The daughter and youngest child of Herman Bernard "Barney" Estermann and Maria Catherin Riesenbeck Estermann, Clara H. Estermann Meiners was born January 6 (Epiphany), 1876 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Clara was one of five children.
She married George Gerard Meiners on May 28, 1897 in Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and they had at least 13 children, about half of whom survived into adulthood, including: Herman George Meiners, Clare Cecelia "Ceil" Meiners Donnelly, Lawrence H. "Bill" Meiners, Clara Meiners, Eleanor Clara Meiners, Paul John Meiners, George Meiners, Roger Sampson L. Meiners, Genevieve Meiners, Thomas Meiners, Martin Meiners, Lucy Meiners, and at least one additional infant. Despite giving birth to so many children, Clara saw only four of her children having children of their own: Herm and Bill each had one child, Ceil had five, and Paul had six. Clara's husband George was on the Board of Directors of the Kroger Company.
Despite financial success, George and Clara Meiners suffered greatly. Half their children did not survive till adulthood, and two of their surviving children died of diseases in their 20s. This did not, however, shake their religious faith.
In 1900 the family lived at 1016 Sturm Street in Cincinnati. In 1910 they lived at 3614 Warsaw Avenue. In 1918 into the 1920s, the family lived at 4077 Eighth Street. In 1926 they built their dream house, Clarestone, at 5693 Cleves-Warsaw Pike (RR 4, Box 53). In 1930 she, her husband, and three of their adult children (Eleanor, Paul, and Roger) toured Europe, stopping at the shrine of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France, hoping for a cure for Eleanor (who had myocarditis). By the 1940s they lived at 4953 Relleum Avenue in Cincinnati, where George died in 1954, and had a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida from at least 1942 on.
Like her husband, Clara was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they were good friends with American Catholic stigmatist, mystic, and visionary Rhoda T. Greer Wise who has been designated by the Church as a "Servant of God," a first step to sainthood. (Rhoda was the godmother of George and Clara's granddaughter Catherine Thérèse "Katie" Donnelly O'Fallon.). George was the founder of the family's Sacred Heart Press to manufacture religious badges touched to relics. These badges were taken into battle during World War II (and later wars) by Catholic soldiers.
Clara was a member of the Saint Aloysius Orphan Society, a third order secular Franciscan, a member of the Saint Rita School for the Deaf Association, a member of the Saint Teresa Church Altar Society, and a member of the Saint Mary Ladies' Society of Saint Teresa Church.
Clara died at home at age 87 on December 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), 1963 in Cincinnati. Clara died about two weeks after President John F. Kennedy died. His death was kept a secret from her because family thought the knowledge of the killing of the first Catholic president would negatively affect her frail health. A solemn requiem funeral high mass was held for her at Saint Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and she was buried at Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Cincinnati next to her beloved husband George and between their children Eleanor (who died at age 24) and Roger (who died at age 27). Her heritage was German. She and her husband were born on the same date one year apart.
DNA testing reveals Clara and her direct female descendants and ancestors and their brothers are of the clan of "Helena" (mtDNA haplogroup H) who lived 20,000 years ago in the Dordogne region of southwest France near the present city of Perpignan on the Mediterranean, gathering oysters and hunting and creating cave paintings.
Thanks so much to her granddaughter Mary Donnelly Minges for so much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
She married George Gerard Meiners on May 28, 1897 in Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and they had at least 13 children, about half of whom survived into adulthood, including: Herman George Meiners, Clare Cecelia "Ceil" Meiners Donnelly, Lawrence H. "Bill" Meiners, Clara Meiners, Eleanor Clara Meiners, Paul John Meiners, George Meiners, Roger Sampson L. Meiners, Genevieve Meiners, Thomas Meiners, Martin Meiners, Lucy Meiners, and at least one additional infant. Despite giving birth to so many children, Clara saw only four of her children having children of their own: Herm and Bill each had one child, Ceil had five, and Paul had six. Clara's husband George was on the Board of Directors of the Kroger Company.
Despite financial success, George and Clara Meiners suffered greatly. Half their children did not survive till adulthood, and two of their surviving children died of diseases in their 20s. This did not, however, shake their religious faith.
