Bertha Christine Bodenschatz was born on August 26, 1896, thus making today her 130th birthday. You will be reading another story about a woman who was born and raised in our area but migrated to St. Louis where she met her husband and spent the rest of her life there. Bertha was the daughter of Friedrich and Martha (Roen) Bodeenschatz. Her father had been married to Rosalie Mueller and had several children with Rosalie prior to her death in 1890. He then married Martha Roen and had two more children, the last one being Bertha. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at her baptism record below.

Bertha is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township. The 2 youngest girls in this entry were the children from Friedrich’s second marriage.

We next find Bertha in the 1910 census at the age of 13.

1910 was also the year that Bertha was confirmed at Immanuel, New Wells. The photo of Bertha shown below is one of her taken when she was quite young. It has the appearance of a confirmation photo, but she looks too young to me to be a confirmand.

Bertha is still found living with her parents when the 1920 census was taken. She was in her early 20’s.

Bertha must have made her way to St. Louis not long after the above census was taken because that is where she got married in 1922. We will now take a look at the early life of the man who would become her husband. His name was Elon Keith Godar, who was born on January 12, 1903. That means Elon was about 7 years younger than Bertha. Elon was the son of Leon and May (Staudefer) Godar. He was born in Jerseyville, Illinois, which is located not far north of St. Louis. We find him at the age of 7 when the 1910 census was taken. His father was a barber in Jerseyville.

Later in 1910, Elon’s father died. Then, in 1915, his mother married again. At some point, the two Godar sons, including Elon, went to live with their mother’s sister, Belle Brown, in Alton, Illinois. Elon was 17 years old at the time. His aunt was a landlady whose husband was a teamster in Alton. Several members of this household, including Elon’s older brother, were working at the Illinois Glass Works.

Elon also must have made his way into St. Louis in the early 1920’s. Elon Godar married Bertha Bodenschatz on May 13, 1922 at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Their St. Louis marriage record below says that both Elon and Bertha were living in St. Louis at the time.

In a previous post, I have said that Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, located at Union and Wells Avenues, was probably a Lutheran church that was not part of the Missouri Synod. This photo of Mt. Calvary was also displayed in that post.

The Godar’s had just one child, a daughter named Martha born in 1925. I found this photo of Bertha holding a baby, almost certainly her daughter, Martha.

In the 1930 census, the Godar’s are found with a household that included their daughter and Elon’s mother, May. Elon was an auto mechanic in St. Louis.

Next, we find the Godar’s in the 1940 census. The same 4 people are found in the entry, but this time, Elon is called a truck driver for the Coca Cola Manufacturing Company.

Elon had his World War II draft card completed when America entered that war. He had an address that was found in the Normandy neighborhood in north St. Louis. His employer was the Coco Cola Bottling Company.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Elon and Bertha had an empty nest, and Elon had the same job.

A few other photos are found on Ancestry.com of Bertha and Elon that I will display here.

Bertha Godar died in 1954 and her death certificate says she was 56 when she died. However, that age is based on the fact that this form gives Bertha a year of birth as 1897, and she was born in 1896. She was actually 57 years old at the time of her death.

Elon got married again after Bertha’s death to a woman whose maiden name was Lorayne Maus. I found a newspaper article which says they were married in 1956. A St. Louis city directory indicates that Elon was still living in that city, and he was still employed by the Coca Cola Bottling Company. It also says his wife was named Lorayne.

Elon Godar died in 1974 at the age of 71. This form is where we find the maiden name of his second wife.

Even though both Elon and Bertha died in St. Louis, their bodies were taken back to Jerseyville, Illinois for burial. These two are buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Jerseyville. Bertha is given a death year of 1897 on her gravestone, but I figure that is based on the incorrect year on her death certificate. There is probably another stone nearby that gives the name, Godar.

Before I close, I want to share another story about a character connected to the Coca Cola business. Without the contributions of a man named Ken Craft, our museum would not have the state-of-the-art research library that we have. Ken is a well-renowned genealogist, who also spent his career as an executive with the Coca Cola Company. Ken married a Noennig, and, as a result, he began becoming familiar with her family tree which had its American beginning in Altenburg. Ken contributed much in the way of funds for our research library, but also his expertise in genealogy to make our museum not only a place to view artifacts from East Perry County’s history, but also the best place for anyone with East Perry County connections to do family research. So, indirectly, our museum should also be thankful for Coca Cola.