Chapter 4-Theresa comes to America – 1925:

Well, I’m coming to America!  <=LINK-Do not miss seeing this VIDEO

Happily, Theresia has arrived in America. Now we are into Chapter 4 where you get introduced to our relatives in America. Thanks to them, my Mom, (Theresa – Rosel) was welcomed with open arms into their home at 729 S. Conkling St. Here is what the internet says about 729 S Conkling St, Baltimore, MD. It is a townhouse home that contains 1,224 sq. ft. and was built in 1920. It contains 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. I recall that It also had a basement, small yard out back and an alley garage. The reason those statistics are significant is because that is where Mom joined her Uncle Franz and her Aunt Elizabeth and their TEN (10) children. Remember they had never met before!

          Mom came to America in 1925, so the family was already in this relatively new place. By the time I visited here in the 1940’s and ‘50’s, the family was expanded through marriage and other houses in the row (727-739) were owned by a few of the younger Lutz married couples. This area of Baltimore was called Highlandtown, a predominately German community and was down the street from Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. All the Lutz family were devout Catholics and the church at the corner was a focus of activity for them. Many attended daily mass there. The main street for commerce was Eastern Avenue just  a few blocks away. The other address around the corner which sticks in my mind was 626 S. Dean St., the home of the Kihn’s (Ann Lutz & Ed Kihn). During my sub-teen years when we visited Baltimore, I was permitted to go through the back alley of 729 and down To Aunt Annie’s house for some sweets. The one other memory that sticks in my mind are the ‘white marble steps’ tradition that existed there. To me it appeared that every one of the neighborhood houses had two ‘white’ marble steps with which to enter into the front door. Once a week, every lady of the house would be out scrubbing the steps, each trying to outshine their neighbors marble ‘stoop’.

All of thoughts presented here are mine gathered from a later time from my preteen years and on. To keep in step with the progress of this tribute as it relates to my Mom’s immigration, I wish to spend most of the remaining time in this chapter to provide a comprehensive introduction to the Lutz family as it existed when Mom showed up in Baltimore. As we eventually ‘build out’ future chapters, the generations of my Lutz  cousins will multiply and you will realize just how fortunate my parents, Gus & Rosel, were to integrate into this wonderful family. In later chapters my cousin Frank Lutz, better known to the family as “Sonny”, established the Lutz family reunion and also put together his LINK ==> ‘Family History Document’ which you may read. You will meet and get to know the most recent generations when we get to those Reunion Chapters.

In this chapter, we have also integrated a LINK ==> ‘great set’ of hand written comments put together by cousin Mary Frances Heinle known as “Dutzle” or “Dutz” to all of us. It covers her observations of the family during those young tender years as she was growing up. The real feeling of the family could not be spelled out any better than her personal notes. They are presented just as they were written in her own hand.

Sadly, Cousin Dutz passed away on May 16, 2020 due to complications from the cov19 virus. Today she is with her namesake ‘Mary” and her Lord ‘Jesus’ watching from above.

          So let’s get started by looking at the Grozpop Franz (GP) and Grozmom Elizabeth’s (GM) family during their early years through 1925. Often wondered how GP got to Baltimore. Not sure but his best man when he married was George Westerman and I recall hearing that name often in family conversations when visiting in Baltimore. In looking at the Family Tree back in time, GP’s (Franz Josef) maternal grandmother was Rosina Westerman. I am strictly guessing that is where the connection to Baltimore happened. What remains a mystery is the timing of all this. GP was born in 1878 and married in 1898 in Baltimore at age 20. He must have emigrated to America as a young boy, somehow. GM was 5 years older than GP and came from a town in Germany named Wichsenstein.

          Ok, let’s look at the family and who was here when my Mom arrived in 1925. Well, they all were there, all 10. Here is a chart showing the Lutz clan of Mom’s cousins whom I called my Aunts and Uncles and their ages in 1925. I had the pleasure to know each and every one plus their families as our lives progressed. Not all GM & GP’s children survived much beyond their childbirth. There were also born, Augusta (1909), Henry (1913) and Lawrence (1918) who at least were baptized but unfortunately died shortly after. Lots of FLU and other bad uncontrolled stuff going on back in those days. Here is Lawrence remembrance Card! God Bless Augusta, Henry and Lawrence. You have been joined by your parents and all your siblings.

