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| Margareta Stremel & Friend |
Margareta Stremel was born June 16, 1895 (OS) in the Volga German village of Josefstal. Her parents were Johannes Stremel & Anna Marie Arnold.
Margareta will marry Tsiriak Michael Gerk, at the age of 16, on February 5, 1912 (OS), also in Josefstal.
Michael Gerk was the oldest brother of my grandfather, Paul Gerk.
Not much is really known of their life together. They would worked hard on the farm. In military draft records for 1914, it shows that Michael, when he served in conscription duty, lived and worked in the nearby village of Rosenberg. Why he lived and worked there we can only speculate.
After the war, revolution, and then civil war, Michael and Margareta will escape from Josefstal. Traveling together were also Margareta's brother Georg Stremel, along with his wife Katharina Burghardt. Also leaving with them was Michael's brother Paul, my grandfather.
The traditional family story states that, en route, Michael and Margareta will both be stricken with some serious illness, probably Typhus. Michael will die of this. My grandmother said she was told that Michael died as they were traveling through Poland, on their way to Germany. Deathly ill herself, Margareta will be taken to Saint Hedwig Hospital in Berlin, where she will slowly recuperate.
Managing to fight on even though she lost her husband, Margareta will be sponsored by a Canadian family and come to Canada in August of 1924. In Canada she will work for the Sieben family of Primate, Saskatchewan.
Margareta will marry again. She will marry Anton Kloster, born in the Volga village of Semenovka. They will have one child, a son...John Kloster...born August 29, 1928, in Macklin, Saskatchewan.
Sadly, Margareta Kloster will pass away on March 5, 1930. She passed away in Macklin but will buried in Grosswerder, Saskatchewan.
Her son, John Kloster, will grow up and marry...in 1951...the daughter of Paul & Elisabeth Gerk, Mary Gerk....my aunt and uncle.
Interestingly, her brother Jacob, who stayed behind in Russia, will have a son, also named Jacob....he will marry Lydia Gerk, the daughter of Jacob Gerk....also a brother of Paul and Michael.
The courage she must have had....escaping Soviet Russia...dealing with the death of her husband, and then pressing on to come to a strange new country, all the while rebuilding her life!
Our family remembers this brave lady!
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| Birth/Baptism record for Margareta Stremel, born June 16, 1895 in Josefstal and baptized the same day. Parents are Johannes Stremel & A. Marie Arnold. Godparents were Nikolaus Gerk & A. Margareta Arnold. |
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| Marriage record for Tsirian Gerk, age 18 & Margareta Stremel, age 16. Married in Josefstal on February 5, 1912...witnesses are Konrad Gerk & Georgii Hollmann |
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| Passenger List for Margareta Gerk, age 27, traveling to Canada in August 1924. She lists next of kin in Russia as Jacob Stremel, her brother in Josefstal. |
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| Grave of Margaret (Stremel) Kloster, Grosswerder, Saskatchewan Photo courtesy John & Mary Kloster |
