Lenice John Gies and Lena Anna Hintz Ancestry

Personal Narrative from Pat Krajaefski

Grandma Magdalena (Hinsperger) Gies was a short stocky woman. Althoug h she wore her hair in a loose bun, it was very long, probably reachin g to her waist. She loved to sit on the step between the diningroom a nd the sunken kitchen and have the pins taken out and her long tresse s brushed, which I did many times. Although she did not like housewor k (her sister, Francis, looked after that duty), she loved to bake an d also tend her flower garden. I recall her taking me to her flower p atch and teaching me the names and pointing out the unique features o f the different varieties growing there - pincushions with their litt le pads of 'pins', bachelor buttons for the single men, dragons that s napped (the snapdragons, of course), straw flowers which she hung to d ry in the fall, hollyhocks to fashion into dolls, canterbury bells, an d more. She was proud of her flowers and many were carried to St. Mar y's church for Sunday service. She also tended the altar linens. Tru ckloads of fruit and produce from the garden were sent to St. Agatha O rphanage to feed the orphans there.

Although Dad said she never measured anything except by her hand, sh e loved to bake and every weekend we could expect a coffeecake or larg e tea biscuits for our Sunday breakfast. Sometimes her biscuits wer e a little heavy so we kids dunked them in our special Sunday mornin g coffee (the one day of the week we were allowed this treat well dilu ted with lots of milk or cream). Catherine (Hinsperger) Jeffros recen tly told me that Grandma also baked for many of the neighbours - maki ng a bit of pocket money that way.

Catherine lived on St. Leger Street in the old homestead until 1994 s o had always been a neighbour. She told me recently that whenever any one who could play the old pump organ in the diningroom came to visit , Grandma would beg them to play for her. She loved music. She was l oved by all the children in the neighbourhood - most of whom were he r nephews and nieces. She was an avid church worker and Grampa compla ined to Dad that she took all his earnings to church.

Unfortunately, her loyalty to her church was not always in the best in terest of others. She refused to recognize the marriage of Mom and Da d simply because they had been married by a Lutheran pastor rather tha n a Roman Catholic priest. As a result she made Mother's life miserab le as long as she lived, wanting them to remarry in the Catholic Churc h. However, Dad had left the Catholic Church before he met Mother an d had no intention of returning. Mom's family were staunch Lutherans.