Richard Michael Balza &
Charlotte Kay Streit
Richard M. BALZA was born in the town of Green Bay, Brown county, Wisconsin. He and his identical twin brother Robert were the second and third sons of Gall Anton (Tony) BALZA and Grace Mary ANGST.
Charlotte Kay STREIT was born in the city of Denver, Denver county Colorado the only daughter of John Henry STREIT and Irene Catherine WESCHE.
Richard and Charlotte met in college at Colorado State University, and were married on June 10th, 1978. Their wedding photo is shown below.
Richard Balza & Charlotte Streit Wedding
Party
(Left to right: John Balza, Ann Balza, Charlotte Streit/Balza,
Richard Balza, Susan West, Robert Balza)
Richard and Charlotte have four daughters:
- Brooke Allison BALZA
- Caron Marie BALZA
- Megan Elisabeth BALZA, and
- Julie Antoinette BALZA
Currently they reside in the city of Renton, Washington.
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) and later Mary Louise LEURQUIN
Boncher ( 1894 - 1967) (Theophile Antoine Joseph Balza
Family History). The second child of Theophile's second
marriage is Gall Anton (G. Tony)
BALZA who married Grace Mary
ANGST. Tony and Grace had five children (Gall
Anton (Tony) Balza Family, four surviving) the second and
third were identical twins (Richard
and Robert). Richard's family is described above.
ANGST Ancestry 
The ANGST (literally "fear" in german) surname appears to originate in Wil, Canton Zurich, Switzerland. The earliest identified Angst ancestor in our research is John Joseph ANGST who married (Mary) Anna WIDMER (1819 - ?). This family is the current focus of our research, and very little is known about them (John Joseph Angst Family History). They did, however, have at least one child John ANGST (1850 - 1916) who married Mary Forena JAGGLI (1864 - 1920). They were blessed with three children (John Angst Family History) the first of which was Joseph Valentine ANGST (1895 - 1965) who married Mary Ann (Marion) VAN LANEN. Joseph and Mary Ann had seven children (Joseph Valentine Angst Family History) the second of which was Grace Mary ANGST who married Gall Anton (G. Tony) BALZA. Tony and Grace had five children (Gall Anton (Tony) Balza Family, four surviving) the second and third were identical twins (Richard and Robert). Richard's family is described above.
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). John Henry Streit married Irene Catherine WESCHE and together they had three children (John Henry Streit Family), two sons (James and John) and one daughter Charlotte Kay STREIT who is 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 married John Henry STREIT. John and Irene had three
children (John Henry
Streit Family) - two sons (James and John) and one daughter
Charlotte Kay STREIT who married Richard Michael BALZA the family
described above.
Last updated: July 24th, 2000
Copyright 2000, Richard M. Balza
To make corrections or obtain more information contact: Richard M. Balza