Wieberen Hertel [Parents] was born 1, 2 on 23 Jul 1854 in Stedum, Groningen, The Netherlands. He died 3, 4, 5 on 3 Jul 1931 in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA from carcinoma of the stomach. Wieberen married 6, 7 Trijntje Berents Roerig on 6 Jun 1885 in Bedum, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Wieberen worked as Carpenter. He was educated 8 at divinity school (did not complete) about 1882 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands. In 1887 He lived at 23 Thedemastraat; Stedum, Groningen, The Netherlands. He immigrated 10 on 24 Apr 1888 to New York, New York, New York, USA. In 13 Oct 1908 He lived at 499 Caulfield Ave.; Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, USA. He was naturalized 1, 11 on 18 Jan 1909 Kent County, Michigan.
Wieberen had a deep interest in theology. He was a divinity student in 1882.
Declaration of intention for naturalization on 27 Apr 1892, US District court Western Michigan. Certificate of naturalization, USA is dated 18 Jan 1909.
Living with son, Benjamin in the 1930 Grand Rapids census. The address is 1532 Hall.
Obituary:
"Funeral service for William Hertel, retired contractor, who died last Friday, will be held Tuesday at 2:15 at the residence, 1533 Hall st., S.E., and the First Christian Reformed church of which Mr. Hertel was a member for more than 40 years.
"Mr. Hertel, who was 76, had been in ill health for the last two months, since his return from a visit with daughters in New Mexico and California. He lived with his son, Benjamin.
"He was born in the province of Groningen, Netherlands, and came to Grand Rapids 42 years ago. He had been connected with the building industry from the time he came to this city until his retirement.
"Surviving Mr. Hertel are seven sons, Benjamin W., John, George, Nicholas and William Jr. of Grand Rapids, Joe of Detroit and Arnold of Flint; two daughters, Mrs. William Goudberg of Tohatchi, N. Mex., and Mrs. Henry Vermeer of Oakland, Cal. And 20 grandchildren. The two daughters will arrive in Grand Rapids Tuesday. Mr. Hertel's sons will act as pallbearers." [6 Jul 1931 – Grand Rapids Herald]From "The Hertel Story" by Kay [Goudberg] Schlam:
I never knew my grandmother Tryntje Hertel, has she died in 1921, three years before I was born. She must have been a wonderful, godly woman, dearly loved by her children. My mother would frequently refer to her in great terms of endearment. She must have been very wise, as mother often quoted her maxims, such as "Veele handen mache light werk", or "many hands make light work". She exerted great influence on her children, and even when my mother was very old, grandma Hertel was frequently in her dreams. Grandma must have been a very refined lady who loved beauty. I still have purple-flowered bone china cups which, no matter how hectic the day, Grandma Hertel brought out every afternoon for 3 o'clock tea.
Tryntje Roerig was born on October 17, 1860 in Bedum in the province of Groningen. Wieberen was born on July 23, 1854 in Stedum also in Groningen. They were married on June 6, 1885 when Tryntje was 24, and Wieberen was almost 31. Their marriage certificate states that the parents of the groom were Gerardus Hertel and Gepke Wiebrent Hoekstra, both dead. The parents of the bride were Berend Roerig (living) and Anje Vink (dead). Wieberen's occupation was listed as timmerman (carpenter) and Tryntje's as Sonder (none?). The first of ten children was born the next year and they continue to arrive at one to three year intervals for the next twenty-three years. Arnold, the last child, was born when gramma was forty-seven and one-half years old and grandpa was almost fifty-three. The Hertels first lived in the town of Bedum. Immigration with the first two children to Grand Rapids, Michigan occurred in 1888 when my mother was 3 years old and her older brother Gerardus, 2 years. Tryntje's father was already migrated to Grand Rapids in 1892 with his daughter Anna, Tryntje's step sister, who later later married a Van Langen. Naturalization of Wieberen Hertel family didn't occur until January 18, 1909.
