John Henry Streit &
Irene Catherine Wesche
John Henry STREIT was
born on June 20th, 1918 in Mitchell, Davidson county, South
Dakota (birth
certificate), the fifth child of Michael Anthony STREIT and
Katherine SCHEMMER. At age three John's mother became
ill with influenza and died. After her death Michael tried to
keep the family together, but was unable to cope with his job and
caring for the children as well. John's Uncle Matt and Aunt
Theresa came to visit from Algona, Iowa. Since Michael was
having such a hard time with his work as a carpenter and trying
to keep the family together, it was decided that Matt and Theresa
would take the younger children (Kate and John) back to Algona
with them. John and Kate lived with their Aunt Kate who had six
children of her own to care for.
John attended Loyola University until the outbreak of World War
II, at which time he joined the Navy as an officer in the Sea
Bees. After indoctrination he was sent to the Pacific Theater of
Operations. While in the Navy he attended the University of
Wisconsin. After he received his honorable discharge from the
Navy, he returned to college to complete his education and
received a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
John capitalized on the opportunity to become a public health
engineer, and moved to Hastings, Michigan with the Barry County
Health Department to gain field experience.
While in his internship he met his future bride Irene Catherine Wesche, who was also gaining field experience with the public health service in nursing. When he completed his internship he accepted a position with the Wayne County, Michigan Department of Health. In the spring of 1948, he left the Health Department and took a position as a civil engineer in St. Louis, Missouri with the firm of Wallace and Tiernan. In the fall of 1948, he returned to Hastings to marry Irene.
Irene Catherine WESCHE was born in Ridgeville Corners, Henry county, Ohio, the fifth child of Carl John William WESCHE and Emma Renetta BREININGER. The Wesche's were active members of the Local Missouri Synod Lutheran Church.
Irene attended public grade and high school in Ridgeville Corners. During the summers she worked odd jobs, mowing lawns, and cleaning houses, helping out where she could. After graduation from high school, she went to work for the Ridgeville Corners Mutual Telephone Company, as the local exchange's operator. She left the telephone company and worked as a maid at the Oberlin/Ford Funeral Home in Bryan, Ohio. At the suggestion of Ernest and Thelma Bermann, Irene borrowed $125.00 and started nurse's training at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After graduation from nurse's training, a three year program, she took a position as a public health nurse in Fort Wayne.
After the outbreak of World War II, she enlisted into the Army Nursing Corps, and was indoctrinated at Fort Benjamin Harrison, in Indianapolis, Indiana. After completing her indoctrination, she was posted to Ashford General Hospital, in White Sulfur Spring, West Virginia, where she was schooled in anesthesiology. Upon completion of her anesthesiology training, she was posted to the 122nd General Hospital in Hereford England, where she worked in the surgical unit. In late 1945 she was honorably discharged from the Army and returned to a position with the visiting nurses service in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In Fort Wayne she continued her nursing education through extension courses, and eventually earned enough credits to work on her degree full time at the University of Indiana, in Bloomington. To complete her degree in education, majoring in public health nursing she was required to spend a four month period gaining field experience. For this purpose she interned at the Barry County, Michigan Public Health Department. While there she encountered a young public health engineer named John Streit, who would eventually become her spouse. Upon completion of her field experience, she graduated and returned to work for the Barry County Health Department. In July of 1948 John and Irene were engaged. Irene studied and converted to the Catholic religion that summer, severely straining relationships with her immediate family. In the meantime John took a position in the Wayne County Public Health Service. Occasionally, during this period the two would meet for University of Michigan football games, or rendezvous at a restaurant in Marshall Michigan. Their courtship resulted in their marriage on September 2, 1948.
John Henry Streit and Irene Catherine Wesche were wed by Father Dillon at St. Rose Parish in Hastings, Michigan on September 2nd, 1948. Irene's maid of honor was Clara Coressel her only catholic friend from Ridgeville, and John's best man was his cousin John F. Streit. After their marriage took up residence in St. Louis, Missouri where John was working for the firm of Wallace and Tiernan. Irene accepted a job with the Visiting Nurse Service of St. Louis.
In the spring of 1949, Wallace and Tiernan, requested John to take a one month engineering assignment performing a civil engineering job for the flour mills in Colorado. So John and Irene traveled to Denver, Colorado and after one month the company requested John to relocate permanently to Denver. They rented an apartment at 1120 S. Logan St. Denver. Irene worked for the Visiting Nurse Service in Denver until becoming pregnant with their first child. They saved their money diligently and were able to purchase a home at 2905 Locust Street Denver, Colorado in the spring of 1950.
