MRS. AUGUSTA LAST

Mrs. Augusta Last died Sunday morning, July 14, just 11 days after observing her 100th birthday. She was in good health and was listening to church services on the radio at the home of her daughter at Grafton when she suddenly hemorrhaged. The rescue squad was called and she was transferred to St. Alphonsus hospital where she was pronounced dead at 9:30 Sunday morning.

Mrs. Last was a semi-invalid for the past five years after breaking her hip in a fall at her home at 312 Van Buren St., Port Washington. Since then she had been alternating her visits and living with her two daugthers, Mrs. Arthur (Dora) Thielke, 13th Ave., Grafton and Mrs. Leonard (Ella) Didier in Port Washington.

The deceased, nee Augusta Luedtke, was born in Germany on July 3, 1863. She and her husband, the late Carl Last, had farmed two miles south of Port Washington on the Lake Shore Rd. in the tow of Grafton until August of 1926 when they moved to the Van Buren St. home. Mr. Last died the following summer, on June 5, 1927. She continued to live at her home until suffering the hip injury. She had transferred from the Didier home to the Thielke residence last November.

Survivors in addition to Mrs. Thielke and Mrs. Last are three sons, William and August of Port Washington, and Walter of Milwaukee; two other daughters, Mrs. August (Ida) Schlueter of West Bend and Mrs. Helen Kibbel of Port Washington; one daughter-in-law, three sons-in-law, 24 grandchildren, 58 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren.

The Rev. Christopher Boland, pastor of Frieden’s Evangelical and Reformed church in Port Washington officiated at the funeral services at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16.

Burial was in Union Cemetery, Port Washington.

Funeral arrangements were handled by the Poole funeral home.

This one is about my maternal great-great grandfather, Johann THIELKE. This is the first one I’ve done on my maternal line. It’s also actually the first one I’ve done with not a lot of information. The first two I did, for Frank ZALEWSKI and Mathias FIRMENICH actually had a good deal of information. After doing this one for Johann, I started to notice how much info I didn’t have. I’m hoping the site will help me find more information or more avenues to research.

Take a look at the Johann THIELKE site or even browse the other sites I’ve done.

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This is a photo from my grandparent’s wedding on August 28, 1948 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The church is known for it’s large decorations and ceiling. It’s also frequently painted along with downtown Port Washington as it sits on a high hill overlooking the downtown area. You can see it in the third photo down on this page.

This was a good find since it listed two new surnames that I had not yet discovered, those of both of my ggg-grandmothers. I haven’t had a lot of luck in the past on getting the married couple’s mother’s surnames. It usually just lists it as their married name or it’s just left blank. Fortunately, this certificate had both of the listed.

Along with my gg-grandfather, my gg-grandmother is listed as Wilm. Holz C. RATHKE. This also helped cement it since I found out she was married previously to a Frank HOLZ and had immigrated over with that family. It lists Johann’s parents as Henry P THIELK, which I didn’t have. All of the information I have found (including his headstone and census) lists his name a Peter, so I’m assuming that is what the “P” stands for. Johann’s mother was listed as Maria D C SPECHT. I had his mother down as Marie, so that matches up, but I had no surname for her.

It’s lists Wilomene’s parents as Hermann RATHKE (which I have) and Fried. C. HENKE. I have her mother down as Friedericke from her headstone and census, but no last name.

Also, listed under “Witnesses” are a Frank HENKE and a William HENKE. I can only assume that these may be Friedericke’s brothers. Though, it’s possible that they’re some other relation, so I made notes in Rootsmagic to keep an eye out.

So, that was a productive vital record. It’s really nice to get those. Now to piece all of this new information together.

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This is one of the newest photos I was able to scan. I finally got some photos from my mother’s side and this one was a good one since it has 3 generations back starting from my grandparents. This was taken in 1948 on my grandparent’s wedding day.

The names from left to right: my gg-grandather Peter VAN PRICE (Van Parijs), my great-grandmother Mildred (VAN PRICE) DEBROUX, my gg-grandmother Minnie (MUHM) VAN PRICE, my grandmother Marjorie (DEBROUX) THIELKE, my grandfather LeRoy THIELKE, my great-grandfather Leon DEBROUX, my gg-grandmother Augusta (LUEDTKE) LAST, and my great-grandmother Madora (LAST) THIELKE.

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Most Wanted Faces

Been searching for almost ten years to find any relatives (parents/siblings) for Frank J ZALEWSKI, so that I can trace my line to other ZALEWSKI lines. Right now, it’s a little family island.

Peter THIELKE information back into Germany. THIELKE is a somewhat popular name there, so hoping to connect to other researchers.

Peter FIRMENICH family information. Records inidicate they lived in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin, which is only a few miles from here. Wondering if some of them are buried close by or where they lived. Can’t find info in the early 1800s census.

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[ Find-A-Grave Entry ]

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The headstone this week is from my great-great grandfather, Johann THIELKE. Johann was born on 26 Oct 1843 in Württemberg, Germany. He married my great-great grandmother, Wilomene “Minnie” RATHKE on 21 June 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That marriage date makes him 47 when he married Minnie and she was married previously. This makes me wonder if Johann was previously married also, but I have yet to find any evidence of this. Johann passed away on 24 Apr 1927 in Grafton, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. He was buried at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Grafton. Below is an image on the back of his headstone with some German writing. I can’t make it out, but if any of you can, let me know what you think it says.

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[ Johann Thielke's Information | Find-a-Grave Entry ]