The fourth and last child of a Prussian Lutheran immigrant father, Frieda, as she was best known, was bright, diligent, and energetic. Her parents met in Chicago, where her father had come about 1883 (at age 32) from Rawitsch, Possen Prussia and her mother had arrived in 1888 (at age 23) from Freienwalde, Pommern, Prussia. Their children were born between 1889 and 1894, and they divorced in 1905, when Frieda was almost 11.
At age 22, in 1917, Frieda eloped with Norman Joseph Schaaf. They were married by a priest in his rectory (Norman was a Catholic), but they had taken out their license only the day before, and their families were not involved in the ceremony. Frieda was not a Catholic but became one when, according to family story, her then 10 year daughter Edith asked her to. The couple raised their four children as Catholics. Their first child, Edith Charlotte, born a year after the marriage, died of meningitis at age 12, an event that permanently shaded the family life. They sent her to the Dowling School in Minneapolis, where she was an accomplished student. Three children followed: Norman David (1921), Gloria Ann (1926), and Shirley Marie (1928).
I remember Frieda, who was my grandmother, as energetic, resilient, and remarkably able; she wrote beautiful, articulate, (and grammatically perfect!) letters to me and did not start to fade until about two years before she died, two months shy of her 100th birthday. She was a beautiful soul who rose up under adverse circumstances often in her life, to shine and to help others.
At age 22, in 1917, Frieda eloped with Norman Joseph Schaaf. They were married by a priest in his rectory (Norman was a Catholic), but they had taken out their license only the day before, and their families were not involved in the ceremony. Frieda was not a Catholic but became one when, according to family story, her then 10 year daughter Edith asked her to. The couple raised their four children as Catholics. Their first child, Edith Charlotte, born a year after the marriage, died of meningitis at age 12, an event that permanently shaded the family life. They sent her to the Dowling School in Minneapolis, where she was an accomplished student. Three children followed: Norman David (1921), Gloria Ann (1926), and Shirley Marie (1928).
I remember Frieda, who was my grandmother, as energetic, resilient, and remarkably able; she wrote beautiful, articulate, (and grammatically perfect!) letters to me and did not start to fade until about two years before she died, two months shy of her 100th birthday. She was a beautiful soul who rose up under adverse circumstances often in her life, to shine and to help others.
The fourth and last child of a Prussian Lutheran immigrant father, Frieda, as she was best known, was bright, diligent, and energetic. Her parents met in Chicago, where her father had come about 1883 (at age 32) from Rawitsch, Possen Prussia and her mother had arrived in 1888 (at age 23) from Freienwalde, Pommern, Prussia. Their children were born between 1889 and 1894, and they divorced in 1905, when Frieda was almost 11.
At age 22, in 1917, Frieda eloped with Norman Joseph Schaaf. They were married by a priest in his rectory (Norman was a Catholic), but they had taken out their license only the day before, and their families were not involved in the ceremony. Frieda was not a Catholic but became one when, according to family story, her then 10 year daughter Edith asked her to. The couple raised their four children as Catholics. Their first child, Edith Charlotte, born a year after the marriage, died of meningitis at age 12, an event that permanently shaded the family life. They sent her to the Dowling School in Minneapolis, where she was an accomplished student. Three children followed: Norman David (1921), Gloria Ann (1926), and Shirley Marie (1928).
I remember Frieda, who was my grandmother, as energetic, resilient, and remarkably able; she wrote beautiful, articulate, (and grammatically perfect!) letters to me and did not start to fade until about two years before she died, two months shy of her 100th birthday. She was a beautiful soul who rose up under adverse circumstances often in her life, to shine and to help others.
At age 22, in 1917, Frieda eloped with Norman Joseph Schaaf. They were married by a priest in his rectory (Norman was a Catholic), but they had taken out their license only the day before, and their families were not involved in the ceremony. Frieda was not a Catholic but became one when, according to family story, her then 10 year daughter Edith asked her to. The couple raised their four children as Catholics. Their first child, Edith Charlotte, born a year after the marriage, died of meningitis at age 12, an event that permanently shaded the family life. They sent her to the Dowling School in Minneapolis, where she was an accomplished student. Three children followed: Norman David (1921), Gloria Ann (1926), and Shirley Marie (1928).
I remember Frieda, who was my grandmother, as energetic, resilient, and remarkably able; she wrote beautiful, articulate, (and grammatically perfect!) letters to me and did not start to fade until about two years before she died, two months shy of her 100th birthday. She was a beautiful soul who rose up under adverse circumstances often in her life, to shine and to help others.
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See more Schaaf or Kirschstein memorials in:
- Fort Snelling National Cemetery Schaaf or Kirschstein
- Minneapolis Schaaf or Kirschstein
- Hennepin County Schaaf or Kirschstein
- Minnesota Schaaf or Kirschstein
- USA Schaaf or Kirschstein
- Find a Grave Schaaf or Kirschstein
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