farm southwest of Wishek, North Dakota. She writes, "Growing up on the farm, I remember getting Sunday dinner started on Saturday afternoon so as not to do a lot of work on Sunday, the day of rest. I remember having Borscht which was my favorite." After high school and some business college schooling, Delila married Harold Schaible and they moved to Wyoming, where they worked for over 25 years and raised their daughter, Robyn. Delila was a teacher's aide for 16 years.

She retired in 1991, and since then, lives in a motorhome full time, traveling spring and fall, visiting their family during the summer up north, and spending a couple of weeks in Wyoming, where their home was. Their winters are spent in Fort Myers, Florida.

Delila writes that her main reason for taking this trip is to learn more about her German family background and to see from where her ancestors came. She also desires to comprehend their lifestyles which were dictated by politics and hardships. She adds, "So at this time of my life, I have the time to wonder about the past."

Ed W. Schulz, Bakersfield, California
Ancestral Villages: Alt-Arzis, Brienne, Tarutino, Wittenberg [Bessarabia]; Gnadenfeld near Rohrbach [Beresan District]; Grossliebental [Liebental District]

Ed writes that he was born near Beulah, North Dakota, attended Beulah High School and NDSU in Fargo, and graduated in 1959 with a B.S. in engineering. After graduation, he worked for civil engineering firms in Brainerd, Minnesota and Jamestown, North Dakota. Since 1966, he has lived in Bakersfield, California, where he was employed as a civil engineer with the city, leading to the position of City Engineer and Director of Public Works. He retired in 1993 "to live the good life."

Ed is married to Marge Tatley from Bismarck, North Dakota, and they have two children and three grandchildren. Both of his parents were first-generation-descendants of Germans from Russia since their parents, his grandparents, were born, raised, and married in the Black Sea area of Russia.

"I enjoyed very much growing up in a caring and large family in the peace and quiet of a fairly large family farm north of Beulah, North Dakota, with no drugs, no rock, no gangs. I am taking this tour because it is an opportunity to visit the villages of all four of my grandparents, and who knows, maybe even to find some long lost relatives."

Emil Jacob (E.J.) Stadel, Champlin, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal [Glückstal District]; Friedenstal, Paris, Teplitz [Bessarabia]

Emil writes, "I was born in Marsh, Montana some twenty miles southwest of Glendive to Jacob and Anna Marie (Opp) Stadel. Shortly after their marriage, my parents had moved during the drought and depression years from the Glückstal area in Kidder county, North Dakota to Montana and settled on the Kosel farm two miles southwest of Marsh. Because of the drought, hay for livestock became very scarce, and after four years, my parents decided to move back to North Dakota, settling on my grandparents' farm twelve miles south/southeast of Dawson. My grandparents, George and Elizabeth (Gehres) Stadel, had settled on this parcel of land after their arrival from Friedenstal, Bessarabia, in 1909.

"I attended rural schools in Peace and Bunker township and experienced life on the prairie, helping with farm chores, cattle and grain farming. I attended Gale Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota and became a railroad telegrapher and station agent. After two years of active duty during the Korean conflict, I was employed by the Northern Pacific railroad.

"With the help of the GI Bill, I graduated from Bismarck Junior College and Ellendale State Teachers College. After two years of teaching at Leonard High School, I went to University of North Dakota, earning both an M.A. and a Ph.D. I taught at Hibbing Junior College for a number of years before accepting an administrative position and later becoming Dean of the Boone campus of the Des Moines Area Community College. In 1974, I joined the Iowa Department of Transportation, Planning and Research Division, and after twenty years, retired in 1994.

"History and genealogy have always been of interest to me." Emil has traced his ancestry to his eighth great-grandfather, Johann Simon Stadel, ca. 1652, from Gronau, Württemberg, through the immigrations in 1832 of Johann Jakob Stadel from Gronau to Friedenstal, Bessarabia, and in 1909, of Johann Georg Stadel from Friedenstal, Bessarabia, to America. His mother's parents immigrated from Glückstal to Eureka, South Dakota. The opportunity to join the tour with a group with similar interests will provide a long-standing desire to visit the villages of my ancestors."

