Monthly Archives: April 2015

Family Tales, Genealogy, Historic Photos

Ruby V. Hanneman was a Real Fashion Icon

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From very little on, my grandmother, Ruby Viola Hanneman, had a beauty that radiated in the many photographs taken of her. Her grandchildren no doubt recall the housecoat-type of outfits she often wore around the house. But make no mistake, Ruby was a fashion icon in her day. Our photo gallery bears ample testimony. Ruby in Color

My grandparents were anything but wealthy. They worked hard to provide a middle-class home to their three children, Donn, David (my Dad) and Lavonne. Grandpa Carl F. Hanneman was a pharmacist at the Hess clinic and hospital. As we detailed in another post, he wrote to the attorney general of Wisconsin for help in upgrading his pharmacist license so he could better care for his family.

Regardless of the family’s financial circumstances, the Hanneman children were always dressed in nice clothing. Carl had nice suits for work and Sunday Mass. If you met Ruby at a family event, you might think she descended from royalty. Actually, there was a longstanding family yarn that said the Treutel family from which Ruby came was from a royal line in Europe. I’m still researching that one. Nevertheless, Ruby was always sharply dressed. The main photo above shows her in a Life Magazine pose during a 1950s trip out West. Classic stuff.

Far be it for me to offer detailed commentary on women’s fashion, but I am struck by Ruby’s fashion sense as shown in the photo gallery below. Dresses, hats, gloves, shoes and coats, nicely coordinated. This was evident at different events, from weddings to the common Sunday visit to family and extended family in the Wisconsin Rapids area. So many decades later, these photos are a real treat, although also reminders of the hole in our lives left by the absence of loved ones like Dad (1933-2007) and Grandma Ruby (1904-1977).

Ruby E. Hanneman has her great-grandmother's keen sense of fashion.
Ruby E. Hanneman has her great-grandmother’s keen sense of fashion.

I am quite tickled that my youngest daughter, not coincidentally named Ruby, is also very interested in fashion and interior decorating, just like her great grandma. I marvel at her discussions of colors, styles and fabrics — things I know little about. One thing is for sure: Ruby V. Hanneman is no doubt pleased to look down and see Ruby E. Hanneman, a young lady after her own heart.

©2015 The Hanneman Archive

 

Taken in the late 1950s on a trip to Arizona, this photo of Ruby Hanneman is worthy of Life Magazine.
Ruby V. Hanneman during a visit to La Crosse, Wis., in the 1950s.
Ruby Hanneman and daughter Lavonne at Viterbo College in the late 1950s.
Ruby Hanneman and daughter Lavonne before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the campus of Viterbo College.
Ruby Hanneman (left) with sister-in-law Irma and brother-in-law Wilbert G. Hanneman.
High school senior Ruby (Treutel) Hanneman dressed for her part in “The Fire Prince.”
Ruby Treutel with her mother, Mary Treutel, taken in 1924 at Vesper, Wis.
Ruby ( far right) with husband Carl (far left) at a dinner event in the 1940s.
Ruby Treutel on a pier at Lake Michigan.
Ruby Hanneman (center) with daughter-in-law Mary K. Hanneman and daughter Lavonne.
Ruby V. Hanneman with daughter-in-law Mary K. Hanneman.
Ruby Hanneman seated next to the family home in Mauston, Wisconsin.
Ruby Hanneman and young daughter Lavonne at home in Mauston in the mid-1940s.
Ruby Hanneman with son David and daughter Lavonne (next to the rope) at Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Carl and Ruby Hanneman (left) at a Knights of Columbus event in the early 1940s.
Ruby Treutel (in back) with brother Marvin and sisters Elaine and Nina.
Ruby Hannemanin the cat-eye shades at a Mulqueen family wedding at Cudahy, Wisconsin.
Ruby Hanneman at Vesper, Wisconsin in the late 1920s.
Ruby Treutel and younger sister Elaine at Solomon Juneau Park in Milwaukee in 1924.
Ruby V. Hanneman, circa 1950.
Carl and Ruby Hanneman on their 25th wedding anniversary in July 1950.
Ruby and Lavonne Hanneman at home in Mauston.
Ruby (Treutel) Hanneman on her wedding day, July 14, 1925.
Eye on the Past, Faith, Genealogy, Historic Photos

Eye on the Past: Rudolph Grotto Shrine 1958

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As many times as I’ve traveled to central Wisconsin, I was not aware of a beautiful, sprawling religious shrine built by a Catholic priest in thanksgiving for having his health restored after a visit to Lourdes, France in the early 1900s. The Rudolph Grotto Gardens near Wisconsin Rapids were the dream fulfilled of Father Philip Wagner, who developed and dedicated the site to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1927.

