Burt Dempsey Memorial

Recently Burt Dempsey passed away in Seattle.  A memorial celebration was held at the Edmond's Senior Center on Sunday, April 22.  I was not able to attend but have been in contact with Daphne Dempsey who informed me of the event. 

I will contact Den Dempsey, Burt's son to request more information about Burt to publish here or on the Staeheli family website.  This photo was taken in March of 2011.

The following information comes from the Barton Family Funeral service website:

Burton L. Dempsey (born November 8, 1918), passed away March 30, 2012. Devoted husband of Joanne (deceased) and father of Dennis and Pamela.
Burt served in WWII and raised his family in the Seattle area after the war. He used his GI Bill to become an airline pilot but younger, returning Korean War pilots were preferred by the airlines. He was a self employed home builder and excavating contractor until his retirement in 1980.
He and Joanne enjoyed boating in the San Juans and traveling throughout the western states and Canada with friends during their retirement years.
There will be a private family memorial for Burton. Remembrances may be made in his name to Washington Animal Rescue.

Marcel provides new map information showing the Staeheli home in Guebsenmoos

Marcel Mueller, a researcher at the St. Gallen Staatsarchiv has sent a map which was found by Ueli Risch, who has been sorting and documenting the historical records of the Kubel Elektrik powerplant.  The map lists Albert Staeheli as owner of properties number 13 and 16 in Guebsenmoos.  The Staeheli home was on property 13 and on the map is clearly located on the property with the boundary, contour lines and access roads also shown.  Marcel has given me permission to publish photos of the map on the Staeheli website. 

I am grateful to Marcel for his ongoing interest in my family research and his continuing support of this project by providing new information as it becomes available.  A few images are shown here.

Additional information can be found on my post titled A Productive Summer - continued from 2010.

Click on the images for larger views.



Albert Staeheli is listed as owner of properties 13 and 16

This map view shows properties 13 and 16



This map view shows the Staeheli house on property 13

Staeheli Home Photo - New Information

Peter Akermann, a researcher for St. Galler Stadwerke, contacted me last September about an old map of eastern Switzerland.  I had previously seen the map so I responded that I am looking for information about Guebsenmoos and Guebsensee during the construction of the reservoir.  When walking the path around Guebsensee I saw a historical sign with a photo taken during construction of the reservoir showing structures in Guebsenmoos.  The structures, houses and barns, would eventually be flooded as the reservoir filled.

Today I received an email from Peter with a photo he found on the internet showing the same scene as the photo from Jack Staeheli showing the Staeheli house in Guebsenmoos. 

This raises a question about the identity of the house in the photo.  We know the Staeheli house was underwater after the formation of Guebsensee.  The house in the photo is standing with the Guebsensee in the background.  It appears the earth dam at the west end of the reservoir is in place and the reservoir is full.  If that is so then the house in the photo could not have been the Staeheli house in Guebsenmoos. 

More research may confirm this.  Still, the house in the photo could be representative of the style of home the Staeheli's occupied in Guebsenmoos.

My thanks to Peter for researching this photo and providing the information.

http://www.eingestellte-bahnen.ch/615/19301.html

To access the website which shows this photo click on this link:
http://www.eingestellte-bahnen.ch/615/19301.html

scroll down to the photo.


To learn more about St. Galler Stadwerke go to these links:


http://www.sgsw.ch/


http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankt_Galler_Stadtwerke&ei=z7dHT4foBYqfiQK2sqjaDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=11&sqi=2&ved=0CH8Q7gEwCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dst%2Bgaller%2Bstadtwerke%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1619%26bih%3D873%26prmd%3Dimvns

Contact with David Staeheli

Last September I received an email from David Staeheli.  He is David Tod Staeheli, born in San Bernardino, CA in 1963.  David worked as an auto body repairman for 15 years and has been an insurance adjuster in Snohomish, WA for the past 15 years.

David's father is Jack Leroy Staeheli and his mother is Hanna Rebecca Pendleton.  His grandfather was Harry Staeheli and great grandfather was Caspar Staeheli, son of Caspar Albert Staeheli.

David's children are Jeremy Tod, Mikayla Ann and Ashley Noel.  His wife is Sheila Diane (Lanning) Staeheli.

Jeremy and his wife Amber are expecting their first child.  Mikayla has a daughter, Aliyah. 

I have forwarded David's family information to Tienne Staeheli who is maintaining a family tree.

Contact with Stacy Pettitt

Today I spoke with Stacy Pettitt who lives in Pullman with her husband, Steven and their children Riley and Reece.  Stacy is the only child of Claudia (Staeheli) and Lawrence Rayburn.  Her parents are from Colville and moved to Spokane where Stacy was raised.  Stacey graduated from Mead High School in 1992, Gonzaga in 1996 and EWU in 2002.  She claims to be a WSU Cougar fan now.

Stacy's mother, Claudia is the only child of Lester "Babe" Staeheli and Gladys Holst.  Lester was a son of Robert "Bob" and Rose Staeheli.  Lester and his brother Robert Carl Staeheli had the Staeheli Creamery in Colville.  Gladys is 87 and still lives in Colville.

Stacey remembers seeing her great grandmother, Rose, and has fond memories of the time she was with her.

Stacey values our family history and has agreed to provide information she has and that she may collect when sorting through family documents and photos.  I am grateful for Stacy's interest and willingness to add to our story about the descendants of Bob and Rose Staeheli.

Photo of the Staeheli Home in Guebsenmoos

Last spring was a busy time when I received not only the family information from Paul Staeheli but additional material from Sherrie Hansen (Staeheli), Verne Alexander (Erma was his aunt - his father's sister- and Paul Staeheli was his uncle), Ken Alexander, Dennis Dempsey and Jack Staeheli.

Much of the information is new while some corrects errors I have published about certain family members.  My goal is to make corrections, add new material and update my website.

Jack had told me of a photo he saw when he was in Switzerland and Austria some time ago.  The photo was published in an encyclopedia and showed the Staeheli home in Guebsenmoos.  This information was provided by Albert Schwering, an Austrian relative of Maria Rimmel, wife of Caspar Albert Staeheli.  Jack had been unable to find his copy of the photo but contacted relatives to locate other copies.

Last April Jack informed me his cousin's daughter who lives in Canada possessed a copy and would send it to him.  He emailed the house photo on May 2nd.  There are notes in the margins and while it is low resolution black and white the house is clearly visible.  Jack proposes we have a painting made including the Staeheli family in the scene.  We will get together to work out the concept.

I have maps of the Staeheli property in Guebsenmoos and records of the previous property owners with details of the modifications to the house and barn.  The photo enables us to visualize the home and surrounding property. This photo was probably taken after the family had left Switzerland.  The dam had been constructed and water is visible in the background as the reservoir was being filled.

                                                      Click on photo for a larger image

Pauline (Staeheli) Hagan Passes

I have received several phone calls from relatives and copies of her obituary and a tribute from her cousin informing me that Pauline Hagan passed away August 10, 2011 in Spokane.  Her Memorial Mass was at St. Aloysius Church on August 18, 2011.  Her urn was placed at Holy Cross Cemetery. 

Click on the image to make it larger