Bertha Helene Zerull

Bertha Helene Zerull was my mom's maternal grandmother. She was born in Garnsee, West Prussia on the 2nd of April 1864 to Gottfried Zerull and Wilhelamine Kroening. Wilhalmine was the second wife to Gottfried; his first wife was Anna Dorothea Zerull (her maiden name was also Zerull). Gottfried and Anna had at least 10 children together before Anna died. I am not yet aware of  other children born to Gottfried and 2nd wife Wilhelmine. Bertha was baptismed on the 24th of April in the Evangelical Lutheran church in the village of Garnsee.

Bertha ariived in New York on the 'Main' on the 12th of December 1881 when she was 17 years old. The ship departed from Bremen and it is not known if Bertha was traveling with anyone or who she stayed with after she arrived in New York.

Bertha Helene Badendick

By the time of her marriage in 1883, Bertha was living at 28 Essex Street in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Her husband, Carl Johann Emil Badendick, was living very close by at 38 Essex Street. They married on the 9th of September 1883 in St Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jersey City. August Badendick (possibly Carl's brother) and Emilie Toepfer were witnesses.

Marriage certificate for
Carl Johann Emil Badendick & Bertha Helene Zerull
9 September 1883
St Matthews Church, Jersey City, NJ

Carl and Bertha lived in a house at 35 van Reypen Street in Jersey City for most of their lives and raised 5 children to adulthood. Their 3rd child (and oldest daughter) was my grandmother, Minna Bertha Badendick, wife of Harold Theodore Veith. Children of Carl and Bertha Badendick are:  Charles Henry Badendick, born 5 September 1887, Henry Badendick, born 1 October 1889, Minna Bertha Badendick, born 19 November 1897, Marie Johanna Badendick, born 7 Janurary 1897 and Edith Badendick, born 20 April 1898. All the children were born in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Bertha Zerull Badendick
 with son-in-law Harold Theodore Veith
 and grandson Harold Charles Veith

I don't know much about this great-grandmother. I do have her set of china though. My mom's cousin, Carol Pharis, gave it to me years ago and said that the set of china was given to Bertha in appreciation for the meals she cooked for a club her husband belonged too. Carol thought that the club was a civic or fraternal orgainization and they had monthly dinner meetings in the basement of the brownstone house that Carl and Bertha owned.

Memorial Day - Clifford E. Stalls

For Memorial Day, I'm choosing my mom's cousin Buddy to write about. His real name was Clifford E. Stalls and he was the son of Andrew Francis Stalls (1894-1962) and Edith Badendick Stalls (1898-1973). Edith's parent's were Carl Johann Emil Badendick and Bertha Helene Zerull, both of whom I profiled earlier this month.

Helen and Buddy Stalls about 1925

Buddy was born in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey on the 23rd of January 1921. At the time of his birth, his parents and his 3 year old sister, Helen, were living in the home of Buddy's widowed Grandmother, Bertha Badendick. His grandfather Badendick had died 5 years earlier.

Clifford E. Stalls, 2nd Lt USMCR
April 1944

Buddy lived his whole life in Jersey City. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of a 2nd Lieutenant. He flew fighters in the South Pacific.

Buddy was killed on the 19th of February 1945 on the first day of the Battle of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. The battle to take this strategic island lasted over a month and more than 6800 Americans died there, 2400 on the first day.

Gravestone of Clifford E. "Buddy" Stalls,
New York Bay Cemetery, Jersey City, NJ

Stalls family plot, New York Bay Cemetery, Jersey City, NJ

Buddy is buried in the New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey. His grave shares a burial plot with his parents and sister. His niece, Carol A. Pharis died on the 4 September 2008 and she is also buried in the plot, along side her mother Helen. There are no other descendants