Fritz Elling's Memorial Photo, 1927

This photo was taken to memorialize the death of Albert Elling's father, Frederick "Fritz" Elling. A copy of this photo was given to me by one of my dad's cousins who remembered it hanging on the wall during her childhood. Having a postmortem photo or a memorial photo of a deceased family member was most popular in the nineteenth century, but the practice carried on among some cultural groups into the early twentieth century and it appeared that our group of German ancestors thought it important.

Fritz Elling died on July 9, 1927, and he and wife Mary were buried in the cemetery by St. Luke Lutheran Church, Wauseon, which is located along Rt. 108 heading into Wauseon from Napoleon. 

 His photo in the picture was cropped by the photographer from the family picture presented earlier on this blog. Of significance in the photo are the clock with hands showing the time of death - 6:20; the German phrase beneath the photo - "Rest in Peace"; and the white lilies along the bottom of the photo signifying the Resurrection. The banner, "Father," was prominently displayed and it appeared that some flower arrangements from the casket were arranged here, as well.

The story appeared first on my previous blog, Elling Family News, on March 1, 2009.