          The references all mean something for me. The asterisk (*) designates ‘The New Jersey Lutz’s’ as opposed to the rest which were ‘The Baltimore Lutz’s’. Uncle Bast was  the one who went on with schooling and became a Chemist which brought he & his wife Flora (married 9/17/1924) to New Jersey and into the yeast business. Uncle Charlie followed him there and much, much later, so did Uncle Ginny. The (#) sign designates those individuals and families I knew best as they were frequent visitors to our home(s) in New York. Aunt Francie was also married  at that time (9/14/1925) to Uncle Frank Heinle also a chemist. They lived down the street on S. Conkling Ave. So at least a few of the older children lived elsewhere than 729 in 1925.

          Well you can now see that Mom came into a very busy family life when she showed up in Baltimore. Remember the size of 729, (1224 sq.ft.) with all the Lutz family who came and went through that front door way. Mom had to stay there somehow with them  until she went out for her promised employment as the cook on an estate. I no longer remember the name of the family on that estate, but they lived in the suburbs of Baltimore. They were German and friends of GP. Mom described her life at that time. “Here I was at age 25, spoke little English, living 6 days a week by myself in the countryside. I only could come to Uncle Franz (GP) and the family for a Sunday visit with dinner.”  Well, as a result, it did not take long that she renewed contact with her Freiburg friend Freida Beetz who arranged a job for her in New York with the family of Robert Dowling on Park Ave. She was a “Putzfrau” or ‘maid’. She would say when she told the story, Freida told me, “You can come, but not as a cook, I am the cook!” So within a year after being with the family in Baltimore, she went to NY on Park Ave, back to the ‘Good Life’ she learned to live in Freiburg. (that story of Freiburg experience is back in Chapter 3. <==Link

          But before we proceed onto Mom’s move to NY, we will provide you a better insight into all the Lutz family who we touched on above. Obviously I do not have pictures of all these cousins actually taken in 1925 but I provide for you next the best I have along with my personal comments as I remember them. What I do have is this one picture that shows ALL of them at some point in time. I guess that to be in the 1950’s, probably at GP’s funeral.

Now, I would like to highlight for you each one with my personal comments for each.

Of course this is Grozmom. I never knew her as she passed away in 1941 when I was just two. Mom had nothing but the highest praise for her, so much, that in fact she named my sister, Elizabeth, after her when Elizabeth was born in 1935.

    And then there was Groszpop. I am so happy to have known him as well as I did. The reason being that after GM passed on, Uncle Joe became the patriarch image for the family. Uncle Joe took GP with him up to NY each year during the horse racing season. Uncle Joe loved the horses and in the 1940’s when ‘they were running at Jamaica’, he would come up with GP and together they spent some extended time. Each day Joe would take the subway train to the race track and GP spent the day home with Mom and myself. They would talk German (to me GP never lost his German accent) about their home village of Muggensturm and all the relatives there. My mother always kept close touch with all the relatives in Germany till the day of her passing in 1988.

      During the times of their visits, of which I have fondest memories,  we lived in Parkchester in the Bronx. GP and I would take a walk down Tremont Ave. toward Westchester Square every day. It was a good walk and there was a candy store there that carried his favorite stogie cigars. They also had one of these 1 Cent machines that put out a roughly 5″x 8″ card with a famous cowboy on it for each penny inserted. As a result, I added to my collection every day…. no wonder I remember. Uncle Joe was more than gracious to Mom during his annual stays with us that went on each year past GP’s passing in 1953. Uncle Joe never married but I do remember in his later years he became quite a dancer and enjoyed the company of a few ladies at that time. Uncle Joe passed on in 1983.

          In 1925, Aunt Francie married Uncle Frank Heinle. As a couple, they visited us in NY occasionally but Uncle Frank came more often when he was in NY on business. He frequently met at our house with Uncle Charlie of the ‘Jersey Lutz’s’ and together they went off to sporting events together, often taking me along. Both were big sports fans.

        I remember Aunt Francie most in their Baltimore home. She, daughters Dutz and Betty, lived next door to each other. She loved her grand kids and they seemed always to be  right there with her. Uncle Frank, like Uncle Joe and all the other Uncles were very generous to me when ever I was saying goodbye to them. They all would slip me a few dollars encouraging me to be sure to use it well. Those experiences, along with my parents help,  taught me to treat money with respect, spend some, and save most.

              Of Uncle John and Aunt Margaret, I have very little personal recollection. I do know he was a well educated self-taught druggist and had a classic drug store operation. We have some email info from his son John explaining more about Link ==>John and Margaret. It seemed he had an excellent business because whenever we were in Baltimore to visit, we only saw him quickly at the Pharmacy busy working behind the counter.

