My Grandfather Stimpert, Dave as he was called, had eleven children. His first wife died in childbirth. There were four children in that family, three boys and one girl. He married his deceased wife's older sister and with her he had two girls and one boy. And when she passed away, he met and married my grandmother. They had two girls and two boys. The picture above is a combination of two "batches" of Stimperts. My mother was fond of calling them that, just as if they were cookies, or biscuits. Quite a family.
You have already been introduced to Jenne, on the right, looking very regal in her Sunday best. She would have been around 15 when this picture was made. Standing to her right is lovely Rosa, one of my mother's favorite people and also her role model. Rosa was just one year old when her mother died and she was frail and tiny until she was grown. Her ambition was to teach. And travel. And she did both. She went to France. She taught at Kemper Hall, where I went to school, in the 1930's. She met her husband, my Uncle Tony, and they adopted two sisters, my cousins Mary and Ann. Their teaching career brought them to the University of Oklahoma where she was a professor of Romance Languages and he was a professor of German. So interesting to talk to her and Uncle Tony. They had wonderful stories to tell.
The tall boy to Rosa's right is my Uncle Alfred. A true blue Illinois farmer. His farm was part of my grandfather's acreage. I always enjoyed going to visit Alfred and his family and his wife Clara. He kept everything just so and he was very successful. My mother always said that she felt very much at home when she visited Alfred.
Sitting on the sofa next to Jenne is Ernest, the oldest of my mother's brothers. He ran an implement business in ElPaso until he sold out and retired. I wasn't around him much until I grew up. He visited us many times where ever we lived and my mom liked to travel places with him and her cousins. A favorite place for them to vacation was Florida. He was not a patient man. My mom took forever to get ready to go anywhere. One day she and Ernie were going away for the day. He got in the station wagon and started it up before she got out the door. He had to back up so she could get in. She was aghast. He explained, "When I say we're leaving, we are leaving." She believed him then.
At the other end of the sofa is my mother's favorite brother Edward. They were just about a year and a half apart. And they competed in everything. They would try to see who would beat the other one home from school in the afternoon. Whoever was first drew their initials in the dirt in front of the gate. My mom was first most of the time and she would draw "F.A.S" Florence Alberta Stimpert. When Ed would get there he merely put a line under the F. and it read "E.A.S." Edward Albert Stimpert. My mom would be furious. And Ed would just grin. He enlisted in the Army during WW II. He died fighting the Germans in France in June of 1944 and he is buried there.
And this brings us to that charming little princess seated between her brothers. The belle of the ball, my mother. She looks so sweet. But we all know that there was iron behind that innocent grin. She was probably 4 when this picture was made. Her sister Katherine wasn't born yet. Taty, as we called her, would complete the Stimpert family.
I love learning about my family. Some the stories I hear are new to me. But most have been handed down over the years. Are they true? Who knows. But they make a good tale. And there are plenty of Stimpert stories out there. With eleven children and all their kin, how could there not be?
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