Berlin Germany

Naughty Great Grandpa Part 4

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / Leave a comment

This is the fourth and final letter written to Rudolph Kaiser from Germany.  It is written by Gertude Pielenz as was the one in 1914.  I have spent weeks dissecting it page by page.  I researched the people in the letters and tried to compare the facts in the letter to documentation found on Ancestry.com and Familysearch.com.  The letter is in italicized text. My comments are below each page is plain text

Erfurt, 18 November 1920

Dear Father,

At last, after three months, I have managed to track down where you are. First of all, I wanted to write to you to tell you that you have two children here in Germany who also long to get to know their father. Even though you have never once been in touch, which was surely your duty as a father. It was also my intention to visit you; I had planned to travel at Easter 1913. But unfortunately, I hadn’t yet saved up the necessary money, so I had to give up my plan. As our mother was, sadly, not in a position to have us apprenticed, she had no choice but to let us grow up to be labourers. And she brought us up to be good, decent people. I shall first tell you about

This is from the first page of the letter. She tells him of his children in Germany as if he didn’t already know about them.  Their mother was not in a position to have them apprentice and no choice but to let them grow up to be laborers as if there is something wrong with being a laborer. She is writing to someone who is a laborer.  He was a brush maker in a Chicago, Illinois factory.[1]

[Page 2]

our Rudolf.

Between 1910 and 1912, Rudolf served in the infantry in Allenstein. Then he was discharged from the army and went to work for the railways, where he’d been employed before. Then the dreadful war broke out, and on the very second day our brother had to go to war – to Russia, in fact. At least that gave him the chance to get to know our mother’s homeland. On 14 November 1914, he was seriously wounded by a shot to the forearm. He was then admitted to the military hospital in Zeithain, Saxony, where he was in a very critical condition. He was then sent to Bad Elster in 1916 to recuperate, and in August he was discharged as unfit for service and returned. You can well imagine what he had to endure. In February 1917 he got engaged, and by Easter 1917 he was married. A country girl who, at least, brought something with her. On Easter Sunday, 7 April 1918, he was blessed with a little girl. He is now living a happy and contented life.

He has his good job on the railway and

I did a little research on Rudolph Otto Pielenz.  He is listed three times in the World War I Casualty Lists.  These Casualty lists consist of soldiers who were killed, wounded, missing in action, or prisoners of war.  The first time he is listed is 1 December 1914[2] and he is seriously wounded which corresponds to what she says in the letter, second time is August 5, 1915[3] and he is lightly wounded and third time is 3 December 1917[4] and he lightly wounded this time too. The date on these lists is not the date the soldier is wounded, it is the date the list is published.  Each one is a different volume. She says that he was sent to recuperate in 1916 and discharged in August.  I am assuming she means August 1916, although he is listed as being wounded in 1917. If he was still recuperating in 1916 from the original wound he received in November of 1914, how did he get lightly wounded in Aug 1915? Then the third time he is listed in December 1917.  According to Gertude he was already discharged from the military.

Rudolph Pielenz got married 7 April 1917[5] which corresponds to what Ida says in her letter. I was unable to verify that Rudolph and wife, Pauline had a baby girl born 7 April 1918 on the exact day they were married the year before. I found no records of a child born to them or to Pauline.  I thought maybe the baby girl was what the “something” that Pauline brought to the marriage.

[Page 3]

No worries about food.

As for myself, I have little to tell you. When I left school, I learnt to sew from my dear mother; after two and a half years, I went to work as a seamstress in a large ready-to-wear shop, where I was employed for ten years. Then, because of the war, I had to give up my job as there was no more work. And today I am in Erfurt. I got married in 1919 and at Whitsun, on the 24th, I gave birth to a sweet little boy.

