A Day at the Races

A few of the horses raised and raced by my father-in-law, Herb Ulmer, near Ree Heights, South Dakota - I recently found a packet of photos of some of his winning horses.

 Clarinda's Flight

Herb Ulmer, owner; Antone Ball, trainer; Jody Coughlin, jockette

 

Doner

Herb Ulmer, owner; A. J. Patton, trainer; Forth, jockey

 

Grand Goose

Herb Ulmer, owner; Jim Lewis, trainer; Hines, jockey

Grand Gunner

Herb Ulmer, owner; A. J. Patten, trainer; Clay Torevell, jockey

 

Herb's Tony

Herb Ulmer, owner; Antone Ball, trainer; Jody Coughlin, jockey

 Stepping Toni

Herb Ulmer, owner; A. J. Patten, trainer; Clay Torevell, jockey

 Sweet Helio

Herb Ulmer, owner; Antone Ball, trainer; Jody Coughlin, jockey

Sweet Peddie

Herb Ulmer, owner; Bob Rich, trainer; Doug Schoepf, jockey

Tablets of the Missing

Tablets of the Missing in Florence, Italy.  A stone exists here to commemorate the service of Flight Officer Raymond Christensen of the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, whose body was never recovered after his plane went down between Corsica and Italy on the night of May 13, 1944.

The Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Max Ortmeier

This is one of the first antique photos I ever saw - at least since I got hooked on genealogy 20+ years ago.  It was in a box of things my mother-in-law gave us.  It had been in her family for some time, the bride being a distant relative.

The wedding was between Maximilian "Max" Ortmeier and Elizabeth Schaefers, and occurred on 04 Jun 1912 in Polo, Hand County, South Dakota.  I could look at this photo all day - the detail available in the scanned version is incredible.  The cars, the clothes, the faces... and the home!  I don't know who owns the lovely home, but I would be thrilled to live there, with the wrap-around porch and beautiful Victorian trim!

In looking at the faces, I can't help but wonder which ones are closely related to us.  What a job it would be to attempt to identify everyone!

Max Ortmeier was born 19 Nov 1880 in Westphalia, Germany, the son of Ferdinand Ortmeier and Maria Luening.  His bride was the former Elizabeth Schaefers, born 11 Aug 1890 near Orient, South Dakota, to August Schaefers and his wife Anna Schmeiding.  Max came to South Dakota with a friend in a covered wagon, and took a homestead in nearby Hyde County, but later obtained a farm in Hand county, where they lived out the remainder of their lives.

The children of this union were Vincent, Raymond, Agnes, John, Mary, William, Bernard, Richard, and James.  Elizabeth died in 1953, and Max in 1974, and both are buried in the cemetery of the church where they were married.