On the naturalization certificate, Wieberen is described as 54 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, color-white, complexion-light, eyes-gray, hair-brown with no visible distinguishing marks. Trynje (Tryntje) is listed as age 48 and residing in Grand Rapids. The minor children are Anje age 20 years; Berend age 19 years;, Nicolas age 16 years; Johannes age 14 years; Jan age 11 years; Agnes age 7 years; William Age 5 years; Arnold age 1 year; all surname Hertel, all reside at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The family home is listed as 499 Caulfield Avenue.
My mother, being the next to the oldest child, and a girl, became a second mother to this large family. She told of being awakened in the morning by having a wet baby put in the bed with her. She also told up having to knit a specific number of rows on a stocking before going to school in the morning, as well as making tucked shirts for the boys and having to iron them stiffly starched. She looked back on her childhood as being almost non-existent, and comprised of nothing but work. She often said she would not like to repeat her life.
It would seem that grandmother Hertel may have suffered from eclampsia (toxemia) during pregnancy. My mother told of having the responsibility of the entire household at the age of twelve, because mother was comatose and could not be consulted. She took great pride in being told by the butcher that she ordered the families supplies of food just as competently as mother had. My mother stated over and over that she had absolutely no regrets about doing anything that was a help to her mother. However, she felt that her father was very hard on her. But my grandfather Hertel deeply loved his wife, and did everything in his power to spare her. When he would come home at the end of a long hard day, his first action would be to find gramma Hertel and older in a long and tender embrace. It would seem that he ruled his roost with a somewhat heavy hand and expected the woman's place to be in the home. Aunt Agnes tells of her father's resentment over her engagement to Uncle Henry Vermeer. By that time he was a widower and felt that Aunt Agnes should stay at home and keep his house for him and the boys, Arnold and William. However we must remember that this "headship" principle was part of the European and also Christian Reformed Church culture and tradition. He was probably as demanding of himself as he was of others. It must have been a tremendous responsibility to maintain a household of ten children. Being able to raise all of them to maturity in those days says something about his skills provider, and the cleanliness, good nutrition and nurturing gramma gave her family.
As a building contractor, grandfather Hertel could be found on the streetcar at six every morning, carrying a tool box almost too heavy to lift. There are still homes in Grand Rapids that were built by him. The family lived at first at 499 Caulfield Ave. SW. This was a small house with no bathtub initially, and only a toilet on the back porch. They attended Commerce St. Church, which was near to the train depot. Later on, Grampa built a home at 925 Franklin Street, which was a more modern residence near the old Calvin College. His sons must have worked with him when they were growing up, and, as a result, many any of them went into the building trades. The home, which is built for us when we lived in Tohatchi, NM, was almost totally a Hertel creation. Grandfather did the building, according to the plans drawn by Uncle Ben, and architect. The electrical and plumbing pictures were furnished by Uncle Bill and Uncle Nick, electrical and plumbing contractors respectively. That home is still lived in by the Klumpenhauers, missionaries to the Navajos. They allowed me to go through it in 1985, at the time of the 75th anniversary of the mission. I had always remembered it as a very large home, and it surprised me to see how modest it really is. My oldest Uncle, Gerard, was also in the Building Trades and was killed during the construction of the Old Kent Bank by a ceiling beam that fell on him. Uncle Joe became a realtor, Uncle Arnold, an insurance salesman, and Uncle George had a number of occupations.
By the time I knew Grampa Hertel, he had mellowed considerably, and was a welcome visitor almost every winter. He no longer had a home base, but lived with children in Michigan in the summer, and with us in New Mexico, and Aunt Agnes in California in the winter. He was a great favorite of mine, and played many a game of dominoes to keep a lonely little girl amused. He exercised the grandfather's prerogative to spoil me a bit, by insisting one Christmas that we have a decorated tree, something he had never permitted in his own home, as that was considered a pagan custom. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for elderly gentleman with mustaches or goatees, because of the warm memories of my grandfathers.
Grandmother Hertel was only 60 years old, when she died of Bright's (kidney) disease. Arnold (14 years old), Bill (almost 18), and Agnes (20) were still living at home. After aunt Agnes was married in 1922, Grampa and the boys went to Cincinnati to live with my parents. Uncle Arnold must have been the 1920's version of a juvenile delinquent. My father told of traffic citations unexpectedly showing up in the mail. Apparently, Arnold had been "borrowing" the car without permission while the rest of the family was asleep. My mother often regretted the loss of their mother at a time in Arnold's life when he badly needed her. She felt his teen years would have been different, had his mother been alive during that time.