Oh, Father! You should see him – a beaming smile would light up your face whenever your grandson wants to tell you something. I married a labourer, a good and decent man who at least knows how to look after a woman. These days, it’s of great value to find a man who’s honest. It’s just that we’re not in the best of circumstances, because with the money we had I should have received my full dowry, but as it is

Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia state in central Germany. It is located in the Thuringian Basin on the Gera River, 200 miles southwest of Berlin.[6] I have been trying to figure out the birth of her little boy.  She says she got married in 1919, but does not give the exact date.  Then she says, “at Whitsun, on the 24th, she gave birth to a sweet little boy.” The 24th of what?  Whitsun is English for the German word Pfingsten meaning Pentecost which happens 50 days after Easter or 7 Sundays after Easter.[7] Europeans celebrate it the Monday after. If he was born on Whitsun in 1919 it was the 8 June[8] two weeks after the 24 May 1919.  However, if he was born in 1920, Whitsun was 23 May 1920[9] and if they celebrate on the Monday after it would be the 24 May 1920. I am going to assume her first child was born 24 May 1920.  She is writing this letter 0n 18 November 1920 which would make her baby boy about 7 months old. I did a search for this baby boy.  I found a very basic family tree in Familysearch that starts with Ida and her husband Max Gustive Weisen and their children Karl-Heinz Weisen born in (no date) and died in 1944 in Kaunas, Lithuania.[10]  Maybe he was a soldier in WWII and that is why he died in Lithuania.  I could find no official records just this family tree with no sources attached to Karl-Heinz Wiesen and it was submitted by someone with the last name Wiesen in 2014 and 2015.  According to this family tree Ida had another boy Max Erich Wiesen was born in 1926[11]. She says she married a good and decent man who at least knows how to look after a woman.  Is that a dig at her father?  She said she should have received her full dowry.  From who? Her father in America? She is once again hinting at money like she did in the last letter.

[Page 4]

we could only afford to furnish a bedroom and a kitchen. But everything is so outrageously expensive; as I can’t work at the moment, the money is barely enough to make ends meet.

Our mother is doing quite well now, though she can no longer [?] get about on her feet. After all, in her hard life she’s done nothing but work and more work, which she still has to do today. She’s also had a hard life behind her; she fell ill just as I was due to finish school, and we thought we were seeing her for the last time. But she got through that too, and now she’s slowly slipping away.

So, after all these years of your absence, I wanted to tell you about our lives. As a girl, I often longed to get to know my father, but how could I ever be so lucky? And today I ask myself: will you reply to my letter, or will you ignore it just as you’ve done until now?

Show us that you still have a little love left for your son and daughter, who have never

In the previous page she mentions that her husband is a Laborer but leaves out exactly what kind of laborer. On this page she again mentions the lack of money.  She starts out by saying her mother is doing well and then says her mother has a hard life still today and can’t get about.  She has been ill and they thought they were going to lose her. She got through that and now is slowly slipping away. I find that a contradiction. Either she is doing well or slowly slipping away. Anna (the mother), finally slipped away in 1958 at the age 92 years, 4 months, and 24 days.[12] She outlived her husband Karl by 18 years,[13] and she outlived one daughter[14] and one son.[15] She was listed on her husband’s death record as his spouse and he was listed on her death record as her spouse.  The letters make it sound like she was no longer with him and raised the children alone.  She had to work so hard to support them. I don’t know if they were separated and just never bothered with a divorce, but I tend to think that they were together all those years.   She had to work hard, raising her children alone, and was sickly. I believe this was a sympathy play to extract money from Ruldolph Kaiser and for a way to come to America

[Page 5]

experienced a father’s love.

Whilst you belong entirely to your wife and both your sons there for the rest of your life. It’s only now, when I’m raising children of my own, that I realise even more what it is like for a child to be without a father. After all, it is through the father’s love that the child [flourishes]. I’ll give my boy double the love to make up for it.

You probably can’t imagine it, but a woman learns to never forget.

Rudolf will be 31 in February. I’ll be 29 in December.

The years! Have you ever thought of us? And how delighted we would have been to receive a sign of life from you. But you didn’t want us to disturb you in your happy marriage. Yet my longing drives me to write to you, and so here I am today, writing this letter to you.

Please don’t be angry, though; this is certainly not meant as a reproach.

So, I send you greetings from far, far away                                      (pls. turn over)

On this page she tells him, “While you belong entirely to wife and both your sons there for the rest of your life”, Rudolph’s life was not all roses in America.  In April 1919 Rudolph Kaiser’s youngest son, Hugo, dies of influenza during the Great Influenza Epidemic 1918 -1920.[16] I guess Rudolph didn’t get to spend the rest of his life with both sons like she assumed.  “I realize even more what is like for a child to be without a father. I will give my boy double the love to make up for it.” She makes it sound like she is raising her son alone, but she is not.  Proof is on next page.

