Sunday's Obituary - Martin F. Rosbeck

Martin Rosbeck's military marker with flag

As I was looking for an obituary for today (and making sure I didn't repost one that I had already done), I noticed that I actually had 2 obituaries for Martin with slightly different information in them so I decided to post this one as well for any potential Rosbeck researchers out there!

"Martin F. Rosbeck, 81, 414 Third Ave., a retired farmer, died Sunday, Feb. 4, at St. Joseph's Hospital.  He had been hospitalized for about one week.

He was born Jan. 16, 1892, in St. Kilian. He married Theresa Kiefer at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Theresa on May 8, 1923.  After their marriage they lived in Milwaukee for about 15 years and then they moved to the St. Kilian area where they farmed for 22 years.  In 1961 they moved to West Bend.

He is survived by his wife, and four children, Mrs. Margaret Brill, of Menominee [sic] Falls, three sons, Robert, of Theresa, and Ralph and Norbert of West Bend.  He is also survived by three daughters-in-law and one son-in-law, 26 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He was a member of World War I Barracks 2617 and they will hold services at the Miller Funeral Home, Kewaskum, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Tuesday at Miller's in Kewaskum and parish vigil at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.  The funeral services will be Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, and at 10:30 a.m. at St. Kilian's Catholic Church, St. Kilian with Fr. Elroy Pesch, O.S.S., officiating.  Burial will be in St. Kilian's Cemetery."

[Hand-dated, Feb. 4 - 1973]

Martin was my husbands 2nd great uncle.

These clippings were passed on to me by my mother-in-law in Wisconsin.  Most are hand-dated and do not give the newspaper name that they were published in.  They would most obviously be from a newspaper in the St. Kilian and/or Green Bay area.

Martin, his son Raymond, and wife Theresa

Close up of Martin's veteran marker

Funeral Card Friday - A Double Rosbeck Whammy!

This beautiful picture is the back to Martin F. Rosbeck's funeral card

I previously posted the obituary for Martin F. Rosbeck and Theresa Rosbeck nee Kiefer. I thought I'd complete the set by posting both of their funeral cards today in one shot.

The center picture is the back to Theresa Rosbeck nee Kiefer's funeral card.

Sunday's Obituary - Theresa Rosbeck

"Mrs. Theresa Rosbeck (hand-dated Jan. 20 - 1981)

Mrs. Theresa Rosbeck, 83, of Menomonee Falls, a former resident of West Bend and St. Kilian, passed away at the Menomonee Falls Nursing Home where she had been a resident for six weeks.

Mrs. Rosbeck was born February 2, 1897, at Theresa Station, Dodge County, to the late Peter and Margaret Steinmetz Kiefer.  On May 8, 1923, she married Martin Rosbeck, who passed away on February 4, 1973.

She was a member of the St. Kilian Married Ladies Sodality, the American Legion Auxiliary, the VFW Auxiliary and was a Gold Star Mother.

Survivors include one daughter, Margaret (William) Brill of Menomonee Falls; two sons, Ralph (Delores) and Norbert (Sharon), both of West Bend; a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Audrey Rosbeck of Theresa; 26 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Mrs. Bella Kiefer of West Bend and Mrs. Helen Rosbeck of Mayville; other relatives and friends.  Three sons, two brothers and two sisters preceded her in death.

Visitation at Miller's Funeral Home, Kewaskum, will be after 4 p.m. Thursday, with a rosary vigil at 8 p.m.  Services Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Kilian Catholic Church, St. Kilian, with Fr. Joseph McDonald officiating.  Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Newspaper clippings were passed on to me by my mother-in-law, Dolores Cayemberg nee Kuehl.  They were collected by her mother, Leona Kuehl nee Boegel.  Unknown which Wisconsin paper they were clipped, but most likely from the Brown and/or Fond du Lac county areas.

