Elvera Kunigunda Story

Source:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=29808387

Maintained by: Carol Snow-Barnes

Originally Created by: sue walkemeyer

Record added: Sep 14, 2008

Find A Grave Memorial# 29808387

Elvera was the 5th child of Franz (Frank) and Bernardine Finkelmeyer Kreuziger of Lockport, IL. Her parents immigrated to the USA in 1891 with her older brother age 3 from Germany. Pop came first then mother and brother came later.

She told us stories about the snow in Lockport and going to the train, skating down the hill due to the ice, to go to Chicago. She graduated from Lockport High School when she was 16 and worked in downtown Chicago at a department store. I believe she also went to the Chicago Conservatory of Music (I haven't been able to verify this) as she was an accomplished pianist and used to play "In The Mood", classical and lots of boogie-woogie. She had us dancing all the time.

She moved to Arizona with her older sister where she met Charles Vernon (Vern) Story. He was a stagecoach driver and from the grin on her face I can see she knew she had a catch. They were married in Phoenix, AZ in Aug. 1917. While working on a ranch in Toyah, TX their son was born in 1921, he didn't survive. They then moved to Long Beach, CA near his parents. She loved to dress and we have many pictures of her in her beautiful dresses, hats and shoes. It was about this time that her mother passed and the other Kreuziger family moved from IL to CA. She worked as a secretary for the Navy and in 1925 their daughter Dorothy was born.

In 1941 her sister Bertha and husband died leaving 5 young girls. Auntie El & Uncle Vern took them in and raised them all to be sisters with Dorothy.

In 1946 she and Vern retired and bought a ranch in Days Creek, OR. They tried to make the ranch work but had to sell it and then moved back to Downey, CA where she worked as a secretary (with one of those Underwood typewriters) for the Auto Club and Vern worked as an inspector for Western Gear. They retired for a second time in 1958 and bought another place in Days Creek where they lived for several years before moving to Watsonville, CA. then to Santa Paula, CA where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary then moved back to Tri City, OR and lived next door to their daughter.

Her friends knew her as Jimmy and she loved to sew and garden. I could always be sure, as a little girl, that all of my dolls would have a new outfit come Christmas morning.