A while back a story was written about a Kieninger family that had four boys who I affectionately called the 4 K’s in the post titled, This Pitcher Had 4 K’s.  Today’s birthday girl married one of the 4 K’s.  The girl’s name was Margaret Leimbach, and she was born on August 29, 1914.  She was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, Missouri.  She was the daughter of Otto and Lina (Hemmann) Leimbach, and Margaret was the firstborn of nine children.

Meanwhile, the first of the 4 K’s was born in Wittenberg, Missouri, to Wilhelm and Esther (Mueller) Kieninger.  His name was Marvin Mueller Kieninger, and he was born on May 11, 1907 and was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.  Here are photos of Marvin’s parents.

When he was 22 years old, we find Marvin in the 1930 census living in St. Louis with his Kieninger grandparents.

Marvin is shown as a polisher for an auto business.  There also was a confectionery business being apparently run by two of his aunts.  I happen to be reading a book about the St. Louis Cardinals’ championship season in 1934.  It is somewhat likely that Marvin lived in St. Louis during the era when the Cardinals were referred to as the Gashouse Gang featuring the likes of Dizzy Dean, Ducky Medwick, Leo the Lip Durocher, and Frankie Frisch.  I can just imagine Marvin coming down to visit his brothers in Wittenberg who were playing baseball with the local town team, telling them about how he may have seen some exciting games at Sportsman’s Park.

That leads us up to the wedding between Margaret Leimbach and Marvin Kieninger.  These two were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas on June 20, 1937.  Here is their marriage license.

We also have this photo of the wedding party of this couple.  It is quite grainy.  One of the other men in the photo is Marvin’s brother Tilden.  My guess is that he is the one standing next to the groom.

This couple lived in the St. Louis area and became the parents of three girls.  When Marvin and Margaret celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary, this photo was taken, supposedly in Alton, Illinois.  The three daughters are Marilyn, Sandy, and Laverne.

Sandy and Laverne are two regular visitors here in Altenburg as part of a group that call themselves the Wittenberg Cousins.  Here is a photo of several members of this group of cousins a few years back.  Sandy is in the middle in the back, with Laverne in purple right in front of her.

This group of cousins always brings much fun and laughter to town when they visit.  They are also great friends of our museum.  I am sure if they were here today, they could add a lot of information to this story.  I sure hope I got the information in this post correct, because if I didn’t, I’m going to hear about it the next time they come to town.