Pastor Otto Hueschen was blessed to have the opportunity to unite his daughter, Magdalena, and the man who taught at his Lutheran school in marriage.  The event occurred on this date in 1909.  The groom was named Louis Luepke, or as the Germans would say, Lehrer Louis Luepke.  Around here, these surnames would be pronounced Hee-shen and Lip-key.  For a little more background on this story, you can read another post titled, Pastor’s Wife Gives Birth on Two Christmas Eves.

Let’s backtrack a little.  Magdalena Hueschen was born on May 21, 1884 in Drake, Missouri, a rural area between Washington and Jefferson City, Missouri.  Rev. Hueschen was the pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Drake.  Here is a photo of that church as it looks today.

In 1892, Pastor Hueschen became the minister at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, Missouri.  He served that congregation until 1926.  We have this fairly early photograph of Magdalena.

This photo of the rather large Hueschen family was taken probably sometime around 1903-1904.  Magdalena is standing in the back on the far right.

Meanwhile, on August 20, 1886, Louis Luepke was born in Bonduel, Wisconsin.  He was the son of Wilhelm and Wilhelmine (Brusewitz) Luepke.  Louis went on to become a Lutheran teacher, and in 1907, he took a position at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.  That leads us up to June 27, 1909 when Louis married Magdalena.  This is the record for this marriage as we find it in the church books of Grace Lutheran.

One of the witnesses for this wedding was Rufus Schneider, who was a Lutheran teacher in Wittenberg at the time.  Here is the Luepke/Hueshcen marriage license.

This is the wedding photograph for this couple.

I have two photographs to show of Lehrer Luepke and his classes while he was a teacher in Uniontown.

The school building in these photos was built in 1906, right before Teacher Luepke arrived in Uniontown.  Here is a photo of this 1906 school next to the church building.

This 1910 census entry for Uniontown shows the Luepkes and the Hueschens listed next to one another.

In 1916, Louis moved back closer to his Wisconsin roots and became a teacher in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.  His World War I draft registration documents this fact.

The 1920 census also shows this family living in Wisconsin.  By this time, there were four children in the family.  One more child would be added in 1921.

In the 1930 census, the Luepke family can be found in Fort Wayne, Indiana where Louis is still a teacher.  His World War II draft card states that he was teaching at Concordia Lutheran School.

Two of the Luepke’s daughters married full-time church workers and a son, Eldor Luepke, became a Lutheran teacher and principal.  Folks familiar with St. Louis schools should recognize the name of Eldor Luepke as being the long-time principal of Salem Lutheran School in Afton, Missouri.

This family photo was taken later in the lives of Louis and Magdalena.  Eldor is standing in the back on the right wearing glasses.

Magdalena died in 1958; Louis died in 1959.  Here are their Indiana death certificates.

Here is Magdalena’s obituary.

And here is Louis’s obituary.

Louis and Magdalena are buried together in the Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Here is the gravestone.

Three of Eldor Luepke’s children, Carol, Joyce, and Jim, also became Lutheran teachers.  My thanks go out to Carol for supplying some of the photographs that were used in this story.  By the way, Carol is also the wife of my wife’s brother.  We often call ourselves “outlaws” in that family.