Marjorie "Marge" A. Jergentz-Stout, Livermore, California
Ancestral Villages: Friedenstal, Eigenfeld [Bessarabia]; Glückstal [Glückstal District]

Marge writes, "My father, Gustav Albert Jergentz, was the son of Reinhold Jergentz, born 1882 in Eigenfeld, although the family had lived in Neuburg many years. Reinhold's father, Johann Jergentz, was born and died in Großliebental, the son of Johann Jergentz. Reinhold arrived in the US in 1902, traveling with the Dietz family. My father's mother and her parents were the Maiers and the Kellers of Friedenstal, Bessarabia. They arrived in the US in 1888 and homesteaded southwest of Eureka, South Dakota.

"My grandfather became lost in a snowstorm near their home. He hollered for help. My great-grandparents heard him. One end of a rope was connected to the sod house and the other end to my great-grandfather, while he went out to help the stranger in. A bell was rung from the house until they were safe. Later, in 1907, he married my grandmother, Maria Maier. They had eight children. They sold their homestead in 1904 and moved a few years later to a place with better soil for farming, Moorhead, Minnesota.

"During WWI, my father and his parents moved to Elliot, North Dakota so Grandpa wouldn't have to go into the army. He'd already served as a boot boy in the Russian Army and as a drummer boy in the German Army in Russia, so the story goes. After two years of living in North Dakota, my grandfather announced, 'I'm tired of working all summer to feed the stove all winter.' Off they went to California by train, following the Germans from Russia immigration trail to Lodi, California to work in the grapefields, just as prohibition struck in 1912 and destroyed the market for grapes.

"In his mid-twenties, Dad married my mother, a third-generation, native-born Californian of Danish and German heritage. I was the first of two daughters. I grew up in Hayward, California, knowing my paternal grandparents, but not being able to speak to my grandmother, who spoke only German. My father translated for us. My mother would ask, 'You were born in Russia?' 'Yes.' 'Then you're Russians.' 'No, no, we are Germans,' my grandfather replied. They were very firm in their stand: 'We are Germans, not Russians.' They spoke German, but other people from Germany couldn't understand their language. My mother was very confused. I remember this conversation as a small child. I had a lingering, unsatisfiable curiosity to find the answers to my heritage. Because of her questioning, confusion, and writing down all the genealogical information she could gather, I was able 40 years later to begin my research on the Germans from Russia.

"As a child, I remember my father, my grandfather and my uncles all sitting around the oil-clothed, rectangle table at my grandparents home in Hayward, talking in German and then laughing and laughing, while 'Little Grandma,' smiling, worked quietly nearby at the kitchen sink. One of my father's brothers would say some more words in German and they would all bellow with laughter again. I felt very happy to be in these surroundings, although I couldn't understand a word."

Marge has a B.S. in recreation, specializing in therapy. She is certified in therapeutic massage, Reiki and Watsu (Shiatsu massage, done in 92° water). She has also owned her own travel business and is listed in Who's Who in California. Marge has written a family cookbook for her Danish side and compiled a book of her father's life story. She volunteers as village coordinator for Friedenstal for GRHS. She has two children and enjoys photography, travel, reading, writing, music, dancing, museums and musicals and plays.

Herbert C. Thurn, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel, Klein Glückstal, Neudorf [Glückstal District]; Peterstal [Liebental District]

Herbert was born on a farm northwest of Venturia, North Dakota and southwest of Wishek, North Dakota in McIntosh county. "Being the youngest of five children, I had the chance to go to the country school two miles from home by walking, buggy, sled, then riding with a Shetland pony for two years." Herbert graduated from high school in Wishek in 1944. He taught in a rural school for several years before entering the army in 1951. While in the army, he married Mildred Dockter [see below], also of Venturia. He graduated from Ellendale State Teachers College in 1955. His last employment was with Job Service North Dakota and he retired in 1988. Mildred retired in 1992 and since then, "We have done considerable traveling." They have lived in Bismarck since 1972.

"My father died when I was five years old. This left my mother with five young children to raise during the depression years. I was able to know what farming with horses was like, then move on to the tractor and combine stage. Hauling bundles and grain with the threshing crew was always an interesting experience. Milking cows by hand and hauling hay seemed hard and tedious work.

"I have researched my family since the 1960s and helped write two family history books. I want to trace the steps of my ancestors. Knowing where they lived in Russia and from where they originated in southwest Germany should give me a better understanding of who I am."

