Anna Maria Bauer
a Simple Farm Girl at Heart
Anna Maria Bauer, or simply Marie as she was commonly known as, was born in Wilderg, Germany and was the second child and first daughter to Christian and Anna Maria.
Not much is known about Marie’s childhood, or her life growing up, but we do know that she grew up on a farm in Wildberg. This family owned farm still exists and is still in operation by the Bauer Family today in 2014. |
Becoming A Woman
When Marie became an adult, she married Anton Rusch on July 31, 1920. At that time, Marie was already a mother to William Bauer who would have been approximately age 6 at the time of their marriage. It is unknown how the couple met or who William’s biological father is.
A Mysterious Man
While it was no secret that Anna Maria's son, William, was not the biological son to her husband Anton Rusch, it was still unknown who his biological father actually was. However, Anna Maria kept a small locket hidden from her family for her entire life - which might be a small clue as to who William's biological father was. This two-sided locket has a photo of Anna Maria on one side and an unknown man on the other side (not Anton).
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Following Anna Maria's death, the locket was discovered by Williams' sister Irma. It was said, by Irma, that the mysterious man pictured on the locket may have been the biological father of William Rusch (Bauer).
What happened to this man? Was he forced into WWI, never to return? Was he Anna Maria's true love? No one may ever find out who this man was, or why Marie kept him a life-long secret.
What happened to this man? Was he forced into WWI, never to return? Was he Anna Maria's true love? No one may ever find out who this man was, or why Marie kept him a life-long secret.
Starting a New Life, And Supporting a Family
Shortly after Marie’s marriage to Anton, the young family decided to immigrate to the United States in 1922. Upon the family’s arrival to the United States, they briefly stayed with Anton’s cousin in Clinton, Iowa and then moved to an apartment in Chicago. Marie’s daughter Irma recalled that the apartment building in Chicago was not a very nice place and the family often dealt with bug infestation problems.
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Eventually, Anton purchased a 5 acre plot in Alsip, IL, which is located just outside the city limits of Chicago. At the time, it was still considered a farming community.
For most of Marie’s life, she was a stay at home mother. She and Anton had three daughters together: Irma, Ericka and Irene. Marie had four children in total, including William.
As a housewife and mother, part of Marie’s responsibility and contributions to the family was growing fruits and vegetables. Marie was often found working in the garden and crop fields that surrounded their home. She was also very busy baking bread, cooking all the meals, washing, cleaning and tending to the house – which in those days – was a lot more work. |
For most of Marie’s life, she was a stay at home mother. She and Anton had three daughters together: Irma, Ericka and Irene. Marie had four children in total, including William.
As a housewife and mother, part of Marie’s responsibility and contributions to the family was growing fruits and vegetables. Marie was often found working in the garden and crop fields that surrounded their home. She was also very busy baking bread, cooking all the meals, washing, cleaning and tending to the house – which in those days – was a lot more work. |
Adopting A New Life Isn't Easy
We believe that Marie did not speak much English, and nor did she learn it. We believe this was due to the fact that she was in a rural environment, isolated and may not have had social outlets or opportunities to learn and practice her language skills with others. Therefore, her primary language was German – and she spoke German to her children and eventually grandchildren.
With Challenges Ahead, Kinder Prevail
Later in life, her husband Anton divorced Marie. Although the reasons are unknown and controversial among the family, we believe that one contributing factor was Marie’s mental health. We believe that because Marie was often isolated in a rural setting, she was not able to obtain social outlets like most people and was probably very lonely. Marie’s daughter, Irma, recalled her Marie being carried away from the home by men in white coats and was also
treated with electric-shock therapy. Mental health during that time period were ineffective and harsh – but we believe she likely suffered from anxiety issues. |
With no way to support herself, she primarily relied on her youngest daughter Irene. Marie worked some small housekeeping jobs here and there to help make ends meet, but Irene continued to live with Marie for the next 30 years to support her mother. Eventually, Marie entered a retirement home.
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Upon the divorce with Anton, she moved into a house in Blue Island, IL. Anton provided a small downpayment and her daughters Ericka and Irene helped to find a way for Marie to afford the home and all the furnishings and expenses that come with it. Her daughter Irma and husband Charles even rented out the top floor of the house for some time in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s where they started raising their children Charles Ralph and Susan Lynn.
During this time period (1940’s), not many women were divorced and this was a humiliating experience for Marie. |
A Kind and Gentle Grandmother
A personal account from Marie's grandaughter Susan Jankowski:
As my grandmother, I only had the best of experiences with her. Whenever she saw she had a happy look in her eye. I was the first granddaughter in the family, and that was something she never forgot. She had a nickname for me – “Toodie”. I thought it was cute and it made me feel kind of special. She mostly spoke broken English, and there was a lot of German words when she spoke, so it wasn’t always easy to have lengthy or in depth conversations with her. But, she was my grandmother, and we made it work. |
As a young girl, there were a few summers, maybe two or three, that I would spend a few days with her at her house in Blue Island, IL. I would help her around the house with cleaning and cooking. I remember baking bread with her. She would often give me a few coins so I could walk down to the small corner grocery store to buy a few small pieces of candy. I slept on a little cot she had placed in the dining room and I would read and read my favorite books there. It was fun for me.
Marie lived long enough to see me get married and to have my first baby. She was able to enjoy those experiences with me and I think she was so pleased and happy to share those memories with me.
Marie lived long enough to see me get married and to have my first baby. She was able to enjoy those experiences with me and I think she was so pleased and happy to share those memories with me.
Interesting Medical Fact
Marie was a carrier of a genetic blood disease, spherocytosis, which is an auto-hemolytic anemia characterized by the production red blood cells that are sphere-shaped, rather than disk shaped. As far as we know, this disease spans across five generations of this family and is considered a form hereditary sperocytosis. It has affected Marie, her daughter Irma, her granddaughter Susan, her great-granddaughter Elizabeth, and her great-great-granddaughter Ruby. To date (2014) Irma, Susan, and Elizabeth have each needed to have their gall-bladder removed due to the effects of spherocytosis.