Elenora (Braun) Schoenberg

Elenora Braun was born 9 June 1895 on the Braun Family Farm 1 mile NW of the village of Spring Hill, Stearns, Minnesota. Elenora "Ellie" was the youngest of eleven children born to John & Anna Maria (Minnerath) Braun.

Elenora completed some schooling at Saint Benedict Academy in Saint Joseph, MN. On 15 June 1915, when she was 20 years old, Elenora Braun married Wilhelm "Willie" Schoenberg at Saint Michael's Catholic Church in Spring Hill, MN.

Willie was born 10 November 1890 on the Schoenberg Family Farm in Section 9 of Spring Hill Township, less than 1 mile from Ellie Brauns homeplace. Willie is the fifth of the nine chilren of Martin & Katherine (Gerads) Schoenberg.

The wedding of Ellie Braun and Willie Schoenberg became a double wedding when Ellie's brother, Henry Braun, and Willie's younger sister, Mary Schoenberg, were also wed. The two couples were married at St. Michael's Church in Spring Hill, Stearns, Minnesota on 15 June 1915.

Willie and Ellie took over the operation of the Schoenberg family farm from his parents. Years later, the farm would be passed to thier son, Victor Schoenberg, and then the next generation with John Schoenberg. The ancestral farm remains in the Schoenberg family for more than 125 years. Today it is owned and operated by John's son, Grant Schoenberg and his family.

Ellie & Willie Schoenberg are the parents of 11 children:

o- Martin Wm [Fr. Martin, OSC] (1916-1996)
o- Elenora [Sister Lucy, OSF] (1918-2009)
o- Victor Charles (1920-1967)
o- Oscar Christian [Fr Oscar, OSC] (1922-2015)
o- Walter J. [Brother Walter, OCSO] (1924-2018)
o- Lawrence H. [Died as infant] (1926-1926)
o- Helen Apollonia Mueller (1927-2015)
o- Mary Jane Schneider (1929-2014)
o- John (1932-1932)
o- Anthony Leo [Brother Leo, OSC] (1933- )
o- Flora Wilhelmina Eull (1934-1994)

Willie Schoenberg died on March 15, 1937. Ellie continued to run the farm with the help of her children, brothers-in-law Carl & Joe Schoenberg, along with other relatives & friends. Years later Ellie Schoenberg would sell the farm to her son Victor and his wife, Bertha. She would move to Melrose, Minn.

In 1953 Ellie Schoenberg was awarded the Bishops Medal by Bishop Bartholome of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota. The article from the Melrose Beacon can be viewed in the PHOTO section of this record.

A homemaker, farmer, wife & mother of eleven, Elenora Schoenberg died 13 July 1956 in Melrose, MN at age 60. She was buried next to her husband at St. Michael's Cemetery in Spring Hill, Minn.

Click the PHOTO tab to view all images and print articles in this memorial record.