[Page 6]

With grateful remembrance

Your loving, longing daughter,

along with my husband and son.

Nobody at home knows that I am writing this letter to you, only my husband and I.

My address is

Mrs Gertrud Wilsen, Erfurt/Nord

Alte-Fritz Str. 76 I.

Gertrud has been my preferred name since I was a child. Ida is my first name, the one I’m registered under.

Here she mentions her husband again and she is definitely not raising her son alone.  The first two letters she is called Ida. Then the last two were signed Gertrud.  I couldn’t read the German version; however, I could make out names and dates, and I wondered who is Gertrud?  Now I know!

In conclusion, I tend to believe that they were Rudolph’s blood children.  He had to know about the boy when he left for America in April 1891.[17] In the first letter, Anna Pielenz Wagner said that Ida was the result of their last night together.  If you do the math, it is possible that Ida born in December 1891 is Rudolph Kaiser’s daughter. There were years between the letters.  Did they only write when things were not going well for them?  The theme to all the letters is lack of money, having to work hard, mother is sickly, and the children have to be raised without a father. There are contradictions within the same paragraphs.  Example: “Mother is well” at the beginning of paragraph and by the end of the paragraph “mother is slowly fading away”. Sometimes, I think maybe they just wanted their father to acknowledge them and tell them he loves them.  I’ve been told by people from Germany that this was a common scam back them.  I try to think how you would go about perpetuating this scam.  You would have to have a son you named Rudolph Otto same first and middle name as the person you are trying to scam.  His name was Rudolph Otto Pielenz, it is on all legal documents. Then have another child and the timing of your pregnancy correspond to just before he leaves for America.  How would she find such a person in America?  Why would you keep the scam going for 10 years without any answers from him?

I sent a message to the person who put the family tree on line, but so far have not received a response.  I also checked my DNA matches and found no one with that last name or any way that I could connect them to me.  I was hoping if the person answered me and they had their DNA done we could prove it one way or the other.  Maybe they heard about this story in their family.  It was never told to me. I have no idea if my grandfather knew or not. Rudolph could have dismissed it and said it wasn’t true. I am sure that this information could cause a rift between Rudolph and his wife.  I did not know my great grandfather as he died in 1933.[18]  His wife, Wilhelmina, died in 1953,[19] and I went to her funeral when I six years old.  It was my first funeral.  I never saw her when she was alive.  My grandmother would talk about her and say that she was so mean to Grandpa Kaiser, but Grandpa Kaiser was so nice and kind. Maybe she did know about his family in Germany and that is why she was mean to him.

I would really like to connect with the descendants of Anna Pielenz Wagner. I will keep looking and keep trying to prove or disprove this relationship to my Great Grandfather, Rudolph Otto Kaiser.

Letter translated by EK Translations Elisabeth Kissel

Copyright © 2026 Gail Grunst

 

[1] Year: 1920; Census Place: Chicago Ward 26, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_336; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 1523

[2] Ancestry.com. Germany, World War I Casualty Lists, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data: Deutsche Verlustlisten 1914 bis 1919. Berlin, Deutschland: Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt).

[3] Germany, World War I Casualty Lists, 1914-1919, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011, Lehi, UT, USA.

[4] Germany, World War I Casualty Lists, 1914-1919, Ancestry.com,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011, Lehi, UT, USA.

[5] Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874 – 1944, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, Lehi, UT, USA.

[6] Erfurt – Wikipedia

[7] WHITSUN translation in German | English-German Dictionary | Reverso

[8] Pentecost 1919 – Calendar-12.com

[9] Pentecost 1920 – Calendar-12.com

[10] Karl-Heinz Wiesen (–1944) • Person • Family Tree

[11] Memories on FamilySearch

[12] Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Todtregister.  Registration Year: 1958 (Erstregister). Source Information: Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Sterberegister der Berliner Standesämter 1874-1985. Digital images. Landesarchiv, Berlin, Deutschland.

