For Olivia
February 18, 2011
by Erika (Granny) Jensen

I was born Erika Margarete Schütz (your grandmother) on June 4, 1941 in the early years of World War II. My birth place was in Franzensbad, Czechoslovakia that now is inside the Czech. Republic after Czechoslovakia was later divided following the war. Franzensbad was in a historic region called Sudeten Deutschland. It was somewhat unique in that the native language in this region was German instead of Czech.

Germans in Sudetenland and elsewhere expelled after World War II --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_Germans_after_World_War_II
Communist soldiers with guns came to our farm and told us to immediately leave our land or be shot. My mother and I became refuges on the road toward Germany where such refuges were not welcomed at the border. My mother (Maria), Tante Pepe, and I were smuggled across the border by helpful strangers. I was only six years old. Someday I will tell you the story as best I can recall after all these years.

We ended up on Christmas Eve alone and cold in a Regensburg train depot and were eventually given shelter in the home of a stranger, an 80-year old woman, who had no food to share other than some apples hung on a Christmas tree. Eventually we made our way to Munich (München) and lived with our Tante Pepe in an unheated garden shack at the edge of the city. Tante Pepe's husband, Uncle Karl, was still in a prison camp in Siberia. I remember begging for food outside the U.S. Army camps. Life was very difficult after World War II.

I eventually went to a Munich school that still had bomb holes in the roof. When I was nine years old my mother married an American soldier stationed in Munich. He and my mother had three more children born in Germany --- Nancy, Frannie, and Chester. Their last names were Swosinski whereas I retained my name Schütz. I also had a brother named Rudy Schütz and a sister named Marieannie Schütz. Marieannie still lives in Donaueschingen, Germany. Rudy died in Kempton a few years ago, but we did get to visit both Rudy and Marieannie a number of times. Rudy had two daughters and two sons, and Marieannie has a grown son who also lives in Donaueschingen. Marieannie's husband, Fritz, won an Olympic Gold Medal for marksmanship pistol shooting in the 1972 competition.

When I was 13 years old we accompanied my stepfather to America. Before graduating from high school in Tacoma, Washington I attended four different schools all across the United States because the Army frequently reassigned my stepfather. The first place we lived was Atlanta, Georgia. School was difficult at first because I could not speak English. But I learned quickly as we moved from Atlanta to Maryland to Arizona to Tacoma and then to Fort Knox in Kentucky. We enjoyed moving so often even though we had to leave friends behind. Each move brought something new and exciting.

My stepfather's mother visited us in Kentucky and took me back with her to Milwaukee to attend a nursing college. It was there that I became a licensed surgical technician, got married to your grandfather, Kenneth Bohmann, and worked the operating rooms of several Milwaukee hospitals. Your father, Michael, was my first born child. I later gave birth to your Aunt Maria and your Uncle David. I eventually made my way with my mother to my stepbrother Chester's home in San Antonio.

In 1985 I married Grandpa Bob and moved into his house beside where I worked in the Northeast Baptist Hospital. My youngest son David was able to move in with us and finished two years of high school in San Antonio. After Bob retired from Trinity University in 2006, he and I purchased our retirement cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
 

I've had many great friends and family members, but the person in my life that has been the most influential and remains the most important person for me is Grandpa Bob --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Resume.htm
Also see his home page at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Grandpa Bob introduced me to the world of academia where I had many enlightening visits to the campus of Trinity university and the campuses of many other universities around the world. His work sometimes took him back to Europe so that I could often visit family and friends I'd left behind in Germany. When you're older I will tell you more reasons why Bob Jensen became the most important person in my life apart from my sons and daughter.

Apart from Grandpa Bob and my children, probably the most important person in my life was Tante Pepe back in Germany. She's dead now, but I got to visit her tiny cottage a number of times while traveling with Bob. You can read more about my life and Tante Pepe at the following sites:

A Year 2000 (with pictures)  from Erika.  
She describes how a Munich street urchin became Cinderella filled with love and joy --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/erika/xmas00.htm 

 

A Year 2001 message (with pictures) from Erika 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/erika/xmas01.htm 
 

More than anyone else, Tante Pepe helped me through some of the most difficult times in my early life.

It was Grandpa Bob, however, who helped me through the difficult problems I've had with my health, especially my many spinal surgeries ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Erika2007.htm

In spite of my daily suffering, I have a wonderful life with Bob here in the mountains. I have many hobbies --- sewing, knitting, decorating, and gardening. And I truly love keeping house in our cozy cottage. If my health was better we would enjoy much more traveling and see you much more often.

I pray everyday that you stay close to the Lord and uphold all of his commandments. Remember whatever you do in life affects others in small ways and sometimes large and important ways. The best way to be happy, truly happy, is to be loving, kind, and humble, Treat others as you would have them treat you. That's so very, very important.

Love God and love your fellow human beings. Also be thankful that you live in America. This remains the greatest nation on earth --- believe me because I know! America is the land of the free, and with freedom comes responsibility. Never take freedom for granted.

There's much, much more to the story that I hope to share one day with all my grandchildren. Throughout my life I've maintained a deep faith in the Lord and love to study the Bible. My faith endures through all my trials, tribulations, and joys in life.

My biggest wish for you and your wonderful family is that they remain together and happy for the rest of their lives.

With much love,
Granny Erika