Fiegenbaum — Maun Extended Family
At Grandma & Grandpa's
about 1962
The photos on this page were probably taken about 1961-1962, judging by the age of the youngest family member, Karen J. Fiegenbaum. The family had gathered at the home of John H. and Katie M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum, south of Mayview, Lafayette County, Missouri.
The house and buildings no longer exist. The land John & Katie used to farm has become the Maple Leaf Conservation Area, an outdoor recreational site operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
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Group photo at Grandma & Grandpa Fiegenbaum's farm
- Front row, left to right:
- Darrell H. Fiegenbaum, Brenda K. Riekhof, Eric N. Fiegenbaum (with friend), Aaron T. Riekhof (turned to look at his father).
- Middle row, left to right:
- Nathan R. Riekhof, Joyce E. Fiegenbaum (her hand on Eric's shoulder), David Q. Riekhof, J. Mark Fiegenbaum, Richard Q. Riekhof.
- Back row, left to right:
- Henry M. Fiegenbaum, Mary Ellen (Schmutz) Fiegenbaum, Dorothy L. (Fiegenbaum) Riekhof, Dorothy M. (Gerber) Fiegenbaum holding Karen J. Fiegenbaum, "Grandma" Katherine M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum.
The car in the background is a yellow 1956 Studebaker Commander owned by J. W. & Dorothy (Gerber) Fiegenbaum. That family lived near Chicago, Illinois, but was known to make extended visits back to Missouri to reconnect with the Gerber family in St. Louis and the Fiegenbaums in Lafayette County. In the summer of 1962, the Studebaker was loaded with people and possesions, including J. W.'s fully packed U.S. Army footlocker strapped to the roof, and the family migrated to Montréal, Canada. It was supposed to be a one year sojourn, but it lasted until the summer of 1968. During all that time, the Studebaker continued to make many voyages. Most were nearly annual visits back to Missouri, often by indirect routes to accommodate sightseeing (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; etc.). There were also trips inside Canada. The car was finally retired from years of faithful service in 1969.
Here is a portrait of the 1956 Studebaker packed in a familiar fashion for an outing by the Fiegenbaum-Gerber family. This trip happens to be for a summer camping vacation in 1966 to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, Canada.
The huge tides in the Bay of Fundy made an impression, as did the birds who invited themselves to dine with us every time we sat down at the picnic table.
And after dark, the park staff showed movies outdoors from the Film Board of Canada. We really enjoyed that.
But what we really lived for were the doughnuts we bought from a shop in Alma, New Brunswick, just outside the park.
Hidden by the car is Grandma's extensive vegetable garden. The small portion of a building (a white gabel end) showing above the roof of the car was Grandma's chicken coop. Further back was Grandpa's machine shed. It provided shelter to large farm implements and was home to a work shop filled with all sorts of gadgets, tools and assorted whatcha-ma-call-its. Grandkids could get lost in there for quite awhile. There is another photo in this collection which has a less obstructed view of the same scene.
Although his car is present, J. W. Fiegenbaum does not appear in this photo, indicating that he was probably operating a camera. Also absent from the photo is another cameraman, John H. Fiegenbaum. John was a father to J. W. and "Grandpa" to all the two-legged creatures under the age of 12 years that you see in these photos.
Adlai V. Riekhof and Jon E. Riekhof, additional members of this extended family, are also not in the picture, through no fault of their own; they had not yet been born. They would be forced to join this motley crew just a few years later.
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Waiting for the picture-taking to end
- Left to right:
- Dorothy M. (Gerber) Fiegenbaum, trying to distract her daughter, Karen J. Fiegenbaum; Aaron T. Riekhof; Eric N. Fiegenbaum; Brenda K. Riekhof; Darrell H. Fiegenbaum; Nathan R. Riekhof; J. Mark Fiegenbaum; Joyce E. Fiegenbaum; David Q. Riekhof.
For this picture, John H. and Katie M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum's grandchildren are arranged by age; clearly it is not by beauty or intelligence.
There are obvious signs that this "herd of cats" can't wait for the adults to stop taking pictures. Some serious playtime was being wasted, again.
In the background is a portion of the home that belonged to John and Katie. Grandma's flower garden was immediately behind the children. The awning protected the home's side door. Just inside and to the right was Katie's kingdom, the kitchen.
Turn to the left after you entered the door and you were just steps away from the utility room; the window framed by the arbor was over the sink in that room. Way, way back in time, that room held a cream separator, a mysterious, brown enamel, multilevel piece of machinery. The chimney you see above the roof was connected to a wood stove in the utility room. One of the grandkids, who wishes to remain anonymous, once hung his wet, hooded sweatshirt from the stovepipe, thinking correctly that the heat from the stove would dry the clothing out quickly. A short time later, visiting in the living room was interrupted by smoke wafting in from the utility room. Uncle Henry leapt over the couch in a single bound, raced down the hall before anyone else was out of his seat, and threw the smoldering sweatshirt out the back door. From then on that grandchild allowed wet clothing to dry at a more leisurely pace.
