Katie is what family and friends called her. When she was little she was called Gretchen. Her parents are Johann Ernst and Anna Hera Marie VESTERLING Thrum. Her father came alone 25 July 1881 aboard the Rotterdam. She was 6 years old when she came to the USA with her mother and sister Emma, brothers Oscar, Ernst, and Fritz. They traveled from Hamburg to Glasgow, Larne via a feeder line and then aboard the State of Indiana arriving in NY on 8th April 1882. They settled in Paterson, NJ on Poor House Lane where her brother Wilhelm was born 1883 Feb 4th. She attended school and learned English very fast. She was a kniver, played jokes and fooled around. In school she got in trouble and the teacher sent a note home about her behavior. Her parents could not read English so she read the letter that said how wonderful she was doing in school. They signed it and she returned it to the teacher. She knew she had better not do that again because her sister would tell. They lived on Straight St. in Paterson, and Jasper St. in Haledon. A sister Rosa was born, twin sisters Rosa and Martha who died after birth and twin stillborn brothers. Her father was a tailor and her mother took in wash and ironing. From there they moved to Union which is now Lyndhurst. Here she had 2 brothers born Alfred and Emile. Both died while young. They moved to Newark where she lived on Laurel Ave. She met George Kallenberg at the Turners in Irvington. It was a gym where they would go to sing and dance. They married 1898 June 15. She gave birth to 4 children of which 3 lived to adulthood. She was the best cook. She made donuts and sold them on Belleville Pike in North Arlington. She also sold Chow Mein, which she call Charmain. She raised her grandaughter from age 2 to 5 after the death of her daughter Florence and she did a wonderful job. She and George were 70 years old when they took her in and they also occasionally took in 3 other grandchildren. The love and caring she gave were carried over to the generation to come. I had prayed to become a Grandmother one day so that I could be as great a Grandmother as she. She has taught me the love of God and family and that was the greatest gift she could have given me. God bless you always you will never be forgotten.