Mildred D. (Dockter) Thurn, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Glückstal, Kassel, Klein Glückstal [Glückstal District]; Peterstal [Liebental District]

Mildred writes, "I was born and raised on the family farm two miles northwest of Venturia, North Dakota. I attended elementary school in Venturia and high school in Ashley. In 1970, I received my High School Equivalency Diploma and have taken numerous adult education courses. I started working for the Bismarck School Food Service in 1974 and retired in 1992." Mildred is married to Herbert C. Thurn [see above].

"Going on this tour gives me the opportunity not only to visit the places where my ancestors were born and lived and perhaps to find some distant relatives, but also to see another part of the world, Ukraine."

Marcene "Micky" L. Van Loon, Morgan Hill, Texas

Micky writes, "I am taking this trip with my friend, Barb Horn [see above], to visit her German heritage." Micky's father was born in Sundalen, Norway, and her trip will continue to Norway when the Journey to the Homeland is finished. She was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and moved to Arizona early in life, where she went to school through two years of business college. She and her husband now have a dairy farm with 375 milking cows and 400 heifers.

Micky's hobby is paleontology and archaeology. She is involved with building a museum in Glen Rose, Texas, for fossils and artifacts and she owns a large collection of artifacts and points dating back as far as 9400 BC, gathered from her land. She enjoys traveling to Europe and the Far East and learning about other cultures. "I love trying new foods and drinks. It's an experience of a lifetime."

Lillian M. (Becker) Vossler, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District], Rohrbach [Beresan District], Neuburg [Liebental District], Alt-Postal [Bessarabia]

Lillian, married to Robert L. Vossler [see below], writes, "I was born in Eureka, South Dakota, the nearest hospital in 1947. Home was a farm ten miles south of Lehr and twelve miles north of Ashley. I went to a one-room country school the first six grades. Then I rode the school bus to Ashley for junior high and high school. Nine years later, I attended the Bismarck Junior College and Bismarck Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1977. I began my nursing career at St. Alexius Medical Center and am still working in the operating room.

"Some of my earliest memories include hearing my father play his violin or the pump organ, lively tunes like 'Chicken in the Straw' or hymns. I remember the cool refreshing lime Kool-Aid in the hot, dusty fields, the little field mice scampering everywhere, the grasshopper's tingling impact on my arms and legs and sweat trickling down my back.

"I remember threshing time, noisy, kerosene-powered steel-wheeled tractors that drove all the wheels and pulley belts of that huge silver thresher. When it was silently parked in the yard, my sister and I would climb up its long round neck, pretending to ride our powerful prehistoric beast.

"This could really get long! So I'll just list several of my fondest memories and leave it at that: sifting through the colorful Indian corn in the trailer, finding each cob more noteworthy than the last; watching the pigs eat it; chokecherry picking and eating fresh jam on warm-from-the-oven bread; playing with and feeding the latest batch of kittens; the dog, our constant companion in the prairie; gathering eggs or herding cows; going to the outhouse in the dark; a canvas and wooden swing in the barn when Mom and Dad were milking; playing with the cats; Christmas eve programs in the little white Grace Lutheran Church at Lehr; homemade rootbeer; the Watkins man, as he always had a treat for my sister and me; playing with the cats; the annual church picnic at Red Lake Park; kick-the-can and softball games with the neighbor kids; card and checker games on winter evenings, especially when the electricity was off, due to winter ice storms; watching distant sheet lightning from the porch on warm summer evenings; fireflies; riding the pickup with the dog; Mother sewing us new pajamas or dresses; and oh, yes, playing with the cats.

"I remember my mother speaking often of her earliest childhood memories of the Russian village where she was born. She expressed the wish to see it again, and I thought, 'So do I.' I love traveling and experiencing different cultures and sights. I feel I'm part of a rather small and unique group, and I wish to see where it all began."

Robert L. Vossler, Bismarck, North Dakota
Ancestral Villages: Kassel, Neudorf [Glückstal District], Rohrbach [Beresan District], Neuburg [Liebental District], Alt Postal [Bessarabia]

Robert writes, "I was born in Gainesville, Texas, in 1944, in an army hospital, since my father was in the army at the time. I spent my first five years in Billings, Montana. Then when my parents were divorced, we moved back to Wishek, North Dakota, where I graduated from high school in 1962. After marrying [Lillian M. Becker Vossler, see above] at age twenty and having two children, I spent ten years there before moving to Bismarck where I worked at Montgomery Ward.

