ROSA'S KIDS: PART 4 -- ELMER

The youngest child of Rosa (Ritterhouse) and her husband, John Schlereth arrived on February 18th of either 1896 or 1897.  (The 1896 date appears on his WWI draft registration card and his gravestone; the 1897 date appears on his Social Security record and seems to be the year used in various census enumerations.)  This third son was named Elmer Bryan.  He was their only child to be born in Kansas.  He was born in Seneca, Kansas and lived there the first few years of his life.  While he was still young, his family moved to Falls City, Nebraska, where he completed eight years of school.

Around 1916, he married Marie Nelson Bell, daughter of John and Elizabeth Bell (born July 24, 1897 in York, Nebraska).  On March 26, 1917, they welcomed daughter Gertrude Elizabeth to their family.

Elmer Schlereth WWI Draft Registration Card

Later that year (1917) Elmer registered for the WWI draft, while living in Falls City.  At the time he was an unemployed bricklayer.  The registration form described him as being tall, of medium build with blue eyes and light-colored hair.  It does not appear that Elmer actually had to serve in WWI.



In 1920, Elmer was living in Falls City, Nebraska with his wife, Marie and daughter Gertrude.  He was working as a boilermaker at the Round House.  Falls City was able to attract both the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, both of which helped the city's growth.  The MoPac even designated Falls City as a division point in 1909.  Elmer worked at the MoPac Round House.


Elmer and Marie's second child and only son joined the family on October 23, 1922.  They named him Charles H.  Two more daughters joined the family in the 1930s:  Barbara in 1931 and  Ruthann in 1933.  It appears Elmer and his family continued to live in Falls City.  In the 1940 census, he listed his occupation as a junk buyer for a junk yard and in 1945 (according to a workman's compensation lawsuit, Miller v. Schlereth) he was obviously working for his older brother, Edward in his junk business.




Wayne "Ox" Allen

Gertrude "GB" Schlereth Allen Boehlen

By 1940, Elmer's children were beginning to marry.  As could be expected, Gertrude left home first.  After graduating from Falls City High School, she married a local baseball star (and fellow Falls City High School graduate).  Wesley Wayne Allen (six years her senior) was "one of the most promising recruits . . . to report to the Springfield Cardinals' training camp" in the early 1930s, as a 19-year-old, right-handed pitcher.  Pitching for his home town high school, Allen had fanned twenty-three in defeating Topeka 1 to 0 in ten innings in one of three no-hitters he pitched.  His other two no-hitters were against Humbolt, Nebraska which he won 6 to 0 and against Steinauer, Nebraska, won 5 to 0.  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals, he won thirteen games, including two no-hitters in sixteen starts in his first season.  Reportedly he quit after a few seasons and returned to Falls City to play for a home town team.  He married Gertrude and they started a family in 1943, bringing a son, Donald Wesley Allen, into the world.  The marriage apparently did not last as Gertrude "met and married" William "Eddie" Boehlen in 1945.  This marriage lasted 60 years, until Eddie's death in 2005.  GB, as she was apparently known, lived a long life, dying only a couple of years ago, on January 19, 2012, at the age of 94.  She worked at and retired from J.C. Penney's.  She was living in Roy, Utah at the time of her death.  Apparently she had no more children since her obituary stated she was survived by her son, Don Allen, along with two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.  Her ashes reside in the Aultorest Memorial Park in Ogden, Utah.

The only son of the family, Charles, lived his entire life in Falls City.  According to the 1940 census, the highest grade he completed was the 7th grade.  He served in the Army during World War II, enrolling on March 17, 1943 and being released on September 21, 1945.  On October 14, 1947, he married a local Falls City High School graduate who worked at the Falls City Savings & Loan, Marcille H. Zentner.  Charles owned and operated an auto repair shop in Falls City and drove the Star Route for the U.S. Postal Service while Marcille worked in banking.  They were members of the Christ Lutheran Church.  They had two children:  Michael (who was living in Lincoln in 2013) and Barbara (married to David Goltz and living in Falls City).  At the time of Marcille's death in 2013 there were also five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Charles died on Christmas Day 2001 at the age of 79 and is buried in the Steele Cemetery in Falls City.

Barbara was the third child of Elmer and Marie.  She was born around 1931 in Falls City, Nebraska where she also attended school.  She married Gene Miller.  As of 2012, she was still alive.  In 2001, she was living with her husband in Warsaw, Missouri, which is approximately 200 miles southeast of Falls City.

Elmer and Marie's youngest child, Ruthann, was born on February 22, 1933.  She married Carl "Tony" Gordon Curtis on January 28, 1952.  Carl, who was born in Salem, Nebraska on September 7, 1921, was about 11 years her senior.  He had served in the U.S. Army in World War II.  They settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin where Carl worked as a mechanic at Elfman Marine and Holiday Sport for 50 years.  They raised two sons: Tony Bryan (married to Kathleen and living in La Crosse) and Carl Douglas "Doug" Curtis (born November 30, 1953, married to Paula Southe, died May 31, 2010).  Carl passed away November 21, 2006.  In 2010, Carl and Ruthann had at least three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Ruthann continued to live in La Crosse.



Elmer continued to live in Falls City until his death, at the age of 79, on January 23, 1976.  At the time of his death, besides his wife and three children, he was survived by 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  He was laid to rest in the Steele Cemetery in Falls City.