[13] Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister

Information: Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Sterberegister der Berliner Standesämter 1874-1985. Digital images. Landesarchiv, Berlin, Deutschland.

[14] Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister

Information:  Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Sterberegister der Berliner Standesämter 1874-1985. Digital images. Landesarchiv, Berlin, Deutschland.

[15] Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister.  Description Registration Year: 1948 (Erstregister).  Source Information:  Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1985 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Sterberegister der Berliner Standesämter 1874-1985. Digital images. Landesarchiv, Berlin, Deutschland.

[16] Cook County Clerk; Chicago, IL; Cook County Genealogy Records (Deaths)

Information:  Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.  Original data: Cook County Clerk. Cook County Clerk Genealogy Records. Cook County Clerk’s Office, Chicago, IL: Cook County Clerk, 2008.

[17] Year: 1891; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Line: 49; List Number: 567. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.

[18] Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data:  “Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original records.

[19] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

#10 Carl Desens

/ Gail Grunst Genealogy / 2 Comments

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topic this week is 10 — “Ten.” Ten what? Someone who had 10 children? Someone with 10 letters in their name? Someone who was in the 10th Infantry? Someone who was born in October? #10 on your ancestor chart? (That would be your paternal grandmother’s father, if you number it the standard way.) How are you going to interpret this week’s theme?

I chose my great-grandfather, Carl Desens, number 10 on my ancestor chart.

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Carl Desens was born on the 14 December 1859 in Berlin, Germany to Johann Desens and Henrietta Gressier.[1] Carl married Augusta Gabbei [2] around 1882 in Germany. [3]  Augusta was born 28 January 1859 in Berlin, Germany.[4]  They had a total of eight children.[5]  The oldest Emma born around 1884 followed by Bertha and Mina all born in Germany.  Children Louise, William, Henry, Anna, and Helen were all born in Illinois, USA.[6]  Carl and Augusta arrived in the United States on April 28, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland aboard the ship Main along with their daughters, Emma, Berta and Mina. [7] Carl and Augusta settled in Forest Park, Illinois in 1891.[8]  It is unknown at this time where Carl and Augusta resided between their arrival in 1888 and 1891.  On the 5 April 1895 Carl became a United States naturalized citizen. [9]  Carl worked for Public Service Company as a stationary Fireman.[10]  Carl and Augusta attended St. Paul Lutheran Church and St. John’s Lutheran Church both in Forest Park, Illinois[11]  Carl had a brother, Herman,[12] and sisters, Augusta and Johanna.[13]  Carl died on 8 January 1921 of Uremia and Chronic Interstitial Nephritis.[14]  Augusta died on 7 July 1925 of Chronic Interstitial Nephritis and Hypertension[15]  Both Carl and Augusta are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.[16]  I have no family stories that were handed down about Carl and Augusta.   I did notice that they both died of Chronic Interstitial Nephritis.[17] [18]  My grandmother, Helen Desens also died of Uremia and Chronic Nephritis.[19]  My father said many times that kidney problems ran in his mother’s family and his mother and all her sister’s died young.   I don’t know if her sisters had the same problem, but it is interesting that her parents died of the same thing.   I did run across a newspaper story about Carl’s father John Desens, who was killed by a neighbor in Clark County, Wisconsin[20].  I wrote a separate story about John since there was so much information about the case.  I also ran across another newspaper article about Herman Desens, Carl’s brother, accidentally shooting himself in the chest.[21]  When I interviewed my dad back in 1979, he said there were some relatives that were killed by Indians in Wisconsin.  I think the family story was changed from one being killed by a neighbor and one shooting himself, to being killed by Indians. .  Unfortunately, my father never told me any other family stories.  He was a young child when both his grandparents died, so he probably didn’t remember them.  It is too bad that family stories for this side of the family seem to have been lost. So far, I have been unable to find information on Carl’s mother Henrietta Gressiers.  I have not found any pictures of Carl, but did find one of Augusta Desens with my dad around 1922 or 1923.

