Elfriede Louise Blankenstein was the daughter of Gottfried Friedrich August Blankenstein and Marie Dorothea Elisabeth Friedrichs.
Elfriede Blankenstein was baptized July 20, 1902, by the pastor of St. Peter's Evangelical Church of Coupland, Texas. Elfriede was baptized in the home of her uncle, Ernest Blankenstein in Temple, Texas. Her baptismal sponsors were her aunt, Myra "Nannie" Weeks Blankenstein, and her first cousin, Louise Blankenstein.
Elfriede was confirmed April 2, 1911, by Pastor C. Wolff at St. Paul's Evangelical & Reformed Church (now St. Paul's United Church of Christ) in Gerald, Texas. Her confirmation text was Matthew 7: 13-14 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it".
Elfriede married Henry Friedrich Daniel Bode on Aug. 2, 1922, in the Blankenstein home in Gerald, McLennan Co., Texas; Pastor John Link performed the marriage ceremony, and the witnesses were Paul Blankenstein and Anna Weissinger.
Henry and Elfriede Bode lived in McLennan County the first 16 years of their marriage before moving to Penelope, in Hill County, where they lived one year. In 1940, Henry and Elfriede Bode moved their family to the Eastgate Community in Liberty County where Elfriede's sister and brother-in-law, Alma and Albert Banik, were living. On February 6, 1942, Henry and Elfriede Bode purchased a 129.54-acre farm in Eastgate.
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OBITUARY FROM THE LIBERTY VINDICATOR:

Mrs. Elfriede Bode

DAYTON--Mrs. Elfriede Bode, 80, of Dayton, passed away at 5:48 a.m. Friday, January 19, in Kersting Memorial Hospital, Liberty.
A native of Temple, Mrs. Bode had resided in Dayton since 1940, where she was a member of the First United Methodist Church.
Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 20, in Sterling Funeral Home Chapel, Dayton, with Rev. Bill Webb officiating. Interment was in Magnolia Park Cemetery, Dayton. Pallbearers were Joe Smesny, Frank Smesny, Larry Norwood, Frank Grudziecki, Jimmy Smesny, and Emil Smesny.
Survivors include her son, Orvel Bode; two daughters, Mrs. Marveline Smesny and Mrs. Lois King, all of Dayton; one brother, Siegfried Blankenstein of Fort Worth; and 10 grandchildren.
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Elfriede Blankenstein Bode was preceded in death by her parents, Gottfried Blankenstein and Marie Friedrichs Blankenstein; her husband, Henry F. Bode in 1961; three infant sons; her brothers, Herman, Richard, Paul, and Freddie Blankenstein; and her sisters, Mamie Lehmann, Rose Blankenstein, Elsie Forkel, and Alma Banik.