A Lovely Lunch with Aunts and Uncles

Originally, this post appeared on the Elling Family Blog on May 22, 2010. Since that time, we have lost some of these very special folks, but the memories remain.

Don, Jane, Dianne

At lunch today...
Alfred, Ginny, Don, Jane, Dianne

Alma and Lorna

Louise, Eleonore and Ron

Alfred and Ginny Elling

I thank God that I have been blessed with such loving, sharing aunts and uncles. This week we met for lunch, along with visiting cousins, Jane and Don, for a tasty lunch and then a "show and tell" of family heirlooms.

Louise Miller Fahringer

  






Each daughter or daughter-in-law brought something that they now have that was once owned by parents, Albert and Ida Elling. It was such a good time, and my pen was working constantly as I tried to record the stories surrounding each item. 

Those stories led to other stories...well, all I can say is, "Stay Tuned" for a series on their family treasures.

Alma Hicksted and Lorna Hausch

Eleonore and Ron Glanz

Roland Edward Glanz - My Dear Uncle

        Roland Edward Glanz
June 12, 1922 - November 6, 2013

Roland (Ron) Edward Glanz, husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, brother, uncle and great-uncle, carpenter, golfer, World War II veteran and POW, died on Wednesday, November 6, at 11:50 p.m.
He was at home with his family around him. We are not ready for him to be gone, but we are grateful for the time he was with us all.

Roland was born on June 12, 1922, to the late Leo and Gertrude (Kuhlman) Glanz, in rural Columbus Grove, Ohio.  He was baptized and confirmed at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Ottawa, Ohio.  He also attended grade school
at St. Peter and Paul.

Roland graduated from McClure High School in 1941.  He entered the U.S. Army during World War II on February 12, 1943.  He served with the 409th Company infantry - 103rd Division in France and Germany.  He was captured by the Germans on December 2, 1944, at Selestat, France, and was a Prisoner of War in Germany, Stalag 4B, until he was liberated on April 4, 1945, by General Patton's Third Army.  Roland received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army in December 1945.

On February 1, 1948, Roland married Eleonore Elling at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Napoleon, Ohio.  She survives.

For a number of years, Roland was a foreman at General Mills in Toledo, Ohio.  In 1964, he established Glanz Homes, Inc.  Roland and his men built many homes in Ohio, Michigan, and Hawaii, where the family lived for 9 years.  He was a "taskmaster" when it came to his construction work, no shoddy workmanship.  However, he never asked him men to do something he himself would not do.

After retiring in 1988, Roland enjoyed woodworking, building furniture for his children and grandchildren.

In recent years, Roland and Eleonore enjoyed traveling and spending winters in Florida.

Surviving are sons and daughters, Gary (Diane), Redmond, WA; Ava (Chuck) Stanford, Scottsdale, AZ; Kevin, Napoleon, OH; Maria (Kenny) Judd, Vashon Island, WA; Julia, Graton, CA; Alan, East Lansing, MI.  Son Keith died in 1998 at age 43.  Also surviving are Erica (Erik) Kachmarsky; Thomas Glanz; Kristen (Alex) Starkovich; Julie (Scott) Sanders; William DeGroot; and Finn Judd.  Great-grandchildren are Michael Rance, Avery and Grace Kachmarsky, and Brody Sanders.  Also surviving is sister, June (Bob) Billmaier, Findlay, OH. Roland was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Marvin.

Roland was a life member of the Napoleon American Legion, and a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church, Napoleon, Ohio.  At St. Augustine, he was married and buried, and he enjoyed a long, rich journey in between.

His celebration of life mass will be on Veterans' Day, Monday, November 11, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Augustine Catholic Church,officiated by Father Dan Borgelt.
 (Burial- St. Augustine Cemetery, Napoleon, OH)

Uncle Ron at his 90th birthday celebration in 2012

 Rest In Peace