"My first Christmas in Wishek was memorable for me, for that was the first time I 'heard' Santa Claus. He left Teddy bears for me and my brothers, and I swear that I could hear the sleigh bells as he took off. The next year, we moved to a house next door to my future stepfather. A big empty lot was across the street, and we had many hours of fun playing war games, hide-and-seek, and all manner of our imagined and real games. In the winter, we had a hill nearby, and we slid down it with our sleds as long as none of the gas trucks wanted to come down and fill their trucks. I remember watching the old steamer engines from the railroad turning around on the old turntable near the roundhouse. I spent a lot of time cutting lawns and doing many odd jobs for people in Wishek. In the eighth grade, I worked in the Red Owl store. I played baseball and went swimming in the summer, and in the winter, I played basketball as much as I could. The rivalry between the kraut towns in the area was evident at the basketball games. I don't remember exactly where I first heard the cheer, but I think it was at a basketball game: Schwatamacha, Schwatamacha, Schpeck, Schpeck, Schpeck; Ashley High School veck, veck, veck [Schwartenmagen, Schwartenmagen, Speck, Speck, Speck; Ashley High School weg, weg, weg!]

"My step-grandparents were from South Russia and I remember my grandmother coming over to our house and talking about the end of the world being here or near, or her concern that the Russians were coming, especially when there was a sonic boom. We ignored her. Grandpa Fetzer took me fishing a few times, and I enjoyed that. At home in the backyard, he had a summer kitchen that he also used for a shop, and I do remember spending time in there with him. He was very religious and always prayed in German at the supper table when we ate there. I also remember spending many hours on the golf course and helping my step-father do his daily work as a carpet installer."

Ronald J. Vossler, East Grand Forks, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Kassel [Glückstal District]; Neuburg [Liebental District]; Rohrbach [Beresan District]; Alt-Postal [Bessarabia]

Ron writes, "I grew up in Wishek, North Dakota and was educated at Arizona State University (B.A. in anthropology) and at University of North Dakota (M.A. in English); I currently teach in the English Department there as a Senior Lecturer.

"Over the years, as a free-lance writer, I have published a book of stories, along with various other articles, essays, translations, reviews, memoirs, and fiction in newspapers, anthologies, and magazines. I have also given various presentations, readings, and speeches. All of my publishing activity has focused on the Black Sea Germans and my own background growing up in McIntosh county, North Dakota.

"My current interest in a journey to Russia is to research a book of memoirs I am writing called Passage to Alt-Postal--which investigates my own background, ancestors, etc. Parts have been published in the Journal of AHSGR and in other magazines."

Ron has a long list of publications including articles in the North Dakota History Magazine, Grand Forks Herald, North Dakota Horizons, North Country, Plainswoman, North Dakota Quarterly and the Dakota Arts Quarterly.

Lorraine L. Werner, Tacoma, Washington
Ancestral Villages: Johannestal, Landau, Worms [Beresan District]; Brienne, Klöstitz, Tarutino, Teplitz, Wittenberg [Bessarabia]

Lorraine who is traveling with her niece, Eldora Miller [see above] writes, "I was born on a farm five miles south of Denhoff, North Dakota. I lived on this farm until I was 16 years old, when my parents and I moved to the town of Denhoff. I married in 1949 and we took care of my husband's brother's farm. We then purchased and moved to my birthplace at Denhoff and stayed there four years. We sold the farm and moved to a large farm south of McClusky that we leased from Judge George Thom. We leased more land from Governor John Davis. In 1959, we sold all of our farm equipment and moved to Tacoma, Washington.

"While our children were small, I worked, doing housework for others and ironing. One couple would bring me 100 shirts and blouses a week. Many times I thought of my high school principal's wife; I'd clean house and iron for them after school. Since her husband wore white shirts every day, she taught me how to iron a white shirt in seven minutes. I was very happy to have learned this when I was young. I used this knowledge many times, having had four sons of our own and one foster son. In 1994, my husband, Ervin Werner, passed away. He was laid to rest at the McClusky, North Dakota cemetery.

