| A little about Leona...
she was born January 15, 1911 in Bonduel, the daughter of John
and Laura (Gerndt) Luepke. Leona was deaf and also
unable to speak - and apparently her sister Hildegard was deaf
as well. Her parents are found in the censuses for
Hartland Twp. but the 1920 & 1930 censuses find Leona living in
Deaf Schools. The 1920 census has her attending an
Evangelical Lutheran School in Detroit, Michigan and the 1930
census has Leona and her sister Hildegard listed at the
Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, Walworth County, WI.
Her father John Luepke's parents
were William Luepke (or Luebke) and Wilhelmine Friedericke
Brusewitz and her mother Laura Gerndt Luepke's parents were
Herman Gerndt and Emelia Prochnow. Just those couple of
family lines will be of great interest to our Hartland Township
researchers and since she loved photography, this collection is
a great find.
Leona's obituary:
Hoewisch, Leona C.
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Hoewisch, Leona C. New London. Age 92, passed away on
Friday, January 2, 2004 at New London Family Medical
Center. She was born on January 15, 1911 in Bonduel, daughter of the late
John and Laura (Gerndt) Luepke. On September 29, 1979 she was
united in marriage to Werner D. Hoewisch. He preceded her in
death in 1986. Leona worked at Villa St. Vincent in New London
for many years. She is survived by a stepdaughter Judy Hoewisch,
California; a stepson David (Kay) Hoewisch, California and their
children, Ethan and Meghan. Leona is further survived by
numerous cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, other
relatives and friends. She is preceded in death by a sister,
Hildegard. Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 5,
2004 at 2:30 PM at Emanuel Lutheran Church in New London with
Rev. W. "Bud" Palmer officiating. Burial will be in the church
from 1 pm until the time of service. Cline & Hanson Funeral Home
209 W. Cook St., New London 920- 982-3232
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Laura Luepke (13 July
1885 - 22 April 1974) and John Carl Luepke (12 May 1883 -
23 March 1971) are both buried in Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery,
Lebanon Twp., Waupaca County.
Appleton Post Crescent ~ April 23,
1974
Laura (Mrs. John) Luepke
609 Smith St. New London
Age 88, passed away Monday evening in New London following a
brief illness. She was born July 13, 1885 in the Township of
Lebanon. She was a member of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church and
the Ladies Aide.
Survivors include two daughters, Miss Leona Luepke, Miss
Hildegard Luepke, both New London; a brother Louis Gerndt, New
London; many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by
her husband in 1971. Funeral services will be held at 2 pm
Thursday at Emmanual Lutheran Church, New London with the Rev
F.W. Heidemann officiating. Burial with be in the Lutheran
Cemetery. (courtesy of Deb)
Hildegard Luepke (Nov. 25,
1916 - Feb. 14, 1987) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Obituary: Appleton Post Crescent / February 16, 1987
Formerly of New London, age 70, died in Milwaukee Saturday,
February 14at 7:00 , 1987. Mrs. Luepke was a member of Emmanuel
Lutheran Church, New London. Survivors include a sister Leona
Hoewisch, Milwaukee; cousins Shirley and Harry Tech, New
London. Committal services will be at 7:30 Tuesday at Borchardt
and Moder Funeral Home, New London. Interment will be in the
Emmanual Lutheran Cemetery. Friends may call at the Borchardt
and Moder Funeral Home on Tuesday 4-7:30 pm (courtesy of Deb) |
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William Luepke (24
Dec 1841 - 10 Aug 1912)
& Wilhelmine Friedericke
Brusewitz
(1 May 1850
- 21 Mar 1912)
(Leona's paternal grandparents) |
Wilhelmine
Brehmer Brusewitz (1821 - 1884)
(Leona's paternal great-grandmother) |
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John Carl
Luepke (1883 - 1971),
Bonduel, Wisconsin
(Leona's father) |
Confirmation - July 5, 1924
Leona & Pastor W. Glelowon
(Detroit School for the Deaf?) |
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The following are pictures that were near and
dear to Leona... unfortunately, there isn't any writing or
documentation on most of them. BUT... there is a chance that
YOU might know these folks... if you can identify them,
email me and we'll update the page. Since Leona spent
a large portion of her childhood living away from home at
school, some of these might well be pictures of "home" that
she carried with her or that her family sent to her at school.
Click on any of the pictures for the LARGER VIEW.
Note: When I started reading about Leona, I
kept thinking how sad this was that she was both deaf &
mute... and that her sister was also... and how much of life
she must have missed... and how sad this must have been for
her mother & father... and then I started looking at the
pics Xen sent in... this family was anything but sad...
these photos show a loving, hard working, caring family and two
happy little girls despite their handicaps. Picture after picture of Leona
shows the same cheerful little girl with a wonderful smile...
and the people who cared for her have the same happy smiles -- considering
she grew up between WWI & during the Great Depression when life was
hard & money scarce, I am in awe of the many pictures of
common simple things - a little boy with his dog sled, Leona
on a slide, Leona?'s first Easter, and there is a
precious photo of a young father and his baby...
Xen, thanks so much for sharing Leona with
us!
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NEWSPAPER
ITEMS... |
VOLKSBOTE WOCHENBLATT
Thursday, March 28, 1912
Frau WILHELMINE FRIEDERICKE
, nee
BRUSEWITZ, an old settler in Bonduel, died on 21 March
(1912). She
was born on 1 May 1850 bei Stargort in Pommern. She came to
America as a child and was married in 1869 in Lebanon, Wis.
From there she came to Town
Hartland where she lived til now. She had 11 children of
which 8 are living. She is also survived by her husband, 19
grandchildren, 2 brothers and 2 sisters. The funeral was held on
25 March in Bonduel.St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery,
Bonduel:
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LUEPKE |
Wilhelm |
24
Dec 1841 - 10 Aug 1912 |
Father |
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LUEPKE |
Wilhelmine |
1 May
1850 - 21 Mar 1912 |
Mother |
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XenŠ2009
All rights
reserved. |
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we are
pleased to be able to host some of her work & collection.
You will be in awe of a few of the pictures, especially the one
of gentleman in the 1880s Deutsches Reich uniform. And Xen scanned them
in LARGE so when you click on the photo, you'll see a larger,
more detailed image -- so very much history contained here!
And thanks to Leona, the keeper of the family photographs... and
many thanks to Xen for rescuing them and sharing them with us at
the Shawano GenWeb Project. Xen says there are boxes and
boxes of them - some labeled... we look forward to posting many
more!!!
