She loved canned peas, strawberry milkshakes, roses, collecting rocks and listening to Elvis. A perfect Sunday was a cup of coffee and the newspaper in the morning, watching NASCAR in the afternoon and a visit from family in the evening. On 26 April 2013, at home, surrounded by her family and all the things she loved best, Alfrieda Magdalena (Bessler) Spiegel, known as Frieda, Ma, Grandma and Granny, slipped peacefully from this life after battling heart disease.
Born 19 May 1917 on the family farm near Enochsburg in Ray Township, Franklin County, Indiana, to John and Philomena (Lecher) Bessler, Frieda was the fourth of their eight children. Farm life was hard work but it taught her many skills that she passed on to her own family such as gardening, canning fruit, making pickles, jam and bread from scratch. No matter how we tried though, none of us could ever make buttery flakey pie crust like she could. Her blackberry pie was awesome! As kids, we always pestered her to tell us stories of her daily life on the farm. Milking cows before breakfast, chopping wood or fetching eggs from underneath a hen and not a carton in the fridge were out of our realm of experiences. Her grandkids sat mesmerized when she would relate to them--in gory detail--how she used to kill and prep chickens for cooking.
Frieda graduated the 8th grade from Enochsburg School, and then worked at Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana. Walking home with a friend from a dance one evening in 1935, a handsome young man called out a friendly hello to her companion as they passed each other. It was the first time she saw the love of her life, Norbert Spiegel.
Shortly afterwards, Frieda got a better job in Cincinnati. Norb worked in Barberton, Ohio, so they wrote often and visited occasionally until 14 May 1938 when they married at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Enochsburg. The newlyweds borrowed a Model "A" Ford from Norb's brother and went on a month long honeymoon through the Great Smokey Mountains.
As Norb received promotions, the young couple along with their growing family, moved nine times over the next eighteen years. They eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. After Norb died in 1960, Frieda left Denver and set down roots in Citrus Heights, California where she spent the remainder of her life.
Devoted to her family she will be greatly missed by her children Barbara Kuhl, John (Debbie), Patricia and Steven (Tina); 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister Ruth (Bill) Bretnitz; niece Margery Bessler as well as numerous other family members and friends. Her son, Richard, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., 20 May 2013 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Citrus Heights, with light refreshments afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice . Interment will occur at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver next to her beloved Norb.
Published on Sacbee.com from May 3 to May 4, 2013
Born 19 May 1917 on the family farm near Enochsburg in Ray Township, Franklin County, Indiana, to John and Philomena (Lecher) Bessler, Frieda was the fourth of their eight children. Farm life was hard work but it taught her many skills that she passed on to her own family such as gardening, canning fruit, making pickles, jam and bread from scratch. No matter how we tried though, none of us could ever make buttery flakey pie crust like she could. Her blackberry pie was awesome! As kids, we always pestered her to tell us stories of her daily life on the farm. Milking cows before breakfast, chopping wood or fetching eggs from underneath a hen and not a carton in the fridge were out of our realm of experiences. Her grandkids sat mesmerized when she would relate to them--in gory detail--how she used to kill and prep chickens for cooking.
Frieda graduated the 8th grade from Enochsburg School, and then worked at Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana. Walking home with a friend from a dance one evening in 1935, a handsome young man called out a friendly hello to her companion as they passed each other. It was the first time she saw the love of her life, Norbert Spiegel.
Shortly afterwards, Frieda got a better job in Cincinnati. Norb worked in Barberton, Ohio, so they wrote often and visited occasionally until 14 May 1938 when they married at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Enochsburg. The newlyweds borrowed a Model "A" Ford from Norb's brother and went on a month long honeymoon through the Great Smokey Mountains.
As Norb received promotions, the young couple along with their growing family, moved nine times over the next eighteen years. They eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. After Norb died in 1960, Frieda left Denver and set down roots in Citrus Heights, California where she spent the remainder of her life.
Devoted to her family she will be greatly missed by her children Barbara Kuhl, John (Debbie), Patricia and Steven (Tina); 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister Ruth (Bill) Bretnitz; niece Margery Bessler as well as numerous other family members and friends. Her son, Richard, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., 20 May 2013 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Citrus Heights, with light refreshments afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice . Interment will occur at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver next to her beloved Norb.
