On October 30, 1924, a baby girl was born in Vincennes, Indiana by the name of Rosalie Antonia Kutscher.  Here is a photo of her birth certificate.

As you can see, the parents of Rosalie were Paul and Helen (Reisenbichler) Kutscher.  It can also be noted that Paul was a parochial school teacher.

Paul Gerhard Kutscher was born in 1896 and baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, Missouri.  This congregation is not in Perry County, but it is just across the Apple Creek in Cape Girardeau County.  It was there that a group of Austrian Lutherans settled not long after the Saxon Lutherans settled in Perry County.  Here is Paul’s baptism record as it is found in the Immanuel church records.

In 1922, Paul married Helen Reisenbichler at Immanuel.  Here is their marriage record in the church records.

If we backtrack a little, we can see from the World War I draft registration for Paul, that in 1918, he was attending Concordia College in River Forest as a student preparing to become a teacher.

After Rosalie was born in 1924, Paul must have taken a call to Salem Lutheran Church in Black Jack, Missouri.  The 1930 census indicates this family was living in this northern suburb of St. Louis.

When I was growing up in Jennings, Missouri, we played many a softball game at the field located at Salem.

Helen died in 1942, after which Paul married Norma Merkt in 1944.  In 1942, Paul registered for the World War II draft.

It appears that by the time that Paul registered, Helen had already died.  Otherwise, Rosalie would not be listed as the person who would always know his address.  Rosalie would have been eighteen years old then.  Also, there is indication here that Paul and his daughter must have been living at a teacherage located on the church property.

Paul and both of his wives are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Black Jack.  Here is Paul’s obituary as it was printed in the newspaper in 1974.

No, this story is not about someone teaching a casino card game, but it is another example of how the Lutheran churches around Perry County produced numerous full-time church workers.