News (old)

Please inform us of any family news that you think might be interesting for other members of the Peit(h)man(n) families on either side of the Atlantic. We will be pleased to publish such news in English here. If the news is confidential or should only be read by family members we will create a password protected sector in English. However, so far our American relatives have not shown a desire to keep their information private, quite different from their German counterparts.

News:

Since 2009 Stephen Peithman, son of Roscoe Peithman (table 23), has been broadcasting a program called Connections on the Californian public radio station KXPR. Those of you who can listen to KXPR may want to check at www.capradio.org. If you want to know more please read the following article: Stephen_Peithman.pdf. Stephen’s voice is wonderful, and if you like classical music you will love this programme.

 

 

Deaths:

On September 30th, 2007, Lois Jean Bauernfeind Wilson (table 23), mother of Lynn Peithmann Stock, grandmother of Michael Stock, died in Richfield, North Carolina. Lois had attended the Peithmann family reunion in Stadthagen in 1980 together with her former husband Russell Irvin Peithmann, their daughter Lynn and her parents. Many of us met Lois at that occasion and liked her immediately. She will be missed not only by her family in the USA but also by her relatives in Germany.

On June 8, 2007,  Wesley Arthur Brink (table 22) ,  the beloved husband of Muriel Brink née Peithmann, passed away in Belleville (Illinois). He leaves behind his widow and his son Richard, daughter-in-law Lisandra  as well as his two granddaughters.  Wesley and his family had participated in the German-American family reunion in Little Nashville in April 1998.

 On October 13, 2006, Ortheldo Arthur Peithmann (table 22), lawyer in Farmer City, Illinois, died. Ortheldo had always been proud of his German roots, and he had met his German relatives during visits on both sides of the Atlantic. We regret his death and feel with his wife Winona and his children Robert, Alice and William. A Memorial Service was held for him and Winona in Nashville, IL, on August 10, 2011.

 On February 7, 2007 Ortheldo‘s brother-in-law Clyde Pope Orr (table 22) died. Many German Peit(h)man relatives had met Clyde Orr in St. Louis and they all liked him very much. He was always very interested in  contacts with the German relatives of his wife. He welcomed all visitors from the other side of the Atlantic with great enthusiasm. They enjoyed his excellent sense of humour. We feel with his wife Lorraine, his four childrenJudy Miller, Randy Orr, Kathy Smith and Robert Orr as well as with his children-in-law and his grandchildren.

On June 23, 2009, Allen Ernst Peithmann (table 20) died at the age of 67 in Tyler,Texas leaving his wife Nancy and his son Allen Ernst. The German Peithmanns who had participated in a family reunion in Hebron/Nebraska in 1968 had met Allen and his wife there. They regret his death together with his own family.— Kansas State University‘s basketballteam Wildcats remember Allen as a most successful guard from 1960 until 1963.

 On June 7, 2010, Winona Cocking Peithmann, the widow of the late Ortheldo Peithmann (table 22), passed away. Winona or Nonie as she was known among her loving family and many friends had started as a teacher. In 1948 she had become secretary and chartered public accountant in her husband‘s new law office in Farmer City until 2006. She will be remembered not only by her family and friends but also by many German relatives who met her during her travels to Germany or at the big family reunion in Illinois in 1998. They will all think of her as a strong, intelligent and charming lady who worked hard, who took an interest in many things and who opened her heart to the people around her. Nonie will never be forgotten.

John Stanley Barrett sr. (table 30), the husband of  Louise Barrett nee Peithmann, died on August 14, 2010 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. He had suffered from cancer.  He leaves his widow, four children, nine grandchildren and fice great-grandchildren. Stanley had participated in the first big Peit(h)mann family reunion in Stadthagen in 1980. Therefore many German relatives knew him. Stanley had worked well past retirement age for TRW in their research department and especially on artificial intelligence. As all of his family members he had been actively engaged in their local church. All those who knew him will remember Stanley, and they will miss his kindness and  his fine sense of humour.

Frederick Clay Peithmann (table 30), born Nov. 21, 1936, passed away on July 12, 2011. Frederick  left his second wife Martha Baird Peithmann, his son Edgar Frederick Peithmann and his daughters Leslie Ann Williamson and Cassandra Lynn Bailey. Frederick had helped organise the big Peit(h)mann Family Reunion in Stadthagen in 1980 but had been unable to attend himself. He was known as an excellent golfer and a great story teller.

 Marjorie Lorraine Orr née Peithmann (table 22) passed away peacefully on June 19, 2013. She was buried in North Prairie Cemetery near Hoyleton, IL, where she had been born on April 3, 1921, on the parental farm. Lorraine leaves four children and their families who had been the joy of her life and that of her husband Clyde Pope Orr (see above). She made a lifelong commitment to volunteer work and was well respected and loved by many who will miss her greatly. She kept in touch with her German relatives and opened her house for them most graciously. Therefore she will also be well remembered in Germany.

Harvey Lee Baker, the husband of Patricia Alice Baker (table 30), passed away on Dec.9, 2014 in Raymore, MO. His wife and his son miss him dearly. As his nephew David Barrett said: „This email … contains the information of the obituary for uncle Harvey. He was always a favorite of mine. He was very humble and humorous. He was very easy-going, and a good fit for Aunt Patty.“ Harvey had attended the first big family reunion in Stadthagen in 1980, so he is known to many of the German Peit(h)manns. They will remember him and they feel with his family.

 John Edwin „Jack“ Holden, son of Elizabeth Ida Peithmann (table 30), died on Dec. 22, 2014, in Aurora, CO, at the age of 90. We feel with his wife Marguerite „Peggy“ and his daughters Joni and Jan and two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren. Jack had worked  for his father‘s news paper in Loveland, CO, the Reporter-Herald, from 1947 until 1969, becoming its owner in 1963. After selling it in 1969 Jack started a new career in the federal government from which he retired in 1987. He kept regularly in touch with the German Peithmanns. In 1998 he attended a big reunion of American and German Peit(h)manns in Little Nashville, IL. We will remember him as a very kind gentleman with a good sense of humour.

 Roscoe Edward „Rocky“ Peithman (table 23) died on Febr.18, 2015, only 8 days before turning 102, from a fall he had done in January. Up to his last weeks he was clear in his mind and a great story teller. Apart from his work as a physicist and a self-taught meteorologist he had done genealogical research on the Peithmann families in the USA. He was a well of information for the Peit-h-mann Family Association. Rocky kept in touch with the German Peit(h)manns, too, and travelled to the country of his ancestors several times. He leaves his son Stephen and two grandchildren, the daughters of his deceased daughter Ann and one great-grandchild. Rocky will be missed by many. Please refer to the obituary.

 

On August 29, 2015, Claire Huck née Hammer passed away after years of Alzheimer’s desease. Her husband Morris had taken care of her as long as he could in their home in Champaign, Illinois, but finally she had to be moved to a nursery home this year. May she rest in peace. We will remember Claire as the co-coordinator of the big German-American Peithmann family reunion near Little Nashville, Illinois,in April 1998 when she greeted everybody at the doors of the golf club restaurant. We feel with Morris and with her son Brian Huck who emigrated to Mainz/Germany where he holds an important political post.

 

For the deaths of German relatives please refer to the German news page.