Mama and Papa

My mothers name was Anna Henrietta Buenz.   She was Danish.  She was a wonderful singer, beautiful voice.  Her mother died when she was twelve.  Her mother was pregnant when she died.  My mother was a very cheerful lady always singing or smiling.  She loved to laugh, I remember that.  She loved to laugh thats for sure.

My dad was more sober.  His mother was kind of stiff and didn't like people laughing.  When my dad took my mother to meet her she was laughing and smiling so much. My grandmother said in German (she didn't speak english), "Anna don't laugh so much."  All her children are sober like that, because she didn't like people laughing.  She had so many children, about eleven.  I really didn't get to know her too well.  My grandfather was a texas ranger so he spoke english, but I didn't get to know him very well because he died when I was five.  My grandfather was from Switzerland, but he was German.  All the Swiss are either German or French.  My grandmother died when I was in about the third grade.

My mom and dad at my grandma's

My mother was a ministers wife, and they are never idle.  She was always working in the church, she was a soloist, sunday school, on and on.  Ministers wives are kept pretty busy. She was a wonderful mother, but very strict.  She was from a  generation where ladies really dressed like ladies.  She would say, "I don't want to see you sit like that, women don't sit like that." or "you take too big of steps, ladies take smaller steps."  She married when she was 28 years old, my dad was 29.  She was considered an old maid in those days by the time she married.  My mother would not even put up with a word like "darn".  My fathers brothers wife Aunt Georgina had a mouth and would say, "darn." and my mother loved her but she would say, "why does Aunt Georgina say those words?"

On our way to Fredericksburg to visit my grandma.  Left is my brother Richard, and then my little brother that drowned Norman, me and my parents.  My older brother Kermit must have been taking the picture, he was always the one that took the pictures.

My father was Richard Gammenthaler.  No middle name.  None of his brothers and sisters had middle names, there was eleven of them. He liked to laugh, but he wasn't used to that.  Like I said his mother was very serious.  He tried so hard to be funny and have a good laugh.  He really tried to tell a good joke and when he would he would laugh.  But he could never let out a good hardy laugh.  But he would try.  It was just hard for him to laugh.  But that was his mothers strictness.  He was a methodist minister.  He was a self made man.  When he got through in school in the country school he had to work through high school.  But there was no high school in his country farm town.  So he would work on somebody's farm all summer and then  he would go to georgetown in the fall where the university was and he would have enough money saved and it would get him through high school.  He would do that every year, work all summer on others farms to make enough for the next year of school.  His father wasn't a very nice man, they all left home early.  My father left home when he was 14.  His dad wouldn't give him any money so he worked on other peoples farms all summer and then payed his way through high school and college.

With my Parents when I was pregnant with Billy.  In San Antonio

My mother was born in 1881 and my dad in 1880.  It was many years ago, the horse and buggy days.  My mother was born in New Braunfels, it was a German settlement near San Antonio.  She was born on a farm outside of New Braunfels.  Its still a well known town.  Its a really nice town, right near the river.  That was a German community where the Germans came and settled, and then from there they went and settled other places.  My mom and dad met in Church.  My grandpa Buenz's sister Mary she ran a boarding house in New Orleans area. So thats where her brother, my grandfather came later (because he was older than Mary) that was my mothers favorite Aunt.  In summer she would go visit her Aunt mary who was in New Orleans, because her mother had died when she was 12 (She had the measles when she was pregnant)  My mother also had two brothers that died when they were little and one that lived, Herman.  So this one summer she was visiting Aunt Mary, she was at church with her and here comes a man on a horse and she asked Aunt Mary, "Who's that?" Aunt Mary said, "Oh that's our new minister" so they went to church the next sunday.  She heard him preach and he heard her sing.  And they somehow made arrangements to see eachother again.  My mother was 28, she said I want to get married, but she said I will not marry a man that drinks.  When she met my dad she was impressed.  They met at a big park and would go to church together.  My dad was a circuit rider, on horseback, he would go from one country church one sunday and another one another sunday.  I have pictures of them in the two seater horse and buggy.  They decided to get married when my dad got his first church in Bartlett Texas. And thats where there first child was born.  Every two or three years he was assigned to a new church.  But they liked to send him to churches where there was a lot of German people, because he spoke German fluently so he could speak German for those who only spoke German.  So each Sunday they would have church in English and then at a different time, maybe in the afternoon in German.

I was born upside down, my feet came first.  People were born in there homes at that time, at least in that area.  I came out with a big bump on my neck, that bump bothered me for so long.  If I sat near a warm spot it would feel better, but every once in a while it would cut off the circulation and it would get numb.  All chiropractors said its been there too long so they can't fix it, and if they did it wouldn't stay.  About eight years ago when I had a mustang I was coming up the grade and a car hit me.  My head went against the side of the door, and it knocked that bone in place and it never has bothered me since.  I went to chiropractor and chiropractor and none of them could fix it.  But coming up the grade, getting hit, just hit it in place I guess.

Me when I was 10 months old

We very seldom had snow.  Me, my brothers and my dad with our snowman.

I was closest to my dad.  My dad was such a soulful person.  Such a good hearted man and hard working.  Worked hard all his life.  For him a country boy his goal was to become a minister.  And to earn his own money since he was little.  He had that ambition and he saw it through.  What he was ever able to do for me he would do, and for all his children.  He was a darn good father and husband. And he came from nothing.

Papa helping me with my Geometry homework.  He loved helping me with my homework, especially geometry.  He was so patient.  He loved education because he came from nothing.

My mother was like a city girl and my dad was a farm boy.  Big difference right there.