Published on Sacbee.com from May 3 to May 4, 2013
She loved canned peas, strawberry milkshakes, roses, collecting rocks and listening to Elvis. A perfect Sunday was a cup of coffee and the newspaper in the morning, watching NASCAR in the afternoon and a visit from family in the evening. On 26 April 2013, at home, surrounded by her family and all the things she loved best, Alfrieda Magdalena (Bessler) Spiegel, known as Frieda, Ma, Grandma and Granny, slipped peacefully from this life after battling heart disease.
Born 19 May 1917 on the family farm near Enochsburg in Ray Township, Franklin County, Indiana, to John and Philomena (Lecher) Bessler, Frieda was the fourth of their eight children. Farm life was hard work but it taught her many skills that she passed on to her own family such as gardening, canning fruit, making pickles, jam and bread from scratch. No matter how we tried though, none of us could ever make buttery flakey pie crust like she could. Her blackberry pie was awesome! As kids, we always pestered her to tell us stories of her daily life on the farm. Milking cows before breakfast, chopping wood or fetching eggs from underneath a hen and not a carton in the fridge were out of our realm of experiences. Her grandkids sat mesmerized when she would relate to them--in gory detail--how she used to kill and prep chickens for cooking.
Frieda graduated the 8th grade from Enochsburg School, and then worked at Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana. Walking home with a friend from a dance one evening in 1935, a handsome young man called out a friendly hello to her companion as they passed each other. It was the first time she saw the love of her life, Norbert Spiegel.
Shortly afterwards, Frieda got a better job in Cincinnati. Norb worked in Barberton, Ohio, so they wrote often and visited occasionally until 14 May 1938 when they married at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Enochsburg. The newlyweds borrowed a Model "A" Ford from Norb's brother and went on a month long honeymoon through the Great Smokey Mountains.
As Norb received promotions, the young couple along with their growing family, moved nine times over the next eighteen years. They eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. After Norb died in 1960, Frieda left Denver and set down roots in Citrus Heights, California where she spent the remainder of her life.
Devoted to her family she will be greatly missed by her children Barbara Kuhl, John (Debbie), Patricia and Steven (Tina); 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister Ruth (Bill) Bretnitz; niece Margery Bessler as well as numerous other family members and friends. Her son, Richard, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., 20 May 2013 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Citrus Heights, with light refreshments afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice . Interment will occur at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver next to her beloved Norb.
Published on Sacbee.com from May 3 to May 4, 2013
Born 19 May 1917 on the family farm near Enochsburg in Ray Township, Franklin County, Indiana, to John and Philomena (Lecher) Bessler, Frieda was the fourth of their eight children. Farm life was hard work but it taught her many skills that she passed on to her own family such as gardening, canning fruit, making pickles, jam and bread from scratch. No matter how we tried though, none of us could ever make buttery flakey pie crust like she could. Her blackberry pie was awesome! As kids, we always pestered her to tell us stories of her daily life on the farm. Milking cows before breakfast, chopping wood or fetching eggs from underneath a hen and not a carton in the fridge were out of our realm of experiences. Her grandkids sat mesmerized when she would relate to them--in gory detail--how she used to kill and prep chickens for cooking.
Frieda graduated the 8th grade from Enochsburg School, and then worked at Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana. Walking home with a friend from a dance one evening in 1935, a handsome young man called out a friendly hello to her companion as they passed each other. It was the first time she saw the love of her life, Norbert Spiegel.
Shortly afterwards, Frieda got a better job in Cincinnati. Norb worked in Barberton, Ohio, so they wrote often and visited occasionally until 14 May 1938 when they married at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Enochsburg. The newlyweds borrowed a Model "A" Ford from Norb's brother and went on a month long honeymoon through the Great Smokey Mountains.
As Norb received promotions, the young couple along with their growing family, moved nine times over the next eighteen years. They eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. After Norb died in 1960, Frieda left Denver and set down roots in Citrus Heights, California where she spent the remainder of her life.
Devoted to her family she will be greatly missed by her children Barbara Kuhl, John (Debbie), Patricia and Steven (Tina); 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; sister Ruth (Bill) Bretnitz; niece Margery Bessler as well as numerous other family members and friends. Her son, Richard, predeceased her.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., 20 May 2013 at Holy Family Catholic Church, Citrus Heights, with light refreshments afterwards. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice . Interment will occur at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver next to her beloved Norb.
Published on Sacbee.com from May 3 to May 4, 2013
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