Grandfather Hertel died in July, 1931, ten years after his wife's death. He was almost 77 years old. A notice in the church bulletin shortly before he died read, "Mr. W. Hertel, who was in church yet 2 weeks ago today, is critically ill with cancer of the stomach. He suffers intensely, and he is under the continuous influence opiates. Humanly speaking, the end is near, and we are happy to add, the brother is ready to meet his Lord and Savior." A funeral notice reads: "Services were held last Tuesday afternoon (Bates St. Christian Reformed Church). The pastor's (Rev. Bonnema) message on this occasion was based on Acts 20:24, 'But none of these things move me, neither count on my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy.' We tender are Christian sympathy to the children and other relatives." Another notice reads: "Rev. and Mrs. W. Goudberg's vacation was hastened by the sickness, following by the death of Mrs. Goudberg's father, Mr. W Hertel, a very worthy, God-fearing man, for a long time elder in one of the Grand Rapids churches." From the Christian Indian (I think): "For many years it was our privilege and pleasure to become acquainted with brother Hertel, the father of Mrs. Goudberg of Tohatchi. Of late we heard he was in failing health, and as matters took a serious turn, Rev. and Mrs. Goldberg went East rather earlier than they had expected to go, and sad to say, they arrived in Grand Rapids about 3 hours at the old father had breathe his last. We feel for them in this sad disappointment. The mother of one missionary and the father of another 'not lost, but gone before', and not far apart. Brother Hertel was a frequent visitor to the home of his son-in-law and withal took a right hearty interest in all things connected with our Indian Mission. In him we all lose a friend".
This was my first experience with death, and I can remember Grandpa lying in state in the sunroom of Uncle Ben and Aunt Beth's home at 1532 Hall St. in Grand Rapids (where he had died). I remember trying to work up the courage to go in and plant a kiss on that cold cheek.
The Hertel brothers were remarkably close. Although Joe and family lived in Detroit for a period of time, and Uncle Arnold and family in Holland, all of the brothers eventually moved back to Grand Rapids. One of the factors that kept them close was a shared common faith. Most of the brothers followed their fathers example and had leadership positions in their churches. George, John and Ben with their families belong to the Fuller Ave. CRC and gathered at one of the homes for coffeekletz after morning church every Sunday. Naturally, the children were included, and those cousins remain close even today.
Michigan was particularly hard hit by the depression of the 1930s and the brothers also felt the effects. I remember Uncle George reminiscing about those days. Although none of the brothers lost their homes to foreclosure, money was in extremely short supply. If any of the brothers picked up an odd job now and then, he would call the other brother's to see who was in the most desperate financial straits and would share would have ever had been earned.
Although all of the brothers were engaged in business activities, they all had a strong sense of appreciation for the Fine Arts. Both Joe and Arnold wrote poetry and set some of their poems to music. My mother also had a real appreciation of poetry and I still have many of the poems she collected, as well as a volume of poetry by Helen Steiner Rice, the last gift she ever gave me.Five of the Hertel Brothers experienced sudden death from "heart diseas"e, uncle Ben suffered kidney failure, following surgery for a ruptured aneurysm, uncle Arnold died from cancer, and, as mentioned earlier, Gerard was killed in a building accident. Some of the cousins have speculated that the "heart disease" blame for the brothers' sudden deaths may have been ruptured aneurysms. That seems to be a congenial weakness, as George and Arnold had surgeries to correct that condition and some of my generation have also been diagnosed with aneurysms. All of the Hertel brothers, except Uncle Nick and uncle Gerard, are buried in the Hertel plod in Woodlawn cemetery in Grand Rapids. My mother and father are also interred there. My Hertel grandparents are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in that same city.
Further information about the Hertel dynasty is in the ANCESTRAL HISTORY OF THE WIEBEREN HERTEL FAMILY. My mother was an archivist at heart and had saved all the newspaper clippings which are included in that book.
