Otto Jacob Koch was born on July 5, 1893, so today would be his 130th birthday. Otto was the son of Jacob and Wilhelmine (Hellwege) Koch. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Because I am not in Altenburg, I cannot get an image of his baptism record. Otto appears in his first census in 1900 at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township of Cape Girardeau County.

Otto was a teenager by the time of the 1910 census. He was still living with his parents in the same location. He was working on his father’s farm.

In 1917, Otto had his World War I draft registration completed. At that time in his life, he was not living at home. He was a farm hand on the John Swanberg farm in Kingsley, Iowa.

Otto would get married before the next census was taken, so we will turn our attention to the woman who became his bride. Her name was Stella Louise Obermann, who was born on July 19, 1899. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Mier) Obermann. Stella was born in Dutchtown, Missouri, and there is a good chance that she was one of the first persons to be baptized at St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Dutchtown, which had been established in 1898. Stella is found in the 1900 census as a baby.

The map below illustrates the location of Dutchtown near Cape Girardeau and Gordonville.

Stella is next found in the 1910 census, still living in the same location. As was the case in the previous census entry, her father was a farmer.

I have to wonder how the son of a Lutheran farmer from New Wells who had been helping on a farm in Iowa managed to meet up with a Catholic girl from Dutchtown, but they did so. Then, on February 26, 1918, Otto Koch married Stella Obermann. According to this couple’s marriage license, this wedding took place in Chaffee, Missouri and was conducted by a Catholic priest. That means it likely took place at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Chaffee. This form says Otto was from Gordonville and Stella was from Dutchtown.

A family tree on Ancestry.com lists 7 children born to Otto and Stella. None of them have baptism records included in our German Family Tree, and they were likely baptized as Catholics. When the 1920 census was taken, this young couple had one baby. They were living in Gordonville where Otto was an auto mechanic. Included in their household was an 11 year-old girl named Anna Mirly. I was unable to determine who she was and why she was living with the Koch’s.

The 1930 census entry does not officially state that the Koch’s were living in Dutchtown, but I think that is where they were. By that time, they had 5 children in their household. Otto was still an automobile mechanic.

The 1940 census would be the last one in which we find Otto. Seven children were included in the Koch family. Otto continued to be an auto mechanic.

Otto Koch’s life came to an end in 1949 as a result of a car crash at the age of 56. The article shown below that appeared in a local newspaper describes that event.

Otto’s death certificate says he died of spinal and vertibrae injuries while at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Otto Koch is buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville. It appears that Otto maintained his membership in the Lutheran church throughout his life.

Stella is found in the 1950 census as a widow with 2 remaining daughters. She was a maintenance worker at a tourist court.

Later that year, Stella married again. Her second husband was Edward Schulte, who had lost his first wife in 1944. Stella Koch Schulte died in 1976 at the age of 77. She is buried in the St. Edward’s Catholic Cemetery in Dutchtown.

This Koch/Obermann couple is yet another one in which one spouse was born a Lutheran and remained so after his marriage to a Catholic. The other spouse remained a Catholic after her marriage to a Lutheran. It is evidenced by the fact that they are buried separately in Lutheran and Catholic cemeteries.