In 1900 the family lived at 1016 Sturm Street in Cincinnati. In 1910 they lived at 3614 Warsaw Avenue. In 1918 into the 1920s, the family lived at 4077 Eighth Street. In 1926 they built their dream house, Clarestone, at 5693 Cleves-Warsaw Pike (RR 4, Box 53). In 1930 she, her husband, and three of their adult children (Eleanor, Paul, and Roger) toured Europe, stopping at the shrine of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France, hoping for a cure for Eleanor (who had myocarditis). By the 1940s they lived at 4953 Relleum Avenue in Cincinnati, where George died in 1954, and had a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida from at least 1942 on.
Like her husband, Clara was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they were good friends with American Catholic stigmatist, mystic, and visionary Rhoda T. Greer Wise who has been designated by the Church as a "Servant of God," a first step to sainthood. (Rhoda was the godmother of George and Clara's granddaughter Catherine Thérèse "Katie" Donnelly O'Fallon.). George was the founder of the family's Sacred Heart Press to manufacture religious badges touched to relics. These badges were taken into battle during World War II (and later wars) by Catholic soldiers.
Clara was a member of the Saint Aloysius Orphan Society, a third order secular Franciscan, a member of the Saint Rita School for the Deaf Association, a member of the Saint Teresa Church Altar Society, and a member of the Saint Mary Ladies' Society of Saint Teresa Church.
Clara died at home at age 87 on December 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), 1963 in Cincinnati. Clara died about two weeks after President John F. Kennedy died. His death was kept a secret from her because family thought the knowledge of the killing of the first Catholic president would negatively affect her frail health. A solemn requiem funeral high mass was held for her at Saint Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and she was buried at Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Cincinnati next to her beloved husband George and between their children Eleanor (who died at age 24) and Roger (who died at age 27). Her heritage was German. She and her husband were born on the same date one year apart.
DNA testing reveals Clara and her direct female descendants and ancestors and their brothers are of the clan of "Helena" (mtDNA haplogroup H) who lived 20,000 years ago in the Dordogne region of southwest France near the present city of Perpignan on the Mediterranean, gathering oysters and hunting and creating cave paintings.
Thanks so much to her granddaughter Mary Donnelly Minges for so much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
The daughter and youngest child of Herman Bernard "Barney" Estermann and Maria Catherin Riesenbeck Estermann, Clara H. Estermann Meiners was born January 6 (Epiphany), 1876 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Clara was one of five children.
She married George Gerard Meiners on May 28, 1897 in Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and they had at least 13 children, about half of whom survived into adulthood, including: Herman George Meiners, Clare Cecelia "Ceil" Meiners Donnelly, Lawrence H. "Bill" Meiners, Clara Meiners, Eleanor Clara Meiners, Paul John Meiners, George Meiners, Roger Sampson L. Meiners, Genevieve Meiners, Thomas Meiners, Martin Meiners, Lucy Meiners, and at least one additional infant. Despite giving birth to so many children, Clara saw only four of her children having children of their own: Herm and Bill each had one child, Ceil had five, and Paul had six. Clara's husband George was on the Board of Directors of the Kroger Company.
Despite financial success, George and Clara Meiners suffered greatly. Half their children did not survive till adulthood, and two of their surviving children died of diseases in their 20s. This did not, however, shake their religious faith.
In 1900 the family lived at 1016 Sturm Street in Cincinnati. In 1910 they lived at 3614 Warsaw Avenue. In 1918 into the 1920s, the family lived at 4077 Eighth Street. In 1926 they built their dream house, Clarestone, at 5693 Cleves-Warsaw Pike (RR 4, Box 53). In 1930 she, her husband, and three of their adult children (Eleanor, Paul, and Roger) toured Europe, stopping at the shrine of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France, hoping for a cure for Eleanor (who had myocarditis). By the 1940s they lived at 4953 Relleum Avenue in Cincinnati, where George died in 1954, and had a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida from at least 1942 on.
Like her husband, Clara was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they were good friends with American Catholic stigmatist, mystic, and visionary Rhoda T. Greer Wise who has been designated by the Church as a "Servant of God," a first step to sainthood. (Rhoda was the godmother of George and Clara's granddaughter Catherine Thérèse "Katie" Donnelly O'Fallon.). George was the founder of the family's Sacred Heart Press to manufacture religious badges touched to relics. These badges were taken into battle during World War II (and later wars) by Catholic soldiers.
