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Florence was born on July 6,1894 in Peoria, IL. On June 18,1919 she married Paul Felix Bourscheidt. OnOctober 26,1920 they had a son Charles Joseph Bourscheidt.
Peoria Through the Eyes of a Baker's Daughter
by Angela Kenny
" It was a delight to interview Florence Trefzger Bourscheidt on the
occasion of her 90th birthday. She is a darling, all 4'10" of her,
and very sharp.
Her memory is marvelous.
Florence's roots are deep in Peoria history. Her paternal
grandparents came to America from Wehr, Baden, Germany, the Black
Forest. They settled in Cininnati, but 2 years later came to
Peoria. Grandfather Trefzger opened his first bakery in 1861 on
Fulton Street.
Both of Florence's parents - Sophia Schiefling and Charles William
Trefzger - were born, reared and married in Peoria. On July 6,1894
they were blessed with Florence. She was born above the bakery
which was then on the corner of Main and Monroe, acress the street
from the Post Office. Florence had a sister, Marie Ann, one year
older, and a brother Charles Joseph (Joe), two years younger. They
are both deceased. Joe's two sons (Joe & tom) now run Trefzger's
bakery. They are the 4th generation.
Florence has many fond memories of her childhood. Among them the
old lamplighter who came every evening in his horse and buggy and
lit the street lights. In the morning he would return, take out the
carbon pencils and put fresh ones in for that enening. He would
always give the used pencils to the children, and never seemed to
forget whose turn it was to receive one. Florence remembers the
horse drawn fire engines; the horses were the loveliest in town.
She remembers the Dalmation that always sat in the front seat and
never fell off the fire truck!
She also remembers one of the early automobiles in Peoria. It was
built at Bradley University's machine shop and was called a Glide.
Florence recalls standing on Main Street and watching it go down the
hill. There were a lot of doubting Thomases who said "Oh sure it
can slide down the hill, but wait until it tries to go back up." As
Florence says, "All kinds of hulla ballou." "Well it came up the
hill, past North over to Flora and on out, you never heard such a
silence in your life."
Life seemed friendlier in those days Florence recalls. Everyone was
so neighborly and learned to get along with each other. They played
baseball, jacks, jump-rope, marbles, and learned to share. They had
taffy pulls, band concerts in the park on Sundays, the stores were
open till 8:00pm every night, and they thought nothing of walking
to the ice cream parlor on Elizabeth Street (now Sheridan Road) at
10:30pm on hot evenings. They didn't have a lot of money, but
it seemed to go farther. It was a very pleasant time to live. The
church was the focal point of their lives. Florence attended Sacred
Heart School where her studies were in German half of the day and
English half a day. She graduated in 1909 and went on to the
Academy of Our Lady where she graduated in 1913.
The Trefzger and the Bourscheidt families had always been friends
from the grade school days of Florence. So it was a very happy
occasion when Florence Trefzger and Paul Bourscheidt were married at
Sacred Heart Church June 18, 1919. They celebrated their 50th
Anniversary in 1969. Paul was an attourney and very well-known as a
speaker. He died February 12,1970. They had one son, Charles
Joseph, named after both grandfathers. When Charles grew up he
married Betty Yuhas, and they presented Paul and Florence with their
only grandchild, Margie.
Florence and Paul loved to travel. They went to a Rotary
International Convention in Lucerne, Switzerland on the Chisthpher
Columbo. There was a Storm at sea that lasted three nights and two
days. One evening the Bourscheidts were the only ones in the dining
room because they never got seasick. Florecne said, "We put
ourselves in the hands of the Lord and kept going." They were in
Europe for nine weeks and enjoyed themselves immensly. When they
met someone who couldn't speak English they switched to German and
got along famously.
When granddaughter Margie was a senior in high school, she went
around the world with her grandfather. It was something Margie will
never forget. She is now Mrs. Arthur Tattersolm.
Florence, now a resident of St. Josephs Home, never expected to
live to be 90 years old. She attributes her longevity to heridity
and exercise. She still walks outside erery day and exercises five
days a week." by Angela Kenny
Note
Family records show that Florence had a sister Mary Magdelina who died the day she was born.
"Florence Elizabeth Trefzger Boourscheidt has 36 letters in her name, the longest name in the family." by John Trefzger
"I was quite fond of Aunt Florence and Uncle Paul. In the 1950s when Lydia and I were married and having our 4 children we were strugling financially. Aunt Florence and Uncle Paul invited us to come to 'Peaceful Acres' and vacation with them. We took them up on the invitation and had our first and only vacations with them. We slept in their old chicken coop.
Aunt Florence kept us informed of all her ailments and achs and pains regularly.
In the evenings Uncle Paul and I would sit in the living room of the log cabin and talk about the 'Trefzger family genealogy' and about 'religion'. Uncle Paul had a great influence in my life."
by Jerry Trefzger
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