On the 1900 census there is a Dorothea Zoschke living with the Desens.[22]  She is listed as Carl’s mother-in-law which makes her Augusta’s mother.[23]  She is listed on the census as 72 years old and a widow.[24]   Since her last name is different from Augusta’s maiden name, Gabbei, Dorothea must have remarried.  I have been unable to find a marriage for Dorothea.  I did find a Dorothea Gabbei on ship records.  She arrived the 27 May 1890 in the Port of New York aboard the ship Elbe, and according to the ship’s record she is 64 years old in 1890[25] near the same age as Dorothea Zoschke.  I also found that she died on 23 June 1901 of Alltersschwache (decrepit, old age, infirm, senile), and she was buried in Concordia Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois on June 23, 1901.[26]  I am 90% sure that Dorothea Gabbei on the ships record and Dorothea Zoschke are one and the same.  If they are the same that means Dorothea got married after arriving in the United States.  I hope someday to be able to find the answers about Dorothea.

Copyright © 2018 Gail Grunst

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Forest Park, Registration Dist. 3104, Registered no. 1050. Health Department Record, City of Chicago.

[2] Marriage license and return.  Illinois, DuPage, Wheaton, Illinois State Board of Health,  County Clerk’s Office

[3] Year: 1900; Census Place: Proviso, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 294; Page: 53A; Enumeration District: 1182; FHL microfilm: 1240294

Source Information:  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.   Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

[4] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Oak Park, Registration Dist. 4318, Registered No. 395, County Clerks Record.

[5] Year: 1900; Census Place: Proviso, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 294; Page: 53A; Enumeration District: 1182; FHL microfilm: 1240294

Source Information:  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.   Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ancestry.com.  Baltimore Passenger Lists 1820 – 1948 [database on-line].  Provo, UT. USA:  Generations Network, Inc. 2006.  Original Data:  Baltimore, Maryland. Passenger Lists of Vessels arriving at Baltimore, Maryland , 1821-1891.  Micropublication M255.  RG036 Rolls # 1-50.  National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[8] Abstracted by Ellen Cannon, 8138 Kostner Ave., Skokie, IL 60076 from the book Forest Park Welcomes you to its 100th Birthday Party, 1856-1956, Pg. 47. McHenry Public Library, Illinois, Cook, 977.3, Local History.

[9] Cook County Circuit Court, Naturalization records 1895 -1896 Vol 58 – 59, LDS roll 1024, 610, R58, Pg 57, April 8, 1895.

[10] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Forest Park, Registration Dist. 3104, Registered no. 1050. Health Department Record, City of Chicago.

[11] St John Lutheran Church, Forest Park, Illinois and St, Paul Lutheran Church Congregational Books.

[12] United Church of Christ East Cemetery Index (formerly German Immanuel & Reformed Church), Warner Township, Clark County, Wisconsin

[13] Probate Case Files, Ca. 1873-1917, and Beginning With File No. 2699, Ca. 1900-1917, 1918 General Probate Index; Author: Wisconsin. County Court (Clark County); Probate Place: Clark, Wisconsin.  Wisconsin Historical Society, Eau Clair, Wisconsin.

[14] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Forest Park, Registration Dist. 3104, Registered no. 1050. Health Department Record, City of Chicago.

[15] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Forest Park, Registration Dist. 3104, Registered no. 1050. Health Department Record, City of Chicago.

[16] Cemetery Records: Woodlawn Cemetery, 7600 West Cermak Road, Forest Park, Illinois.  Woodland Section, Part 4, Lot 711 Graves 4 & 5.

[17] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Forest Park, Registration Dist. 3104, Registered no. 1050. Health Department Record, City of Chicago.

[18] Standard Certificate of Death, State of Illinois, Cook County, Oak Park, Registration Dist. 4318, Registered No. 395, County Clerks Record.

[19] Certificate of Death, Registration Dist. 231, No. # 22743, State of Illinois, County of DuPage, City of Elmhurst, County Clerk’s Office

[20] Marshfield Times, 17 July 1907

[21] Greenwood Gleaner, 25 October 1901. Http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/ckrj/data/obits3/3.htm

[22] Year: 1900; Census Place: Proviso, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 294; Page: 53A; Enumeration District: 1182; FHL microfilm: 1240294

Source Information:  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.   Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Year: 1890; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 549; Line: 12; List Number: 732

Source Information:  Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.

[26] Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.