One hundred years ago today, Paul Walter Kasten was born in Uniontown, Missouri. He was born on Monday of Holy Week and baptized on Easter Monday (April 1). The baptism took place at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Paul was the son of Carl and Elsa (Bultmann) Kasten. This photo shows Paul at a rather early age.
Paul was also confirmed on April 26, 1931 at Grace Lutheran Church. Here is his confirmation picture which was done at the Lueders Studio in Frohna.
His confirmation verse was I Corinthians 16:13-14.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
In this 1940 census, we see Paul as a 22 year old farm laborer living with his parents, his two siblings, Ernst and Elda, and his grandmother, Clara (Bodenschatz) Kasten.
In 1942, Paul went off to war. He enlisted on September 23, 1942. Here are two photos of Paul in his military uniform.
In 1951, at the age of 33, Paul married Betty Lou Hoehn at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, Missouri where Betty was a member. Betty was the daughter of Alvin and Alma (Ochs) Hoehn. Here is a baby picture of Betty.
We also have this confirmation photo of Betty.
Paul and Betty were married on June 24th. Here is their marriage license.
Here is this couple’s wedding photograph.
This couple would have three children, LaDonna, Beverly, and Wayne.
This studio photograph was taken later when these children were older.
Most of the photos in this post can be credited to our occasional blog contributor, Clayton Erdmann. Clayton’s mother is Beverly (Kasten) Erdmann, who is standing in the back on the left in the above photo. So Paul is Clayton’s grandfather. I may be wrong about this, but it appears that Clayton was the oldest grandchild in this family. Here is a photo of Paul holding his grandson, Clayton.
This photograph taken later in Paul’s life show him with his brother and sister, Ernst and Elda.
Betty died in 2002; Paul died in 2014. This obituary for Paul gives some more details about his life.
Here is a photo taken of Paul at his last birthday party…his 96th.
Clayton is standing in the back on the left holding one of his boys. Paul and Betty are buried together in the Peace Lutheran, Friedenberg Cemetery. Here is their gravestone.
In closing, I cannot resist showing this photo picturing Clayton with his grandparents. He obviously needed plenty of help finding those Easter eggs.
Clayton, maybe you will have better luck finding the eggs this Easter when you will also be celebrating your Grandpa’s baptism birthday.
If any of you are Facebook friends of Clayton, he put over 30 photos of his grandfather there today for your viewing pleasure.
