Anna Selma Glaser Graupner(28 April 1879 - 25 April 1968)
Sadly, today is the 40th Anniversary of Oma's death; she lived but two days from her 90th birthday. When we grew up there was hardly a space between the names Oma-and-Hanni; they were inseparably fixed in our minds as our supremely dear Oma Anna und Tante Hanni. I had hoped to see Oma once again when I made my first trip to Germany in June 1968, but even as my plans were made, she passed away just months before I arrived.
Philip was still in Germany when I visited; living in the Dachzimmer of Oma, Hanni, and Tante Anna's house in Barstadt. One day, Tante Hanni told me the story (I hope I can remember) of Oma's passing and subsequent funeral, in which she was simply washed, dressed in her night gown, her wood coffin placed in the living room so that family and neighbors could pay their respects. The next day, a farmer came with a wagon and led a procession up the mountain to the little stone chapel in the Taunus forest; then, after a service, her coffin was lowered into the family plot, next to her husband, Carl Hermann Graupner.
Anna was born to Carl Friedrich and Selma Auguste Glaser in Marienthal, Sachsen. She was the oldest of 13 children, three of whom died as infants. Her surviving siblings included: Arno, Max Karl, Ernst Wilhelm, Klara (Wiedemann), Emil Karl, Ella (Wagner), Kurt, Paula (Pilz), and Alfred. She married (Carl) Hermann Graupner on 9 June 1900; they moved to the Ruhrgebiet in western Germany where Hermann was employed in the coal mining industry; they had seven children: Anna, Ida (Liepert), Elsa (Dauer), Hermann, Carl, Paul, and Johanna, four of whom emigrated to the United States, with Elsa returning to Germany.
Because Anna's death and birth days are so close together, and because several of you have known Oma intimately--especially having known her in your young adult lives, I am hoping that you will be able to tell your story of Oma. I will add Hanni's accounts, photos, etc. and I'm hoping Helga, Jerry, Philip, and others can share both personal connections and possibly some excerpts of old letters.
Vielen Dank,
jim
Philip was still in Germany when I visited; living in the Dachzimmer of Oma, Hanni, and Tante Anna's house in Barstadt. One day, Tante Hanni told me the story (I hope I can remember) of Oma's passing and subsequent funeral, in which she was simply washed, dressed in her night gown, her wood coffin placed in the living room so that family and neighbors could pay their respects. The next day, a farmer came with a wagon and led a procession up the mountain to the little stone chapel in the Taunus forest; then, after a service, her coffin was lowered into the family plot, next to her husband, Carl Hermann Graupner.
Anna was born to Carl Friedrich and Selma Auguste Glaser in Marienthal, Sachsen. She was the oldest of 13 children, three of whom died as infants. Her surviving siblings included: Arno, Max Karl, Ernst Wilhelm, Klara (Wiedemann), Emil Karl, Ella (Wagner), Kurt, Paula (Pilz), and Alfred. She married (Carl) Hermann Graupner on 9 June 1900; they moved to the Ruhrgebiet in western Germany where Hermann was employed in the coal mining industry; they had seven children: Anna, Ida (Liepert), Elsa (Dauer), Hermann, Carl, Paul, and Johanna, four of whom emigrated to the United States, with Elsa returning to Germany.
Because Anna's death and birth days are so close together, and because several of you have known Oma intimately--especially having known her in your young adult lives, I am hoping that you will be able to tell your story of Oma. I will add Hanni's accounts, photos, etc. and I'm hoping Helga, Jerry, Philip, and others can share both personal connections and possibly some excerpts of old letters.
Vielen Dank,
jim
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