The gravel driveway appearing in the left margin of this photo turned and passed in front of the house (behind the photographer) before connecting with a gravel road which would either take the traveller around the back of the property or lead out to old U.S. Route 40, which was known locally as the service road running south of and parallel to Interstate 70.
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Grandchildren - oldest to youngest - and laughing
- Left to right:
- Aaron T. Riekhof; Eric N. Fiegenbaum; Brenda K. Riekhof; Darrell H. Fiegenbaum; Nathan R. Riekhof; J. Mark Fiegenbaum; Joyce E. Fiegenbaum; David Q. Riekhof.
- Background:
- Richard Q. Riekhof is standing out of harm's way at the side door to the house.
If I recall correctly, Mark Fiegenbaum went bare-foot a good deal of his time on the farm and was rewarded with a extensive case of chigger bites. The consequences were an awful lot of itching accompanied by regular and firm admonitions from nearby adults to "Stop that scratching!" Neither remedy relieved the discomfort.
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Most of the family
- Front row, left to right:
- Darrell H. Fiegenbaum; Nathan R. Riekhof; Brenda K. Riekhof; Eric N. Fiegenbaum (again with friend); David Q. Riekhof (with his eyes closed); Aaron T. Riekhof with a big yawn.
- Middle row, left to right:
- Mary Ellen (Schmutz) Fiegenbaum; Joyce E. Fiegenbaum (with her hands on Eric's shoulders); J. Mark Fiegenbaum (squinting to see better; he does not yet wear eyeglasses); Richard Q. Riekhof, getting a kid's eye view of things.
- Back row, left to right:
- Henry M. Fiegenbaum; "Grandpa" John Henry Fiegenbaum; Dorothy M. (Gerber) Fiegenbaum, holding Karen J. Fiegenbaum (who is talking to her grandfather); J. W. Fiegenbaum; "Grandma" Katherine M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum.
Missing from this portrait is Dorothy L. (Fiegenbaum) Riekhof. She is no doubt operating the camera.
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OK, one more time
- Front row, left to right:
- Darrell H. Fiegenbaum; Brenda K. Riekhof; Eric N. Fiegenbaum (with friend); Aaron T. Riekhof, checking with his father.
- Middle row, left to right
- Nathan R. Riekhof; Mary Ellen (Schmutz) Fiegenbaum; Joyce E. Fiegenbaum; David Q. Riekhof; J. Mark Fiegenbaum; Richard Q. Riekhof.
- Back row, left to right
- Henry M. Fiegenbaum; Dorothy M. (Gerber) Fiegenbaum, holding Karen J. Fiegenbaum; J. W. Fiegenbaum; "Grandma" Katherine M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum.
Both Dorothy L. (Fiegenbaum) Riekhof and John H. Fiegenbaum are missing from this portrait.
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Grandma, Grandpa and grandchildren
- Cast of characters:
- Seated in the lawn chair is John H. Fiegenbaum, holding his then-youngest grandchild, Karen J. Fiegenbaum. Standing behind Grandpa is Grandma, Katherine M. (Maun) Fiegenbaum.
- Standing to the left of Grandpa and Grandma, from front to back, are Nathan R. Riekhof and David Q. Riekhof.
- Standing on the right, leaning against Grandpa's legs is Eric N. Fiegenbaum. Directly behind Eric, up against Grandpa's shoulder, is Joyce E. Fiegenbaum. Brenda K. Riekhof is wearing the checkered dress. In the striped shirt is Darrell H. Fiegenbaum.
Missing from this photo are Aaron T. Riekhof and J. Mark Fiegenbaum. They were in the other photos, so we can only suppose they have slipped away and are up to no good.
This photograph was taken in the northwest corner of the front yard of the home of John and Katie (Maun) Fiegenbaum. The house that appears in the other pictures on this page was to the right and behind the photographer.
The gravel driveway immediately behind the group posing for this portrait connected with a gravel road off the left margin of the photograph, just beyond the tree. A turn to the left at that intersection took the traveller a short distance south and then east. The road separated the backyard from a shed and the barn. It then passed on to a pond next to the barn and to the machine shed just barely visible in one of the photographs earlier on this page.
A turn to the right at the intersection led north. You can see a portion of the gravel road in the distance as it disappears over the horizon very near where it intersected with the old U.S. Route 40, which had become the southern access road for Interstate 70.
I believe that the road and driveway now serve as the entrance to Maple Leaf Conservation Area, and that the small pond that once stood to the east of the barn is also still present.
Just to the left of that point on the horizon where the gravel road disappears, one can see the roof of a barn. It stands north of Interstate 70 on the Fiegenbaum farm on Douthit Road, where the Henry M. and Mary Ellen (Schmutz) Fiegenbaum family lived at the time this photograph was made.