"In 1967, I began to work for Tacoma School District in lunch service and driving a bus for special education. This year, I am finishing my 29th year driving a bus. The last 2½ years, I have been working in the office much of the time, putting my computer knowledge to use, organizing files, making charts, lists, etc.

"Christmas in a German-Russian home was a great thrill for me: the tree with the candles and with popcorn strings. Oh, my, all the home-made goodies and home-made ice cream; the winter nights, sitting and doing hand sewing together with my mother. During these times, she would tell me about her life as a young child in Russia. She taught me how to make those good German dishes and all the baked goodies. About one month each winter was used to sew quilts. It was so much fun sewing when several of us would get together to quilt.

"I want to go to Germany and Russia to see the birthplaces of as many of my family as I can. I am very excited about attending the Bundestreffen in Stuttgart. I will look for persons with the surnames of our families."

Elizabeth "Bettsy" (Madison) Williams, Missoula, Montana
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau [Beresan District]

Bettsy writes, "I was born in 1948 in Deer Lodge, Montana, the eldest child of Alexander P. Madison and Agatha Doll Madison. My father is German and my mother German from Russia. I attended the University of Montana where I graduated in 1970 with a B.A. in education. I have taught French and English as a second language, and currently I am the project director of bilingual education in Missoula Public Schools. My work with linguistically and culturally diverse students is very challenging and rewarding. My husband, Gary Williams, owns a small historical and archeological research firm. We have two children.

"My fondest memories of growing up in a German-Russian home are the delicious food and the 'millions' of cousins. We had large family reunions with wonderful meals and talk of the 'good old days.' I am fascinated with the stories my older cousins tell of growing up on the farm, attending school and not being allowed to speak German at school.

"I feel very privileged to accompany my mother [see Agatha Doll Madison above] on this tour to Germany and Ukraine. It will be fascinating to see the land from where my grandparents came. I look forward to learning much about my heritage, language, and culture."

*Rose (Doll) Wood, Richfield, Minnesota
Ancestral Villages: Katharinental, Landau [Beresan District]

Rose who is traveling with her sister, Agatha Doll Madison [see above] writes, "My parents were German Russian immigrants. They arrived at Ellis Island at the turn of the century with their parents. Father homesteaded land in Grant County, North Dakota, married my mother and farmed that land until 1942. My parents retired in Glen Ullin, North Dakota, where I completed high school.

"I was employed for the Northern Pacific Railroad, Yellowstone Division, as telegrapher/depot agent. When I was stationed in Terry, Montana, I met my husband. We moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, raised three children and are now enjoying our retirement. "

Robert Dambach, Fargo, North Dakota; Prairie Public Television, Producer and Director

Bob writes, "I was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951 and took a bachelor's degree in communications at the University of Dayton, Ohio in 1973. I hold an MA degree in speech communication, radio, TV, and film from the University of Iowa and served as Assistant Instructor of Radio and TV in Wichita, Kansas, moving to Program Manager in 1976 to 1979.

"I have also served as Program Manager in Las Vegas, Nevada and presently serve as the Program Manager and Producer of Prairie Pubic Television of KMVW. My hobbies are history and woodworking. I am married to my wife, Virginia, having two daughters, Mary, age twelve, and Jeanne, age eight. My heritage is German from my father's side and Irish from my mother's side."

David Marcel Geck, Fargo, North Dakota; Prairie Public Television, Videographer

David writes, "I was born and raised in Glen Ullin, North Dakota, the youngest of eight children. Father farmed 1800 acres of land and as a young boy, I remember my parents speaking German whenever they wanted to keep us in the dark on certain subjects.

"I attended school in Glen Ullin and vocational school in Wahpeton, North Dakota before Broadcast School in Denver, Colorado. I have been working in television for about eight years. The best rewards about a career in television is traveling and meeting distinctive people and seeing places that most would only dream about. Yes, very rewarding for me.

"I have been married to a beautiful woman from a Washburn, North Dakota farming background. We have two beautiful little ladies: Samantha is seven, in the first grade, and Mary is three. My hobbies are cars and remodeling our home (Some hobby!). I enjoy the outdoors and traveling."

Michael M. Miller, Fargo, North Dakota; Tour Director
Ancestral Villages: Straßburg [Kutschurgan District], Krasna [Bessarabia]

Biographical sketch is found in Tour Group I.