Welcome to my "original" genealogy page. These are the first notes that we had when starting out on the genealogical sojourn that has led to what we know about the family now. A lot has been learned since this initial foray, leading to a much deeper understanding of our family roots.
Maximilian Edward Grodski
1839-1887
Calvary Cemetery
b. Berlin Germany 1839 of Polish parents
d. Chicago, Illinois 1887 @ 48 yrs old
Max and his brother, John, emigrated to U.S. to avoid conscription
in German Army
Max was listed as a baker upon his enlistment into the US Army
Max enlisted in Grants Army of the Republic March 16, 1864 at New
York City, NY
Transferred to Company I 58th Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry
June 30, 1865
Mustered out with his Company Honorably as a private October 11,
1865
Company I 45th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment @ 25 yrs. old
or
Mustered out Aug. 31, 1865 @ Bridgeport, Alabama
U.S. Citizenship granted Nov. 8, 1865 @ 26 yrs. old
Worked as a Coachman for a New York Family and met Catherine
Married to Catherine Kinery in Queens, New York in 1869 @ age 30
Later in life, Max was listed as a cigar maker
Suffered from a stomach ailment for many years
Buried with son, Joseph in a single grave
(Joe's Maternal Great-Great Grandfather)
Andrew Gersch
Approx. 1870-1930
St. Joseph Cemetery
Everyone that remembers Andrew said “His beer would explode in his basement”
(Joe's Maternal Great Grandfather)
Victoria (nee Michalski)Gersch
1877-1973
St. Joseph Cemetery
Lot 318 Sec LL
Orphaned at Lamont, IL when her father was killed by a train in Lemont.
(Joe's Maternal Great Grandmother)
Clarence & Pearl (nee Clemmons)
Gersch
Chicago - Lyme, New Hampshire
My Uncle Clarence worked for the Chicago Police Department (Irving Park Station)until his retirement. He was a tough old guy and a very broad shouldered soul. You could trust Uncle Clarence! He was strong and he was tough, but he had a heart of gold! Aunt Pearl was a wee bit of a lady. As long as I ever knew her, her hair was a beautiful silver white. She was known for her many handmade projects, most of which I knew nothing about as a kid, but I always loved to run up those stairs to her flat from Grandma Gersch's (who lived downstairs at 618 Monticello) and visit with Aunt Pearl. I don't think I ever heard a single ill-tempered word come from her mouth in my whole life. She and Clarence eventually retired back to the mountain in New Hampshire and lived out their lives in the beauty of the Indian Summers and chilly winters of New England.
(Joe’s Maternal Great Aunt
& Uncle)
Charles Phillip Keene, son of Phillip James & Gertrude Keene
March 17, 1896 - November 10, 1942
Was in the National Guard at Camp Grant
Brother of Viola (nee Keene) Funck
Husband of Anne(nee Evans)Keene
Father of Phillip Frank Keene
(Joe's Paternal Grandfather)
Anne(Nana)(nee Evans) Keene
August 5, 1896 Chicago, IL - July 7, 1984 Libertyville, IL
Parents were from Belfast, Ireland
Wife of Charles Phillip Keene
(Joe's Paternal Grandmother)
and mother to:
Phillip Frank
Dorothy June
Charles
Harold
Kenneth Howard
William Edward Steffen
Born 1875 - Died February 18, 1946 in Chicago of cerebral
hemorrhage
Requiem mass was celebrated at St. Viator's Church, Keeler Avenue
and Addison Street.
At final rest in St. Joseph Cemetery / Lot-319 Sec-CC
From a newspaper article:
Sgt. William E. Steffen, 71, veteran member of the Chicago
Police Department, died yesterday in Illinois Masonic Hospital. His home
was at 4021 Patterson Avenue. Sgt. Steffen, in his 32 years on the force,
had served as a guard for the county jail witness room for 12 years. He
was assigned there while on duty with the police force, but was so well
liked that upon his retirement at the age of 63 he was asked by Captain
Daniel Gilbert of the state's attorney's office tp remeain a part of his
personnel. Most of his time on the force was spent at the Jefferson Park
Station. Surviving are his wife, Katherine; two sons, Charles and William;
a daughter, Mrs. Anne Gubbins; and six grandchildren.
William Edward Steffen married Katherine Mary Grodski
(Joe’s Maternal Great Grandfather)
William Leroy Steffen
1901-1982 Mt.Prospect, IL
Grandpa or "Bumpa" as we affectionately called him, was a welder for the Chicago Northwest railroad. It is also reported that in the dust bowl days he was a hobo, travelling the rails around the country.
All Saints Mausoleum
William Steffen married Irene Mae Gersch
and had children:
Patricia
Marilyn
Irene Mae (Gersch) Steffen
March 3,1905 Chicago, IL - January 11, 1996 Mt. Prospect, IL
Married Leo Pedersen (1)
Married William L. Steffen (2)
Grandma or "Mimi" as we all affectionately called her, was probably best known for her cooking. Whenever you came into Mimi's house, the smells of cooking were always in the air. She loved to treat you your favorite dish if you caught her alone and my favorite was her "Tunnel-O-Fudge" cake that nobody seems to be able to recreate in the year 2000. Mimi was also known as a leadfoot when she got her license late in life and she loved to have fun on the road. One time she reported that she and Bumpa were flying along at 90 m.p.h. almost all the way to New Hampshire to visit Cuzzy & Leonard Graf. She had lots of fun with the neighbor kids and she made me cassette tapes while I was in Thailand for a year. They really brought a piece of "home" to me in that far off land! As she lay dying in her home in Mt. Prospect, I replayed those tapes in her ear with a Sony Walkman cassette player and a headset and let her hear the voice of her long gone "Bill" (Bumpa) before she was about to get the chance to remeet him after all those long years alone. She was also very well known for her volunteer efforts with the Kiwanis Club in Mt. Prospect, IL. She had more "Peanut Awards" than anyone else for selling peanuts for them in their annual charity fundraising event.
All Saints Mausoleum
(Joe’s Maternal Grandmother)
Patricia Ann (nee Steffen) Keene
Born September 2, 1931 @ St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Mom was a wonderful soul that worked long and hard to keep our family in order. Since our earliest days in Sycamore, IL she worked to help contribute. She had 4 kids to raise and we were tough on her, but she always mustered the strength to go on. I was the "black sheep" of the family (at that time...) and her and I battled alot, but she helped me to grow up quickly in the fights. There are tons of things I remember about our life together, but they are too many to elaborate on just now. A couple of years ago, just after Mimi died, she got the news that she had breast cancer. She again fought the battle with that disease, having gone through chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and it appeared she had won. For at least a year, she seemed to be in good spirits and strong and mostly healthy, but there was always this lingering problem with her white blood count. Then, last year, when having some tests done to correct other physical maladies that had taken a back seat to the breast cancer, doctors discovered that she was in full blown leukemia. Given only days to gather her family, we all went to Florida and be with her prior to her going into the hospital. After several weeks of intesive Topotecan chemotherapy, her body gave up the fight and she died June 25, 1999 @ home in St. Petersburg, Florida of acute myeloid
leukemia
Eventually at final rest in a mausoleum at Calvary Catholic Cemetery
– Clearwater, Florida. A small portion of her ashes are with my family in Escondido, CA as we know she had wanted to come back to California again...
Married Phillip Frank Keene June 10, 1950 Chicago, Illinois
and had children:
William Phillip
Kathleen Victoria
Joseph Michael
Terrence Sean
