Schoenthaler Family Visits Museum
Guy Windholz
Posted October 03, 2024
Welcome was given this weekend to a majority of the Jeff and Lok “Kam” Schoenthaler families all from Wichita, KS. The family are descents of Robert Lee and Annette (Bittel) Schoenthaler. Just three years ago cousins Kyle and Debbie Schoenthaler from Redding, California had paid us a visit.
Jeff is a new Life Member of the Bukovina Society and had taken the opportunity to plan this trip to Ellis as early as July of this year and make an appointment since it was important for the caravan of three cars to arrive at the same time.
The better part of the under three hour visit took place in the museum spent looking at artifacts and going through printed family tree binders. Members of the family that could not attend were Jeff’s wife due to work commitments, Robbies’ daughter Kelsie and husband Joshua Arnett, Stephanie and husband Bruce Leach. Also missing were Vernice Clemens Leach and a deceased nephew Dean Leach.
While walking around the room Devin and wife Jordan were holding Wyatt and Savannah giving them a ‘birds eye’ look down into the glass displays. The adults were asked what items seem to attract them the most. Brittaney liked a trunk that held the belongings of Anna Armbrister brought over the ocean to their new country and Ellis. Devin liked a blow torch setting on top of a glass cabinet while DeWayne discovered a two foot square board that has a full collection of different hand tools mounted and on loan by some members of another Schoenthaler family.
We left the museum as the family was anxious to see closeup view of a military service memorial Banner purchased from the Ellis VFW by Jeff and suspended from a pole in front of the Chrysler museum.
In appreciation of the ancestral knowledge of Jeff it was fun to hear a couple of stories of his father Robert Schoenthaler. He told two humorous stories that must be recounted in Jeff’s own words.
Story #1 (fond memory of us three kids) “My sisters Stephanie & Robbie and myself took our father on a trip to Colorado to Stephanie and Bruce’s cabin about twenty five years ago. We talked our dad into going on a raft trip down the Rio Grand with four of his six grand-kids Vern, Devin, Brittaney and Kelsie. We told him that everyone might get wet so it would be best for us to keep his wallet and we would return it when we pick everyone up 5 or 6 miles downstream. We zoomed downstream to the next bend of the river where all three of the kids could wave all of his money at him and I yelled, “We are going shopping!” Stephanie yelled “We have the money and u have the grand-kids! See ya!” Robbie let out a laugh as dad reached out to us from the middle of the river with a look of surprise and defeat and yelled, “Hey, that’s MY money!” We got a picture of him at that moment that still hangs on Stephanie’s wall.”
This second story, Jeff tells it like this, “My dad told me of a story about when he was a teenager and was driving back to town on a country road where his father Martin Schoenthaler, was Chief of Police for Ellis. A car had sped past dad & immediately slowed down in front of him so dad had to pass him back. The car sped past dad a second time only to slow down in from of him again and dad passed him back. The third time the car tried to speed past him, dad said he had enough of this “explicit” (something frequently seen in a cow pasture) & pushed the pedal to the metal. Both cars were racing side by side when they came over a hill to see his dad, the Chief of Police, and a neighboring county police officer stopped in the road talking to each other. Their cars already blocked the road so when they both stopped, Martin had to throw the book at them with tickets for each of them! After hearing dad’s story about what happened at supper time that evening, Martin tore up dad’s ticket but told him he better never let him catch him driving like that again! I always wondered if dad told me the entire truth or if he got one over his ol’man.”
In conclusion this could make us wonder if the writers of the movie “Smoky and the bandit, staring Jackie Gleason and Burt Reynolds may have got rumor of what happened back in the days of Ellis, Kansas
Bukovina Ancestors:
- Jakob W. Schönthaler, *1878, Illischestie – +1964, Ellis
- Maria Schönthaler geb. Ast, *1884, Illischestie – +1953, Ellis
- Jakob Schönthaler, *1851, Illischestie – +1929, Hays
- Karolina Schönthaler geb. Kerth, *1859, Illischestie – +1929, Hays
- Philipp Ast, *1855, Illischestie – +1888, Ellis
- Henrietta Schönthaler geb. König, *1863, Illischestie – +1941, Ellis
Volga German Ancestors:
- Georg Bittel, *1868, Russia, – +1954, Ellis
- Anna Barbara Bittel geb.Ruder, *1873, Russia, – +1946, Ellis
- Heinrich “Henry” Ruder, *1824, Russia – +1901, Munjor
- Anna Dorothea geb. Ruder, *1825, Russia – +1901, Munjor
- Johann K. Leiker, *1869, Russia – +1938, Antonino
- Barbara Leiker geb. Rupp, *1870, Russia – +1914, Ellis
- Christian vonFeldt, *1859, Russia – +1935, Brighton
- Anna Marie “Annie” vonFeldt geb. Kippes, *1865, Russia – +1935, Barr Lake
- Josef D. Leiker, *1844, Russia – +1905, Munjor
- Elisabeth Leiker geb. Dechant, *1845, Russia – +1909, Munjor
- Conrad Rupp, *1826, Russia – +1909, Munjor
- Anna Eva Ruppr geb. Spötter, *1827, Russia – +1902, Munjor
- Johann “John” vonFeldt, *1825, Russia – +18855, Victoria
- Katharina vonFeldt geb. Schmidtberger, *1827, Russia – +1896, Victoria
- Jacob Caspar Kippes, *1833, Russia – +1880, Pfeifer
- Katharina Kippse geb. Sommer, *1832, Russia – +1889, Victoria
Kansas Ancestors:
- Clemens “Clem” Bittel, *1904, Munjor – +1997, Hays
- Firmina Bittel geb. Leiker, *1916, Hays, – +2003, Wichita
- Robert Lee “Bob” Schoenthaler, *1934, Ellis, – +2001, Wichita
- Annette Schoenthaler geb. Bittel, *1940, Hays, – +2022, Wichita
- Martin Johann Schoenthaler, *1902, Ellis – +1974, Ellis
- Louise Eva Schoenthal geb. Beljung, *1905, Hungary, – +1993, Ellis
- Alois J. Leiker, *1894, Antonio – +1981, Ellis
- Catherine Leiker geb. vonFeldt, *1894, Ellis, – +1983, Hays</li