To my recollection, they never visited us in NY. I have not yet located a picture with both he and Margaret together. I will keep looking. However, here is a picture of ‘young’ John and his wife Linda. John has a ‘fantastic Hobby.’ <== Link I understand he is still with us but I have lost contact. Hopefully he will find us soon. I will try as well.

         I have many pictures of Aunt Annie & Uncle Ed Kihn and their family. You will see many of them as we progress through the years. The Kihn’s were annual visitors to Mom and Pop’s country home in Lake Lincolndale NY. Uncle Ed, as a trained blacksmith, owned ‘Service Auto Springs’, a shop near the ‘Old Baltimore Shot Tower‘ (<==LINK) in downtown Baltimore. Each year, in summer, they showed up with a couple of cases of National Bohemian Beer from the plant in Baltimore where GP and one of the Lutz boys worked. He was a technical person and between he, my father and I who loved to talk cars, I was in heaven. Aunt Annie’s house on Dean St. was where we stayed on each visit down to Baltimore. They also had a small fenced in back yard in the alley way behind the house where Uncle Ed kept the ‘box’ turtles (<== LINK ) they picked up on the road while on their ride through the countryside on weekends. Uncle Ed would whistle and they all came to him. I would feed each of them lettuce when I visited. If I recall correctly, Aunt Annie lost her life in an auto accident on one of those ‘ride through the country’ trips.

         Their children, Frank and Anna Maria were our (Lynn & I) friends until today, though we have lost touch in old age. Frank became a dentist, married to Adrienne and together they raised a beautiful family. Anna Maria became a Carmelite nun and spent many years in the convent in upstate NY. Lynn and I visited her there a few times. You will see more of them also as we progress through time in future chapters. 

   

      Sebastian ‘Uncle Bast’ Lutz was my role model growing up. He was the Dean of the ‘New Jersey’ Lutz clan, well educated, held down an executive position and was father to wonderful great family, lived in a great house which I admired on Bloomfield Ave.

He married Flora Mary Lynch in 1924 also from Baltimore. So as I was growing up, our frequent trips to Baltimore were hosted by Aunt Flora and Uncle Bast who would travel there a few times a year over a long weekend to visit their families ‘back home’. Mom and I would take a bus from NY to Bloomfield where we all hopped into the ‘Lutz-mobile’ and went off to Baltimore which was a long ride back then. In later years, they also took care of Flora’s mother Mrs. Lynch who by then also traveled with us. First stop was the Lynch household to drop off Flora & Mrs. Lynch there and then over to Highlandtown to drop us off at the Kihn’s. Besides being our host on trips to Baltimore, both families frequented each other’s homes for dinners, especially holidays. Uncle Bast hired all of us boys when we came of age to work at his National Yeast Corp. plant during the summers. The idea was to allow us to save money and put it toward our college tuition. The experience working at the plant during summers had a profound effect on my future life. That story here. Link==> “Hubert’s life Experiences at the yeast plant”

           Uncle George was in my recollection a very quiet maybe even shy Lutz, at least till I read cousin Dutz’s handwritten notes spelling out his life on the farm. I really only got to know him in my teen age years and after Lynn and I started going to Ocean City MD. with Aunt Grace. It seemed like he was never around on our Baltimore visits (the farm?) and I never remember him coming to NY. One of the reasons I found out later was his love for Ocean City MD, to eat crabs and take of the ocean air. I am guessing that was his place to go on weekends as he rented a room in a boarding house there. When in Ocean City, Lynn and I visited him there. Uncle George never married but seemed to me had the reputation of being quite a ladies man?? I do know that through him Uncle Charlie, as a ‘NJ Lutz’ would also spend time in Ocean City MD. Charlie did not marry till 1957 so the two bachelors lived it up  together a lot on the Maryland shore.

         

 Uncle Will and Evelyn were similarly unfamiliar to me as was Uncle John and Margaret. The only time I remember seeing them was at the occasional weddings or funerals. Never visited us in NY? They did not have any children so any follow on experiences to my generation never happened. 

        Next we come to my Uncle Charlie. I must say he was more like an older brother than the New Jersey cousin that he was. He got himself personally involved in my life as I was growing up. We played baseball ‘catch’ together. He and his lady friend, Adele, at the time were big Roller Derby fans and he personally knew and supported the ladies team called the ‘Jersey Jolters’. Whenever they were playing in NY at the 14th street armory (which was often), they came to our house (cross town on 14th St.) for dinner, picked me up and off we went to the roller derby. Uncle Charlie was also very close to his nephew Sonny Lutz (Bast’s Son, Frank) and I can remember a few times when  we three were together  at Belmar on the Jersey Shore having a jolly time together. Once again, in my link in the Uncle Bast story above I talk about my summers at the Yeast plan where Charlie also worked.

