George Anton Balza, Martha
DeGrave
& Florence Denis
George Anton BALZA was born on December 17th, 1910, in Duval, Brown county, Wisconsin, the third son of Theophile Antoine Joseph BALZA and Mathilda FINENDAEL. Armed with an eighth grade education George helped out on the family farm.
Martha DEGRAVE was born in Bellevue, Brown County, Wisconsin to Mr. and Mrs. Felix DeGrave.
George Anton Balza married Martha DeGrave on August 28th, 1935. After their marriage George and Martha farmed in Brown county. Martha died on January 28th, 1937 (obituary).
George Anton Balza married Florence Denis, on May 24th, 1939. Together they bought a farm in the town of Eaton. George and Florence farmed this property and on the side George was a carpenter, maintaining houses and as a private contractor. George and Florence are pictured on the right below in 1938 prior to their wedding, with them are Gordon Balza (one of George's brothers) and Hazel Mooren Balza (Gordon's wife).
George and Florence raised four girls as follows:
Mary Ann BALZA, who married Daniel KAMINSKI and had four children (Sheryl, Christine, Mark and Paul).
Joanne BALZA, who married Harold VANDERLOOP and had six children (Michael, Colleen, Jeanette, Dennis, Sandy and Sara).
Elaine BALZA, who married Dale J. GAUTHIER and had one chaild (Dale Joseph).
Jane BALZA, who married Albert HORVATH and had three children (Lori, Jeremy and Melissa).
George and Florence celebrated their 25th Wedding anniversary on May 24th, 1964. The family picture below was taken at their celebration.
Front Row: Harold Vanderloop, Daniel Kaminski,
Albert Horvath
Back Row: Joanne Balza Vanderloop, Mary Ann Balza Kaminski,
Florence Denis Balza, George Balza, Elaine Balza Gauthier, Jane
Balza Horvath. 25th Wedding Anniversary - 1964
George and Florence retired from the farm in 1971. In 1989 they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. The pictures below are from this celebration.
Back Row: Jane, Elaine, Joanne, and Mary Ann
Front: George & Florence Balza - 50th Wedding Anniversary -
1989
George Balza Family - 1989
Back Row: Sheryl Kaminski, Kristine Kaminski, Mark Kaminski, Paul
Kaminski, Dennis Vanderloop, Sandy Vanderloop, Collean
VanderLoop, Jeanette Vanderloop, Michael Vanderloop
Front Row: Melissa Horvath, Lori Horvath, Florence, George, ,
Jeremy Horvath, Sara Vanderloop
In their retirement, George and Florence loved to travel and took advantage of every opportunity to do so. George died on April 16th, 1999 (obituary).
Memories:
BALZA Ancestry 
The surname BALZA is a derivation (Belzer, Balzac, Balzer, etc.) of the ancient name "BALTHAZAR" (one of the three wise men). The country of origin for this Balza family is Belgium more specifically Sart-Walhain in Namur Province where we've traced our earliest known ancestors. At this time the earliest known family group with the Balza surname is Jean Joseph BALZA who married Marie Therese BRABANT. Very little is known about this family - it is still a subject for on-going research (Jean Joseph Balza Sr. Family History). They had at least one son Jean Joseph Balza (1804 - 1889) who married Virginie BERO (1807 - 1872) and they where blessed with eight children (Jean Joseph Balza Family History). The youngest of these was Antoine BALZA (1845 - 1927) who married Marie Antoinette FLAHAUT (1845 - 1927). Antoine and Antoinette had six children while living in Belgium. They and five of their six children immigrated to Duval, Door County Wisconsin in 1880 and became U.S. Citizens. They had four more children in Duval (Antoine Balza Family History). Their sixth foreign born child was Theophile Antoine Joseph BALZA (1878 - 1941) who first married Mathilda FINENDAEL (1882 - 1917). Theophile and Mathilda had 6 children (Theophile Joseph Balza Family History) the third child a son was George Anton BALZA (1910 - 1999) whose family desicribed above.
FINENDAEL Ancestry
The oldest known FINENDEAL ancestor is Henry FINENDAEL ( 1850 - ?) who married Adophina MONFORT (1850 - ?). Henry and Adolphina had six children. Their third child was Mathilda FINENDAEL (1882 - 1917) who married Theophile Antoine Joseph BALZA (1878 - 1941). Mathilda and Theophile had 6 children together (Theophile Balza Family History). Their thrid child waswas George Anton BALZA whose family history is detailed above.
DEGRAVE Ancestry
? Ancestry
DENIS Ancestry
? Ancestry
Last updated: May 5th, 2001
Copyright 2000,2001, Richard M. Balza
To make corrections or obtain more information contact: Richard M. Balza