Nicholas Daniel Scheffler was born on August 8, 1910, in Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. His father, Govert Scheffelaar, was 24 and his mother, Catharina "Katie" Maria Elisabeth (nee Otto), was 25. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1911, when he was an infant, and resided in Rochester, New York. Govert was the 5th of 14 children, and his brothers William and Daniel Nicolaas Scheffelaar emigrated at the same time. William resided in Rochester, raising his family there, until his death in 1971. Daniel returned to the Netherlands and lived out the rest of his life there.
Nick's father, Govert, who was also a butcher, died in 1916, in Rochester, New York, due to peritonitis after being kicked by a horse. His mother Katie, with a young son to care for, took a job as a housekeeper for a widower, Andrew Leep, who had 8 children, at Swift Current, in the southwestern part of the Canadian south central province Saskatchewan, about 45 miles southeast of the former Dutch settlement Cramersburg, where the Leep family homesteaded. In March 1918, Andrew and Catharina were married, and had two children together, Benjamin and Anthony Leep.
Animal diseases, coldness, dust bowls, drought, grasshopper invasions, several successive crop failures and low grain prices caused them to leave Canada and in 1921 the family moved to Shepherd, Yellowstone County, Montana, where the family stayed for about five years. In 1927, the family moved back to Melrose, Illinois, where Andrew had previously lived.
During the depression in the 1930's, Nick served in the Citizen Conservation Corps, and lived at a camp in northern Michigan. In 1935, he lived in Martin, Allegan County, Michigan. At some point before he was married, Nick changed his last name to Scheffler, because it was easier to spell and pronounce, or so the story is told.
He married Christine Marguerite van der Molen on February 22, 1938, in Allegan, Michigan. They had three children during their marriage, Nicholas Daniel Scheffler Jr. (1938-2008), Nancy and Sandra. He was a butcher, like his father, and worked for Hardings Grocery in Plainwell, Michigan. He died in January 1970 of a heart attack while at work, in Plainwell, Michigan, at the age of 59, and was buried there at Hillside Cemetery, leaving three children, and 8 grandchildren.
Nicholas Daniel Scheffler was born on August 8, 1910, in Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. His father, Govert Scheffelaar, was 24 and his mother, Catharina "Katie" Maria Elisabeth (nee Otto), was 25. His parents emigrated to the United States in 1911, when he was an infant, and resided in Rochester, New York. Govert was the 5th of 14 children, and his brothers William and Daniel Nicolaas Scheffelaar emigrated at the same time. William resided in Rochester, raising his family there, until his death in 1971. Daniel returned to the Netherlands and lived out the rest of his life there.
Nick's father, Govert, who was also a butcher, died in 1916, in Rochester, New York, due to peritonitis after being kicked by a horse. His mother Katie, with a young son to care for, took a job as a housekeeper for a widower, Andrew Leep, who had 8 children, at Swift Current, in the southwestern part of the Canadian south central province Saskatchewan, about 45 miles southeast of the former Dutch settlement Cramersburg, where the Leep family homesteaded. In March 1918, Andrew and Catharina were married, and had two children together, Benjamin and Anthony Leep.
Animal diseases, coldness, dust bowls, drought, grasshopper invasions, several successive crop failures and low grain prices caused them to leave Canada and in 1921 the family moved to Shepherd, Yellowstone County, Montana, where the family stayed for about five years. In 1927, the family moved back to Melrose, Illinois, where Andrew had previously lived.
During the depression in the 1930's, Nick served in the Citizen Conservation Corps, and lived at a camp in northern Michigan. In 1935, he lived in Martin, Allegan County, Michigan. At some point before he was married, Nick changed his last name to Scheffler, because it was easier to spell and pronounce, or so the story is told.
He married Christine Marguerite van der Molen on February 22, 1938, in Allegan, Michigan. They had three children during their marriage, Nicholas Daniel Scheffler Jr. (1938-2008), Nancy and Sandra. He was a butcher, like his father, and worked for Hardings Grocery in Plainwell, Michigan. He died in January 1970 of a heart attack while at work, in Plainwell, Michigan, at the age of 59, and was buried there at Hillside Cemetery, leaving three children, and 8 grandchildren.