Irene gave birth to the couples first child, a bouncing baby boy - James Anton STREIT. Both parents were overjoyed with the new arrival. James married Ann Marie RALSTEN and the couple had two sons (Aaron Michael and Tyler).
The family grew again quickly. Irene gave birth to the couples second son John Edward STREIT, who never married.
During this time John continued working for Wallace and Tiernan, traveling extensively throughout the Rockies, engineering chemical and gas feed equipment installations. John and Irene also volunteered some of their spare time to Cure'd Ars Catholic church, John as an Usher, and Irene washing altar linens.
In St. Luke's Hospital, Denver Colorado the couple had their first and only daughter Charlotte Kay STREIT. She weighed in at 6 lbs, and 6 ozs and was 19" long. Charlotte was christened at Cure'd Ars parish. John couldn't believe that the couple had a baby girl. After graduating from College, Charlotte married Richard Michael BALZA and they had four daughters (Brooke Allison, Caron Marie, Megan Elizabeth and Julie Antoinette).
The family moved to a house at 2820 South Jay Street, Denver,
Colorado. Irene decided it was time to return to her career in
nursing and took refresher courses to obtain her Nursing
accreditation and worked part time at Porter Hospital in Denver
with the nursing staff. John meantime accepted a position
engineering water treatment and sewage plants for the Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
On 13 February, 1967 John Henry had a heart attack while bowling in Littleton, Colorado (death certificate). He was buried in Fort Logan Cemetery, Denver, Colorado on 16 February.
In 1967 Irene was employed by the Denver Public School System as a School Nurse. She retired from her nursing career in 1985.
Memories:
STREIT Ancestry 
The STREIT surname originates in Germany (Prussia) in the town
of Erdorf. The eldest STREIT ancestor currently known is Peter STREIT (1779-1845) who
married Elizabeth BEWINKEID
(1777-1845). Peter and Elizabeth had at least one son (Peter
Streit Family History) Michael
STREIT (1815-1900) who married Helena STRAUT (1820-1900).
They had four children in Germany and then emigrated to the
United States in 1857, settled in Kenosha county, Wisconsin
and had two more children (Michael Streit Family History).
The last of their children was Anton
STREIT (1858-1947) who married Mary M. JOHANNES
(1858-1885). Anton and Mary had three children (Anton
Streit Family History), the second of these was Michael Anthony STREIT
(1883-1958) who married Katherine
SCHEMMER (1884-1920). Michael and Katherine raised six
children (Michael Anthony
Streit Family History) the fifth born was John Henry STREIT (1918-1967)
whose family is described above.
SCHEMMER Ancestry
The SCHEMMER surname is an area for further research.
Currently, the eldest known Schemmer is Henry SCHEMMER ( ) who
married Katherine Kramer (
). They had at least one daughter Katherine SCHEMMER
(1884-1920) who married Michael
Anthony STREIT (1883-1958). Michael and Katherine had
six children (Michael
Anthony Streit Family History) the fifth of which was John Henry STREIT (1918-1967)
described above.
WESCHE Ancestry
The earliest WESCHE ancestors are from Erdorf, (Prussia)
Germany, a small town in the Eiffel region (near Tier). The
earliest known Wesche ancestor is Johann Albrecht WESCHE
(1720-1756) who married Katherine
WEIHE (1722-1751). Johann and Katherine had at least one son Henning Andreas WESCHE (
1754-1805) who married Anna
FRIEDERICHS (1753-1815). Henning and Anna had two
children. Their first born was Andreas Friederich WESCHE
(1795-1873) who married Johanne
Lucie F. BRANDES (1798-1887). Andreas and Johanne had
five children (Andreas Friederich Wesche Family History), and
immigrated to the United States in 1858 with their
children. Their fourth child was Johann Friederich WESCHE
(1839-1925) who married Carolina
Fredericka MARTENS (1848-1894). Johann and Carolina had
fifteen children (Johann Friederich Wesche Family History).
Their eleventh child was Carl
John William WESCHE (1884-1946) who married Emma Renetta BREININGER
(1886-1964). Carl and Emma had eight children (Carl John William Wesche
Family History). The fifth of these was Irene Catherine WESCHE (1918 -
) who is described above.
BREININGER Ancestry
Very little is known about the BREININGER surname. The
eldest known Breininger is Emma
Renetta BREININGER (1886-1964) who married Carl John William WESCHE
(1884-1946). Emma and Carl had eight children (Carl John William Wesche
Family History). The fifth child was Irene Catherine WESCHE (1918 -
) who is described above.
Last updated: July 24th, 2000
Copyright 2000, Richard M. Balza
To make corrections or obtain more information contact: Richard M. Balza