THE
CURRENT EDITOR OF “THE TOWPATH”
Lucille & Lowell Francis
(1994 St.
Paul Church photo)
Lucille M. Francis is the oldest child of Lafe W.
and Marie A.E. (Otte) Topp and was born February 28, 1938 in German
Township. She has a sister, Kathleen,
and a brother, Stanley, both of New Bremen.
Lowell J. Francis is the son of Frederick F. and Florence A. (Bonie)
Francis and is a native of Russia, Ohio.
He was born December 15, 1928, the eighth of eleven children. Lucille and Lowell were married July 1, 1961
and live in New Bremen. Lowell retired
in March 1991 after 21 years from Crown Equipment Corp. Lucille had worked on genealogies for over
15 years when she was asked to take over as Editor of
“The Towpath”, and had published genealogy books of the Topp family and
the Luedeke family (her paternal grandmother’s side). She is also a Trustee who keeps up the lot and burial records for
the German Protestant Cemetery Association at Lock Two, and is often asked to
give burial information to inquiring genealogists.
We hope you will enjoy browsing www.newbremenhistory.org. We are just getting started, so if you have
any suggestions, please let us know. If
you would like to become a member/subscriber and receive
“The Towpath”,
let us know that, too. Our current membership is approximately 900, and we always
welcome new members! Please Contact us with
your questions, memories or Towpath Submissions.
Lucille Francis, Towpath Editor & Johanna
Schroer, Webmaster
The History of The Towpath, and its past Editors
(1971 St.
Paul Church photo)
“The Towpath”, as we know it today, had very humble
beginnings. The New Bremen Historic
Association was organized in late 1973, but there was no type of
“newsletter” until April 1975. It
consisted of 2 pages and was probably written by Janet Fledderjohn, who
replaced the original curator, Greg Parrott, in August 1975. The newsletter was published on an irregular basis as a side job of serving
as curator.
In the
fall of 1977, Janet left her post temporarily to complete her studies at Wright
State University of Dayton and get her degree in history. During this time, Rosemary (Koeper) Heitkamp
served as Curator and she and others wrote the newsletter. In
the April 1978 issue, it was
suggested that the newsletter needed an identifying name and members were asked
to think of something appropriate.
The
February 1979 issue stated: “At the
January meeting, the trustees chose a name for the newsletter. The name ‘Towpath’
was sent in by Robert Heinfeld of Ada, Ohio. He felt some reference to the canal town history was
appropriate. A towpath also indicates a
sense of continuity with news backward and forward – a newsletter should have
the same purpose.”
In
March 1980, Janet Fledderjohn returned as Curator and Editor of the newsletter,
which had recently been named “The Towpath”. In 1986, Janet married Karl Wisner, and resigned
the Curator and Editor positions again, although she continued to fill them
until she and her husband moved from New Bremen.
In
October 1987, Marjorie Lietz became the new “Towpath”
Editor and in April 1989, Vernita Scheer & Dottie Boesel became the new
Curators. Starting in October 1988, “The Towpath” was being printed professionally by Lee’s
Printing, improving its appearance.
Janet
(Fledderjohn) Wisner died January 18, 2002 at Columbia, Missouri.
Paul & Marjorie Lietz
(1985 St.
Paul Church photo)
Marjorie Lucille Josephine was
born January 4, 1918 to Elsie Jane (Awrey) and Arnold C. Gieseke, and had two
sisters, Dorothy (Kah) and Evelyn (Warner).
After graduation, on June 15, 1935 she married Carl L. Conradi and had
two children, Dr. Edward C. and Genevieve.
Carl died
unexpectedly on March 18, 1944 and
Marjorie was left to raise her two young children alone. Paul A. Lietz was the son of Alma Sophia
(Heil) and Herman C. Lietz. He was born
July 1, 1921 in the house at 34 S. Herman St. and continued to live there until
his death, August 7, 1996. On April 3,
1975, Marjorie and Paul were married, and Paul was teased that he hadn’t simply
married a wife, he had married an entire family, complete with five
granddaughters. Marjorie was a Charter Member of the New Bremen
Historic Association and later became a Lifetime Member. She became the Editor of “The Towpath”
in the fall of 1987, and served through March 1996, when Paul became ill. Marjorie then asked Lucille Francis to take
her place, putting The Towpath in good hands.
Paul Lietz was a Lifetime Member of the New
Bremen Historic Association and assisted his wife with the quarterly
publication of “The
Towpath”. Paul and Marjorie spent their free time
working to preserve the history of New Bremen.
Paul had become interested in photography at the age of fourteen when
his parents gave him a dark room kit for Christmas. His mother encouraged him to photograph New Bremen, as his
great-uncle, Fred Gilberg, had done.
Paul did so for over sixty years, taking thousands of pictures, home
movies and videos of New Bremen architecture and community events and
activities. Paul and Marjorie also
re-photographed many old pictures in order to preserve them. Many of these were printed in “The Towpath” over the years.
A 10-page segment of the 1983 New Bremen Sesquicentennial book is
devoted to Paul's photos taken from 1935 to 1983.
Paul’s father gave him his first
tool kit at the age of 4 and Paul became an expert wood-craftsman, as was his
father. He was always willing and able
to be “Mr. Fix-it” whenever there were any jobs to be done at the Museum and
was an enormous help in keeping things in shape. In 1989, Paul and Marjorie were
honored to be chosen as Grand Marshals for the Bremenfest parade. In March
1996, Marjorie was no longer able to continue as the Editor, due to Paul's
illness. Even after Paul's death,
however, she continued to serve as a mentor, whenever there were questions.
On November 24, 1999, the day
before Thanksgiving, Marjorie Lietz passed away. She had served as Editor of “The
Towpath” for more than eight years, building up the membership with
her ability to write about New Bremen’s people and history, with a personal
touch. Marjorie and Paul spent many
happy days together taking pictures, putting together slide and video programs,
and taking them "on the road" to show them to various organizations
and also to the school children, thereby providing all of us with much
entertainment and a new appreciation of our home town, New Bremen. In her
eulogy, Marjorie's granddaughter, Dr. Elaine (Conradi) Eustis, said that she
pictured Marge and Paul together again, going polka dancing. Lucille’s image of them is "doing
alleys" as they called it, both with cameras around their necks, looking
for a photo opportunity. Granddaughter Johanna Schroer remembers the wise advice she was
given: So what if the house is a little
dusty? There is so much to do!
Paul & Marjorie Lietz recording New
Bremen’s history
at the 1978
Bremenfest.
Paul & Marjorie Lietz wrote in the 1983
Sesquicentennial book: "We hope
you have enjoyed the photos of some of the happenings in New Bremen the last
fifty years. We have enjoyed sharing
them with you."
Today,
the tradition of preserving history has passed down to the next
generations. Marjorie’s daughter,
Genevieve, is our Historian and dreamed up our new gift item, the Canal Board Game. Genevieve’s daughter, Johanna
Schroer, is responsible for the NBHA website. Dr. Edward Conradi, Marjorie’s
son, is working to preserve the many slides and pictures documenting their
beloved New Bremen that Paul & Marjorie left as a legacy for future
generations.