Gawehn Family

I have mentioned members of the Gawehn family briefly in previous posts and I have posted a few of their obituaries so I thought I would tell you what else I know about them.

Zilla (Richter) Gawehn is Lydia (Richter) Elsner's younger sister.  (Lydia is my great great grandmother.)  Zilla was born on October 26, 1863 in East Prussia.  In about 1885, she married August F. Gawehn (born October 9, 1852 in Germany).

While they were still in Germany, they had two children: George Richter Gawehn, born January 20, 1887; and Elizabeth Gawehn born in July 1889 (according to the 1900 US Census or Feb 1889 according to the document below).  The four of them immigrated to the US in 1889.

I saved a pdf file a couple of years ago that contains lists of people that immigrated to the USA on which the Gawehn family is listed.  The file is in German and is titled SEDINA-ARCHIV FAMILIENGESCHICHTLICHE MITTEILUNGEN POMMERNS.  With the help of Google, that translates to Sedina Archive Family History Information Pomerania.  It contains excerpts from ships lists from March 25, 1884 through February 20, 1890 of Pomeranian immigrants to the USA.

Abbreviations and column headings from Sedina-Archiv Familiengeschichtliche Mitteilungen Pommerns.

  Translation:

Abbreviations:

Adr    = Address             K      = Child (ren)                 S     = Son

E       = Spouse              M       = Mother                      T     = Daughter

J        = Years                 NY.   = New York                V     = Father

oo     = Marriage            >        =After (destination)

                Date    Ship      Name        First Name  Age                 Note

Clip from Sedina-Archiv Familiengeschichtliche Mitteilungen Pommerns containing the Gawehn's information.

This tells me that August Gawehn (a tailor, age 37), along with his wife Zilla (26 yrs), daughter Elizabeth (10 months old), and son George (2 yrs) arrived on the Polaria on Dec. 7, 1889 in New York from Lauenburg.

After arriving in New York, they made their way to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I had wondered why Albert and Lydia had chosen Fort Wayne when they immigrated in 1887, and I now know that Lydia's brother Erich J.B. Richter had immigrated to the US in 1881 and he lived in Fort Wayne.  When Zilla and her family arrived, Erich was still in Fort Wayne, but Albert and Lydia had already moved to Chicago.

Zilla and August had two children born in Fort Wayne: Luella R Gawehn, born July 26, 1892; and Erich John Gawehn, born March 15, 1897.

I have already posted obituaries for Zilla, August, and Effie (George's wife).  I found obituaries for Elizabeth, Erich and George but not Luella.  I ordered copies of the ones I found so far and will post them as soon as I receive them.

Obituary - John Howard Yost, Jr., 1970-2013

My brother-in-law passed away suddenly on February 4th.  It is still unbelievable that he is gone.  He was so full of life.  He is missed by everyone that ever met him.  He loved his family, had a great sense of humor, loved life, and loved to play jokes on people.

There was a Celebration of Life gathering on Sunday, February 10th at the Hilliard Funeral Home officiated by Rev. Kenneth Meadows.  There were many beautiful flowers and Johns casket was draped with the American Flag.  People of all ages attended including a newborn baby.  There were people from his work, his children's friends, Marines, Boy Scouts, family and many more.

A slide show played with pictures of John throughout the years as songs played.  Some of the pictures made everyone laugh and his 2 year old niece would called out, "Uncle John is funny!".

The Reverend asked that if anyone had anything they wanted to say about John to come up to the podium.  Many came forward and spoke about how much John loved life, how they met him, how good a friend he was, his sarcasm, how he loved to blow things up, and many people spoke about the pranks that he played on them.  We laughed and cried as we listened to all the stories.

At the end of the gathering, two Marines came forward and after taps was played, performed the folding of the flag ceremony and presented the flag to his wife.

After the service there was another gathering in the school cafetorium with food and drinks where many people came and exchanged more stories about John.

John Howard Yost, Jr.

John Howard Yost, Jr. was born June 19, 1970 in Norfolk, Virginia.  He had been a resident of Ben Wheeler for 10 years.  He was raised in Jacksonville and Ft. Myers, Florida.  He served in the US Marine Corps for 8 years, and was a Gulf War veteran.  He worked as a boiler operator for Delek in Tyler, Texas for 9 years.  He was very active in the Boy Scouts of America and was a member of the NRA.  He enjoyed shooting targets in his spare time.

John passed away at the age of 42 on February 4, 2013 in Tyler, Texas.  He was preceded in death by his father John Howard Yost, Sr.

Survivors include his wife and three children, his mother, dad, sisters and brothers.

A father, a husband, a son,

a brother, an uncle,

and a friend full of love.

We will laugh with the memories

and shed tears for those

we have lost.

You will be missed

more than words can ever say.

"Johnisms"

Ordinary is boring

Build your own fireworks

as they make a bigger boom

Your problem is obvious...

Pinatas are like people...

Don't bother me...I'm busy being crabby

Nothing says 'Opps' like a wall of FLAME

Let's blow S*** UP!!!!

Don't worry, we've got everything under control