Charlie was courting Grace and then they married.  Aunt Grace, who was easy to love and call ‘Aunt’, became an instant hit in our family and was just like a older sister. Lynn never knew Uncle Charlie but got to know Grace well. Grace and I introduced Lynn to Ocean City Md. and had a number of great Labor Day weekends there. Attached is a note from Aunt Grace along with a “Eulogy” (<==LINK) to Uncle Charlie as was written by her niece Teresa. Have a look please. 

        On October 8 1956, Uncle Frank Heinle had three tickets to the World Series baseball game between the NY Yankees and my team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. So Uncle Charlie, Uncle Frank and I went to the game. I skipped school that day. We had great seats right behind first base. It  was a historical game as Yankee pitcher Don Larsen pitched a ‘perfect’ game  <==LINK, against my Dodgers. Only perfect game ( 27 batters up and 27 down) in World Series history. My personal memento, my ticket stub, is shown here. More on Uncle Charlie to come. Unfortunately, he passed on ‘too young’ at age 46. He will always be remembered for his loving companionship.  

           

            Eugene Francis Lutz, known to all of us as Uncle Ginny spent a great deal of his life in Baltimore as one of The Baltimore Lutz’s. Fortunately for those of us living up in NY, he eventually became one of the NJ Lutz family. We all got to know him so much better.

Uncle Ginny was also a sports enthusiast and if my memory serves me correctly, he was a semi-professional Soccer player for a German American club in Baltimore. During the early ‘40’s he would frequently come to Randall’s Island stadium in NYC to play against local clubs there. Once again Uncle Charlie would pick me up and off we would go to the game. Being part of the team, he did not visit us at home so my father would join us as well.

         Uncle Ginny married Frieda Wenger Reinsfelder in 1945. Aunt Frieda’s first husband, father of her son Donald 14, had passed away. Thus, Uncle Ginny had a step-son with which he became a great pal. During the 1950’s when Donald was in the navy and for a while stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he visited our home frequently. I got to know him well. After he married Helga, he brought her to visit also. My mother was their ‘Aunt Rosel’ and they were always welcome in our home. My mother and father had a way of welcoming everyone they knew into our home so they felt ‘at home’. Frieda passed away in 1959 and left a great void in Ginny’s life. Uncle Charlie had already passed in 1960 by the time Uncle Bast ‘the old man’ at the plant came to Ginny’s rescue with a job at National Yeast. That is when he became a ‘Jersey Lutz’ and I got to know him better. He became a regular visitor, met a new lady, Mae and found himself a new life.

     With Mae they opened a restaurant business in Massachusetts. Mom, Pop and I visited them there a few times. It was interesting to see Uncle Ginny the soccer player in his later years waiting on tables. I do remember the place was small, served Mae’s home cooked specialty meals. The restaurant was in a converted home. As Lynn and I got busy with our own lives and with them in Massachusetts, we lose track of their personal lives until the year 2000. That is when cousin Sonny of the Jersey Lutz’s starts the now famous, ‘Lutz Family Reunion’. Much more on that when we get there in the timeline of this sites stories.

         Aunt Mary and Uncle Dick, sons Charles (Bucky) and George, were the youngest of all Groszpop’s families. Mary was only 5 when my Mom came to Baltimore in America. Here is a rare picture of my mother in the back yard of 729 S. Conkling in 1925 standing next to John the druggist. In that picture two things stand out. Sitting in the wagon is Aunt Mary and on my mother’s waist is the signature apron she seemed to wear in so many pictures, the sign of the working housewife!  As a family, I knew the Hofferbert’s somewhat because they visited us in NY city several times.

Aunt Mary and Uncle Dick married in 10/3/42 and to my recollection, always lived with and took care of Groszpop till he passed. Cousin George is still with us, still lives at 729, and hopefully will tell us more about that. I do know that we did see all of them on each trip to Baltimore we took with Uncle Bast.  

           The brothers George and Charles, my generation, are still together in Baltimore and still occasionally attend the Lutz reunions in NJ. Uncle Dick was the last of the Lutz cousin family of Mom’s generation to survive. There is a picture here of Dick and Uncle Ginny at the Lutz reunion in 2000. Uncle Dick ( Charles H. Hofferbet Jr.)  passed 9/13/2001 and his funeral in Baltimore was in itself a family reunion as most relatives attended.

Sorry to add that on Nov. 11 2018, cousin George passed on. He will be missed.