Clara was a member of the Saint Aloysius Orphan Society, a third order secular Franciscan, a member of the Saint Rita School for the Deaf Association, a member of the Saint Teresa Church Altar Society, and a member of the Saint Mary Ladies' Society of Saint Teresa Church.
Clara died at home at age 87 on December 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), 1963 in Cincinnati. Clara died about two weeks after President John F. Kennedy died. His death was kept a secret from her because family thought the knowledge of the killing of the first Catholic president would negatively affect her frail health. A solemn requiem funeral high mass was held for her at Saint Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and she was buried at Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Cincinnati next to her beloved husband George and between their children Eleanor (who died at age 24) and Roger (who died at age 27). Her heritage was German. She and her husband were born on the same date one year apart.
DNA testing reveals Clara and her direct female descendants and ancestors and their brothers are of the clan of "Helena" (mtDNA haplogroup H) who lived 20,000 years ago in the Dordogne region of southwest France near the present city of Perpignan on the Mediterranean, gathering oysters and hunting and creating cave paintings.
Thanks so much to her granddaughter Mary Donnelly Minges for so much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
She married George Gerard Meiners on May 28, 1897 in Saint Lawrence Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and they had at least 13 children, about half of whom survived into adulthood, including: Herman George Meiners, Clare Cecelia "Ceil" Meiners Donnelly, Lawrence H. "Bill" Meiners, Clara Meiners, Eleanor Clara Meiners, Paul John Meiners, George Meiners, Roger Sampson L. Meiners, Genevieve Meiners, Thomas Meiners, Martin Meiners, Lucy Meiners, and at least one additional infant. Despite giving birth to so many children, Clara saw only four of her children having children of their own: Herm and Bill each had one child, Ceil had five, and Paul had six. Clara's husband George was on the Board of Directors of the Kroger Company.
Despite financial success, George and Clara Meiners suffered greatly. Half their children did not survive till adulthood, and two of their surviving children died of diseases in their 20s. This did not, however, shake their religious faith.
In 1900 the family lived at 1016 Sturm Street in Cincinnati. In 1910 they lived at 3614 Warsaw Avenue. In 1918 into the 1920s, the family lived at 4077 Eighth Street. In 1926 they built their dream house, Clarestone, at 5693 Cleves-Warsaw Pike (RR 4, Box 53). In 1930 she, her husband, and three of their adult children (Eleanor, Paul, and Roger) toured Europe, stopping at the shrine of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France, hoping for a cure for Eleanor (who had myocarditis). By the 1940s they lived at 4953 Relleum Avenue in Cincinnati, where George died in 1954, and had a winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida from at least 1942 on.
Like her husband, Clara was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they were good friends with American Catholic stigmatist, mystic, and visionary Rhoda T. Greer Wise who has been designated by the Church as a "Servant of God," a first step to sainthood. (Rhoda was the godmother of George and Clara's granddaughter Catherine Thérèse "Katie" Donnelly O'Fallon.). George was the founder of the family's Sacred Heart Press to manufacture religious badges touched to relics. These badges were taken into battle during World War II (and later wars) by Catholic soldiers.
Clara was a member of the Saint Aloysius Orphan Society, a third order secular Franciscan, a member of the Saint Rita School for the Deaf Association, a member of the Saint Teresa Church Altar Society, and a member of the Saint Mary Ladies' Society of Saint Teresa Church.
Clara died at home at age 87 on December 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day), 1963 in Cincinnati. Clara died about two weeks after President John F. Kennedy died. His death was kept a secret from her because family thought the knowledge of the killing of the first Catholic president would negatively affect her frail health. A solemn requiem funeral high mass was held for her at Saint Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Cincinnati, and she was buried at Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Cincinnati next to her beloved husband George and between their children Eleanor (who died at age 24) and Roger (who died at age 27). Her heritage was German. She and her husband were born on the same date one year apart.
DNA testing reveals Clara and her direct female descendants and ancestors and their brothers are of the clan of "Helena" (mtDNA haplogroup H) who lived 20,000 years ago in the Dordogne region of southwest France near the present city of Perpignan on the Mediterranean, gathering oysters and hunting and creating cave paintings.
Thanks so much to her granddaughter Mary Donnelly Minges for so much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.
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