I learned of Rudolph Grotto Gardens while researching a photo of my grandmother, Ruby V. Hanneman, standing near a statue of St. Philomena in 1958 or 1959. St. Philomena, who was martyred at age 13, is known as the Patroness of the Living Rosary. Her shrine at Rudolph Grotto Gardens was built in 1957 by Edmund Rybicki, Father Wagner’s right-hand man.

The first grotto shrine at the Rudolph site, dedicated to the Our Lady of Lourdes, was completed in 1928. When a young and sick Philip Wagner visited the famous shrine at Lourdes, he promised the Blessed Virgin Mary that if he were healed of his illnesses so he could become a priest, he would build a shrine to her in America. And so he was healed, and was ordained a priest in 1915. He was assigned to St. Philomena Catholic Church in Rudolph in 1917.

Ruby V. Hanneman stands at the St. Philomena shrine in Rudolph in the late 1950s.
Ruby V. Hanneman stands at the St. Philomena shrine in Rudolph in the late 1950s.

Over the years, the site expanded to include the Stations of the Cross, the Ten Commandments, a Last Supper Shrine, A “Wonder Cave” modeled after the catacombs, a Shrine of the Resurrection, a soldier’s monument and more.

Father Wagner and Rybicki labored on the site for decades. After Father Wagner died in 1959, Rybicki became the site caretaker. In 1961, St. Philomena Church was rededicated and renamed St. Philip the Apostle in honor of Father Philip Wagner. The last project at the grotto gardens was finished in 1983. Read more about the site here.

Lavonne Hanneman stands near an arch at the Rudolph Grotto Gardens in 1958 or 1959.
Lavonne Hanneman stands near an arch at the Rudolph Grotto Gardens in 1958 or 1959.
Ruby V. Hanneman at Rudolph Grotto Gardens in 1958 or 1959.
Ruby V. Hanneman at Rudolph Grotto Gardens in 1958 or 1959.

 

Eye on the Past, Family Tales, Genealogy, Historic Photos

Eye on the Past: Wash Tub Baby 1933

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This photograph has perplexed me for years. A baby in a diaper, lying on a pillow inside a steel wash tub. I strongly suspect this is my father, David D. Hanneman (1933-2007). The image raises many questions but provides no answers.

A strange place for a nap, circa 1933.
A strange place for a nap. This might be David D. Hanneman in the summer of 1933.

Why stick a baby in a wash tub? Was this the poor family’s playpen? The Depression-era bassinette? A brutal pre-Dr. Spock time-out? Freshly picked from the vine? In this day and age, such a photo might get you a visit from Child Services. I’m guessing my Grandma Ruby (Treutel) Hanneman (1904-1977) just thought it made a cute photo. She was known to dote on her “little Davey.”

If this was Dad in the tub, the photo was likely taken in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where he was born in March 1933. The family did not move to Mauston until early 1936. Usually I can confirm my Dad’s ID in photos by the ears, but they are not visible in this image.

My memories of such a steel container at the house in Mauston had nothing to do with babies. I recall bluegill, sunfish and bass in such a tub, waiting for Grandpa Carl’s skilled fillet knife. Or the tub filled with ice and bottles of orange and grape soda (known as “pop” by some of you). But no babies.

This one is destined to remain a mystery. I’m sure it would tickle my grandma to know it was a conversation piece some 80 years later, and that no one called Child Services.

©2015 The Hanneman Archive

Eye on the Past, Genealogy, Historic Photos, Treutel

Eye on the Past: Walter Treutel Family 1918

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A simple family snapshot taken around 1918 is the only photograph we have showing Walter Treutel and his wife Mary (Ladick) Treutel together. Taken at the Treutel home in the village of Vesper, Wisconsin, the photo shows a teenaged Ruby along with younger siblings Marvin, 2, and Nina, 4. Elaine Treutel would come along in 1920. Baby Gordon Treutel died in 1910.

Walter was a rural route postal carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, while Mary tended to the family home on Anderton Avenue. The couple were married on December 29, 1902 in Vesper. Walter had recently relocated to Vesper from North Prairie in Waukesha County. Our Grandma Ruby Viola (Treutel) Hanneman was their first child, born June 22, 1904. Ruby was born at 1 p.m., delivered by Dr. F.A. Goedecke.

We learned recently that Mary’s nickname was Molly. That factoid came from none other than cousin Mary “Mollisu” Clark, the daughter of Elaine (Treutel) Clark and Max Clark.

Mrs. Treutel died at just 42 years old in January 1925. She had an operation in nearby Marshfield, but a post-operative infection claimed her life on January 31. She did not live to see her daughter Ruby get married that summer, and she did not get to see her other three children grow into adulthood.

The uncropped version of the photo shows Ruby V. Treutel standing at rear. Mary and Walter Treutel are seated. In front are Marvin and Nina Treutel.
The uncropped version of the photo shows Ruby V. Treutel standing at rear. Mary and Walter Treutel are seated. In front are Marvin and Nina Treutel.