The birthday boy for today would be celebrating his 130th birthday if he was still alive. Gustav Friedrich Ferdinand Ochs was born on May 28, 1894, the 4th of 9 children of Henry and Josephine (Rauh) Ochs. His father was a prominent figure in Perry County history, who was a local judge as well as an elected member of the Missouri State House of Representatives. A story written by Henry’s great-grandson, Clayton Erdmann titled, Junior, Judge, and Representative, told the story of Gustav’s father. As you will discover in this post, Gustav, to a great extent, followed in his father’s footsteps. At a very early age, Gustav was pictured with his 3 older sisters. Gustav was the first son in his family.

Gustav Ochs was baptized and confirmed at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. He appears in his first census in 1900 at the age of 6. At that point, there were 7 Ochs children. Gustav’s father was a farmer in the Central Township.

The Henry Ochs, Jr. farm is found on the Perry County plat map shown here.

A photograph was taken of the Henry Ochs family in the 1900’s. We know it was taken prior to 1907 because Gustav’s mother is included in the picture, and she died in 1907. Gustav is standing on the far right.

Gustav was confirmed in 1907, and that was also the year in which his mother died. In the 1910 census, we find Gustav at the age of 15. I figure the oldest daughter in this household, Alma, at the age of 20, must have been doing a lot of the housekeeping and cooking for this family.

Gustav had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It says that he was renting a farm in Perry County.

Gustav did serve in the U.S. Army during that war. We can view his military record below. It indicates that he served almost a whole year overseas.

Not long after he returned from the war, Gustav got married, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Lilla Marie Minnie Bergmann, who was born on February 27, 1899. Lilla was the 4th of 5 children of John and Anna (Muench) Bergmann. Lilla was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, but I am unable to display her baptism record. She shows up at the age of 1 in the 1900 census. Her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

It must have been not long after the above census was taken that this family photo was taken of the Bergmann’s. Lilla is the youngest in the photo standing in front between her parents.

Lilla is found in the 1910 census at the age of 11. Another son, Rudolph, had been born into this family in the previous decade.

The John Bergmann farm was located adjacent to the Henry Ochs, Jr. farm as displayed in this plat map.

Gustav Ochs married Lilla Bergmann on October 19, 1919 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can view this couple’s marriage license.

Both the Perry County Republican and the Perry County Sun published articles about the Ochs/Bergmann wedding. I will show both of them below in clickable images.

Our German Family Tree lists 3 children born to Gustav and Lilla, all of which were baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. In the 1920 census, we see that this pair had yet to have their first child. Despite their household being made up of just the two of them, their entry spilled over two census pages.

The 3 Ochs children were all born in the 1920’s, so we see all of them in the 1930 census. Like his father, Gustav was called a farmer in the Central Township.

Another family photo was taken of Gustav’s Ochs family. Gustav is probably the man sitting next to his father in the front.

The Gustav Ochs household is found in the 1940 census. Their only daughter, Mildred, at the age of 19, was called a grade school teacher. Their oldest son, Milton, was helping his father on his farm.

In 1942, Gustav had his World War II draft card completed.

The last census the public is allowed to view is the one taken in 1950. Although it looks as if Mildred still carried the Ochs surname, she was married to Walter Brickhaus, who is listed toward the bottom. The 2 grandchildren were Brickhaus children. There was also a lodger, John Wagner, who was helping Gustav on his farm.

At this point, based on what I have written and the documents that have been shown, you might get the impression that Gustav was a typical farmer in Perry County. However, I did a search through some archives of the Perryville newspapers for “Gustav Ochs”. Those papers were just packed with articles mentioning his name. I can tell you that I found evidence that Gustav was very involved in community activities. He was elected to several civic offices. I even found an article that said he was appointed as an interim judge for a while. Gustav was also very much involved in the leadership of several farmers’ organizations. Especially during World War II, Gustav was actively involved in organizing farmers to help in the war effort. He was later in leadership roles in the American Legion. Not only that, but Gustav was also in leadership roles in the Friedenberg church. We know he was an elder and was also an alternate delegate to the Missouri Synod Convention in 1938. Gustav was so much more than a local farmer.

Lilla Bergmann died in 1967 at the age of 67. Her death certificate says she had some sort of kidney disease. She died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Gustav Ochs died in 1973 at the age of 79. His death certificate indicates that he died at the Sunrise Retirement Home in Perryville.

Gustav and Lilla are buried together in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg.

Gustav’s father, as well as Gustav himself, were both amazing men. In addition to their farming chores, they were able to serve their church, their community, and their country in so many ways.