Kenneth K. Grenz

Ancestral villages: Alt Postal, Friedenstal, Gnadenfeld and Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia; Kassel and Neudorf (Glückstal District); Freudental, Güdendorf and Peterstal(Liebental District); and Hoffnungstal, Black Sea

I was born and raised in the German-Russian town of Eureka, South Dakota. Language, food (halvah, halupsie and plachinta), and customs of the German-Russians were all about. My first words simultaneously were "heiss" and "hot". All of my great-grandparents emigrated from Russia. Of about half a dozen congregations in the community, my family was a part of the Evangelical United Brethren (now United Methodist).

I attended college at Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa, and seminary at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. I served United Methodist congregations in Wakonda, Irene, and Gayville-Volin as well as in Wagner, South Dakota. Since 1980, I have been affiliated with the Kansas East Conference of the United Methodist Church pastoring as associate pastor and pastor of Kansas City congregations, Holton, Topeka, and now in Spring Hill.

My wife, Jeanette, recently retired from AT&T, and I have a daughter Catherine, an RN with a 7-year-old daughter Nicole, and a son Christopher, a journalist.

Travel is one of my favorite extra-curricular activities. I've traveled to Haiti, Nicaragua, England, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Israel, Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam and most of the United States. I enjoy reading, music (especially classical and jazz), movies, amateur photography.

With all my family roots going to Russia and Germany, I have a host of Bessarabian and Black Sea roots connections. Most connections which I can trace to Germany go to SW (Schwabia) and Alsace (France). I can still do fairly well with Schwabish orally, but I never learned "book German."

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection

Jeanette J. Schroeder Grenz,

Spring Hills, Kansas
Ancestral villages: Fellbach, Wurttemburg, Germany

I was born in 1949 in Fremont, Nebraska, the middle of three children. As far as I can determine, all my ancestors came to the United States from Germany. My grandmother on my father's side was born in Fellbach, Wurtemburg, Germany in 1878 and immigrated to the United States with her parents, two sisters, and a brother when she was four years old. My other grandparents were all born in the United States. My father was an Evangelical United Brethren pastor and my mother was a secretary and piano teacher.

I lived for 2 years in Fremont, Nebraska, then moved to Kearney, Nebraska and lived there for 8 years, then moved to Omaha where I lived until I left for college. I attended Westmar College, in LeMars, Iowa, where I met my husband Ken. We were married in 1970.

I was hired by AT&T as a computer programmer and worked two years in Kansas city while Ken finished his schooling. When he graduated, I quit my job and we moved to South Dakota where we lived for eight years and had two children, Catherine and Christopher. We moved back to Kansas City in 1980, and I returned to work for AT&T. We have lived in several towns in Kansas where my husband has been assigned as a United Methodist minister. Our children are grown now; Cathy is an RN and has a 7-year-old daughter, and Chris is a reporter for the Topeka newspaper. I was recently offered an early retirement from AT&T and have enjoyed more free time to do volunteer work in the last few months.

I enjoy reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing games on the computer, and of course, traveling. I have been to England, South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay), Israel, Egypt, Thailand and Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, and most of the states in the United States.

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection