Dr Dave Menke has a great grandfather named Henry John Menke (1854-1911). Henry's wife, and Dr Dave's great grandmother, is Philippina Ottwein Menke (1861-1937). Her picture is on this blog.Philippina was the 2nd of 5 children of Karl Ottwein (1838-1910) and Philippina Shroeder (1840-1895). Philippina's other siblings included Mary Ottwein (1860-1930), Valentine Ottwein (1863-1893), Oscar Ottwein (1865-1945), and George Ottwein (1870-1960).
Philippina grew up on the family farm in Troy, Illinois, where it still is. A day laborer, John Henry Menke, used to work on their farm, and she fell in love with him. They married in 1881 and moved to St Louis. John and Philippina had 7 children: George, Fred, Oscar, Augustina, Lillian, Walter, and Harry. Only Augustina did not live to adulthood. She died at age 2 years old.
Philippina outlived her husband by 26 years. As a result, she lived with several of her children. The last family that she lived with was with Walter and Pearl. There is a family photo of Philippina in a swimming suit in the 1920's in a Ford with her children and grandchildren. The story is that Philippina fell down a flight of stairs at the home of Walter and Pearl Menke in 1937 and died.
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