         We have introduced all the Lutz family, Baltimore & Jersey, and my recollections of each of them. Before we get on with moving my Mom to New York, here are some more pictures to make a couple of important points.

The time frame that my Mom was actually residing in Baltimore was less than two years. You can see that she integrated well into the family. During that short period, fellow Muggensturm friends came down to also know the family. As well she went north to NJ and NY to introduce the Lutz’s to her new home. Here are some pictures of that. if you pass your cursor over them they tell you who is in them.

       Groszpop (GP) loved all the grandchildren and where they were, he was. The entire first generation of Lutz family you have been introduced to were loving people and not only took good care of GP but also each other.

            Finally, we say good bye to Groszpop and Groszmom. In checking my notes, I did realize that the group picture of ‘The 10’ children at the beginning of this chapter was taken at GP’s funeral. Here are a couple more of similar type taken in 729. One picture is the entire adult family, and the other is one of all the grandchildren.

           We have spent a lot of time in this chapter, the Lutz family is a big one and as you will see, into current times the family grows considerably. Theresa, (Rosel) (Mom) & then eventually (Oma), you did a great job paving the way for all of us in the Laubis family to achieve the American dream. Now it is time for you to go to NY in your new job as a maid for the Robert Dowling family on Park Ave, joining Freida Beetz and welcoming my Father August (Gus) (Pop) and eventually (Pop-Pop) to his new life in America.

By the way, one of Mom’s jobs at the Dowling’s was to walk Peter the dog in Central Park each day. Eventually Peter became our’s. That is another story!

12/7/2017

           I would like to introduce one of our family and friends, Bob Shea. Bob and I got to know each other when, in the third grade, our family moved to Stuyvesant town on East 14th Street in Manhattan. Bob and I remain great friends although our jobs took us to separate sections of the country after our marriages. We spent many a day in each other’s apartments, on trips together, just everywhere. Of all my boyhood friends, Bob knew my parents best of all. Here are his comments about this chapter. We look for more in the future.

Hughie,

I loved Chapter 4, especially the picture of your mom and the dog at the end.

I remember going to Baltimore with you. I never forgot about the women cleaning the marble steps outside the houses. I mentioned that to my wife, Mattia, this summer, when we were walking around the neighborhoods in south Philadelphia and I saw that a few homes had marble steps.

I also remember visiting a family restaurant in New England with your family, must have been your Uncle Ginny’s. I recall that I praised the home made pot roast we were served. Embarrassingly, I was told it was sauerbraten. It sure didn’t taste as good as your mom’s. Her’s was the best ever.

I recall also going to the roller derby at the armory on 14th street and watching the ladies fighting for the lead. I remember going with my brother, Kenny. Did we go together? (YES, Bob we sure did!)

I also remembered that you had a job at a yeast factory in New Jersey. I see that job came from your uncle Bast at the plant.

This chapter really helped me work on my memories. I enjoyed all the LINKS ===> too! More to come. Merry Christmas!

Your pal,  Bob

12/10/2017

And today it gives me great pleasure to introduce you again to my most senior cousins, (Frank that is) Frank (Sonny) and Maria Lutz. I introduced Sonny earlier in this Chapter but now you also meet his lovely wife Maria. Together have host the Lutz Family Reunion during the summer in New Jersey where they live on the shore.

They add this beautiful email to the tribute of my Mom and Pop. Thank you Sonny & Maria.

Hi Hubert and Lynn,
I can’t thank you enough for the Laubis Family Website and just finished reading chapter 4, but for the material in the links.
I’m going to start on the links next. What a fantastic job you did! It brought back so many memories, all good, and many of the pictures I had never before seen.

I loved the especially great picture of your mother with Great Dane Peter. I remember sort of riding on his back when I was a little kid at your apartment in the Bronx on a Sunday afternoon. I know it was a Sunday because we always went to visit Aunt Rosel and Uncle Gus on Sunday. I remember it like it was yesterday. Your mother had so much character and strength in her face, and could she cook! I remember your father as always being cheerful and upbeat. I remember him singing a lot–always very cheerful. Thanks again. Can’t wait to get to the links!

Merry Christmas!
Sonny and Maria

Use These Links to go Elsewhere on the site.

Go Back  to Top of this Page.     Return to  Welcome Page.     Go to the ‘About us’ page
Go Back to Chapter 1 ‘Let’s begin the tribute to Rosel & Gus’
Go Back to Chapter 2 – Our German lifestyles around 1900 to 1914
Go Back to Chapter 3 Learning the good life 1914 – 1925

On to Chapter 5 Rosel & Gus find “Home” in NY USA!

or Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Pop Takes us into Future