Wilfred W. Genter

Wilfred Walter Genter was born July 17, 1919 in Ridgeville Twp. He is the son of Aaron John Genter (October 22, 1893-April 1, 1975) and Emma Bruns Genter (July 14, 1895). His paternal grandparents were Christian and Anna Britsch Genter. The paternal great-grandparents were Andrew and Dorothea Ott Genter and Solomon and Margareta Gebendinger Britsch.

His maternal grandparents were Henry and Anna Schultz Bruns. His maternal great-grandparents were Carl and Katherine Lange Bruns and Fred and Anna Fessel Schultz. Wilfred has a brother Olen (June 8, 1921) and a sister Janice, Mrs. Vernon Rohrs, (December 3, 1929). He also had a brother Henry (1923-1934) and a sister Virginia (1927-1928).

Wilfred was baptized and confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church, R 1, Stryker, Ohio (Ridgeville Twp.). He attended Dittmer public school. As a young man he worked as a carpenter, helping build barns, and also for Fred H. Gerken Co. in Napoleon, driving a truck.

April 2, 1941 he was inducted into the U.S. Army. He served with the 959th Field Artillery Batallion as a heavy truck driver. He received his basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, then went on to Camp Forest, Tennessee; Camp Roberts, California and Fort Lewis, Washington. On April 16, 1944 he went overseas to Europe. Wilfred was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received from shell fragments in France. In October 1945 he returned to the United States and was honorably discharged at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

On November 2, 1941 Wilfred was married to Norma Meyer, daughter of Fred E. Meyer (1881-1970) and Emilie Bischoff Meyer (1887-1972) of Freedom Twp. at St. John Lutheran Church by the Rev. George Maassel. In March 1946 they moved to the Roessing farm, west of Ridgeville Corners, where they still reside. They are engaged in general farming and raising hogs. In June 1975 they purchased the A.J. Center homestead, where Wilfred's mother is still living.

Wilfred is serving as Red Cross director from Ridgeville Twp. He is also a member of the Henry County Agricultural Society. His father served on the Fair Board for 38 years.

Wilfred and Norma are the parents of five children: Lynn Wilfred; Karen Ann; Roger Frederick; Dale Aaron and Lee Henry. The children were all baptized by the Rev. A.C. Hahn at St. John Lutheran Church, R 1, Stryker, Ohio and also confirmed there.

Lynn was born July 11, 1946. He graduated from Ridgeville High School in 1964 and Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois in 1969. August 2, 1969 he married Helen Zurstadt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerhardt Zurstadt of Detroit, Michigan. She is also a graduate of Concordia, River Forest. Lynn taught parochial school in Kilmanagh, Michigan for several years. Now he and his family reside in Leavenworth, Kansas where he is teaching at St. Paul Lutheran School. Lynn and Helen are the parents of three daughters: Heidi Christine born March 7, 1971; Laura Ruth born April 5, 1974 and Emily Luise born March 29, 1977.

Karen Ann was born August 4, 1947. She graduated from Ridgeville High School in 1965. After graduation she was employed in the office of the telephone company in Napoleon and in the attendance office at Four County Joint Vocational School. June 17, 1973 Karen Ann married David Keesbery, son of the late Walter W. Keesbery and Loretta Brown of R 42, Defiance, Ohio. David is employed at Johns-Manville, Defiance and Karen is a clerk-typist at Campbell Soup, Napoleon. They have two children by previous marriages. Timi Jo was born May 28, 1970 and David Wyatt was born November 25, 1970. The family lives at the Fred E. Meyer homestead at R 1, Napoleon.

Roger was born November 1, 1949. He graduated from Ridgeville High School in 1967 and from Ohio State University in 1972 with his masters degree in the College of Agriculture. September 1, 1972 he married Lynne Moser, daughter of Curtis J. and Carolyn Ducatt Moser of Napoleon. They live in Columbus, Ohio where Roger is teaching in Franklin Jr. High School. Lynne, also a graduate of Ohio State, is a nurse at University Hospital, Columbus.

Dale was born July 25, 1953. He attended Ridgeville High School for two years. His junior and senior years were spent at Four County Joint Vocational School. Due to the consolidation of schools, he graduated with his class from Archbold High School in 1971. In 1973 he graduated from Northwest Technical College. He worked at Sander Woodworking in Archbold till he joined his father in farming in the spring of 1976. On December 27, 1975 he married Elizabeth Sheller, daughter of Lyle and Ilene Sattler Sheller of Malinta, Ohio. Beth graduated from the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing and is now employed at Defiance Hospital. They live at R 2, Defiance, a few miles west of Ridgeville Corners.

Lee was born August 27, 1958. He graduated from Archbold High School in 1976. He was chosen by his class to be one of the speakers at the Commencement Exercises. Now hs is employed at the Campbell Institute for Agricultural Research in Napoleon. April 29, 1978 Lee will be married to Jane Wachtman, daughter of the late Wilfred Wachtman and Anna Miller Wachtman. They will make their home at 614 Beckham St. in Napoleon.

Submitted by: Mrs. Wilfred W. Genter