Sunday's Obituary - Martin F. Rosbeck

"Martin F. Rosbeck (hand-dated Feb. 4 - 1973)

Martin F. Rosbeck, 81, of 313 Third Ave., West Bend, a retired farmer, died Sunday at St. Joseph's Hospital, West Bend.  He was born Jan. 16, 1892, at St. Kilian, a son of George and Margaret Thelen Rosbeck.  He married Theresa Kiefer at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Theresa, on May 8, 1923.

After the marriage they lived in Milwaukee for 15 years, then moved to St. Kilian where they farmed for 22 years and finally moved to West Bend in 1961.  Mr. Rosbeck was a member of World War I Barracks 2617.

Surviving are his widow; four children, Mrs. William Brill of Menomonee Falls, Robert of Theresa and Ralph and Norbert both of West Bend; 26 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Mr. Rosbeck was preceded in death by two sons, Greg, in infancy and Raymond John, who died in the Korean Conflict.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Miller's Funeral Home, Kewaskum and at 10:30a.m. at St. Kilian Church at St. Kilian.  The Rev. Elroy Pesch, OSF, will officiate and burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Family and friends may call after 4 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Newspaper clippings were passed on to me by my mother-in-law, Dolores Cayemberg nee Kuehl.  They were collected by her mother, Leona Kuehl nee Boegel.  Unknown which Wisconsin paper they were clipped, but most likely from the Brown and/or Fond du Lac county areas.

To Do List: Request military records for Martin.  Have a ton of these obits that I've only recently scanned and haven't thoroughly read, so I discovered Martin was a WWI vet when transcribing this.  So cool.

Sunday's Obituary - Raymond Rosbeck

"GI Returns

PFC Raymond Rosbeck, 19, of Kewaskum, seriously wounded in action in Korea Feb. 5, has been returned to the United States and is at Percy Jones General Hospital, Battle Creek, Mich.  A former employe of the Kewaskum Creamery, Raymond is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Rosbeck.  He enlisted in the Army last June and went overseas last October."

I have a large number of newspaper clippings passed on to me from my Mother-in-law's side of the family, but sadly they don't tell me which Wisconsin newspaper they were taken from and many don't have complete dates on them.  This first clipping had no date on it at all so I didn't realize until finding his obituary (below) in my collection, just how long he was hospitalized.  I was able to reason that this first article must have been published around April 1951.

"Cpl. R. Rosbeck Dies at Percy Jones Hospital

Cpl. Raymond Rosbeck, son of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Rosbeck of the town of Wayne, who since April 4, 1951, had been a patient at Percy Jones hospital, Battle Creek, Mich., died suddenly on Monday afternoon.  Death was caused from injuries suffered in action near Chip(long), Korea, on Feb. 5, 1951, while serving with the 8th Cavalry Regiment.  He was first treated in a hospital in Japan, and was then flown to the United States for further treatment.  Cpl. Rosbeck was schedule to be released from the hospital on Sept. 11, and was awaiting arrangements for this transfer to Wood, Wis., when he was stricken.

He was born Nov. 20, 1931, at Milwaukee and came to the town of Wayne with his parents in 1938.  Cpl. Rosbeck enlisted on June 5, 1950, and arrived in Korea in October.  He was awarded the Purple heart in April of 1951.

Surviving are his parents, a sister, Margaret (Mrs. Wm. Brill) of Milwaukee; three brothers, Robert and Norbert at home, and Ralph of West Bend; a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law.

The body will be in state at the Miller funeral home in Kewaskum after 2 p.m. today (Thursday).  Funeral services will be held Friday morning at 10 o'clock at St. Kilian Catholic church, st. Kilian, the Rev. John B Reichel officiating.  Interment will be in the parish cemetery.  Military rites at the grave will be in charge of Robert J. Romaine post of the American Legion, Kewaskum."

I makes me wonder what his injuries were.  To be hospitalized for so long and so far from home and then to suddenly die of his injuries as he was preparing to be transferred closer to home had to have been particularly traumatic for his family.

I found in the "Korean War Casualties, 1950-1957" database an entry for Raymond that lists him as being "seriously wounded in action by missile".

To do list:  Request the death certificate and military records for Raymond.