| Family History Researcher |
- The following is an account of family history hand written by Jeanne (Denissen) Hendricks.
The Vande Lieffort family was mostly farmers. Pretty successful. Peter Vande Lieffort only had 5 daughters. My mother and Gertrude were the oldest. Then Freda, Addie and Dorothy. Mom worked hard on the farm and she always wore long sleeves because she wanted her skin to stay white like a lady. Her birth name was Geraldine Henrietta. And they always called her Etta. Mom was the leader of the Lieffort family. She and Freda were very close. They lived about 6 blocks from each other. They talked on the phone a lot. Sometimes mom would ask me to run over to Freda's to pick up something while she was on the phone and when I came back she would still be on the phone. They got together and helped each other paint and wallpaper. Saturday they would get together with the husbands and play sheepshead. They switched off houses. All the kids went along. We had a ball playing hide and go seek, especially at our house as it was so big upstairs. They would have pies, cake, coffee and homemade rootbeer.
Christine told me quite a bit about Frank and Etta's life. She was a beautiful bride and Frank looked like a House on the Prairie groom. He got better looking as he got a bit older. I think they started out on a farm or they may have rented the house on Michigan street. It was a 2-family house. I think he worked at Hockers brickyard. Then they moved to a farm for a few years on Scray's Hill. This wasn't successful so he and Pete Lambert operated a lumber camp in Ladysmith. The family moved and lived in something like an army barracks. This was successful for a number of years. They had Gertrude and Christine - maybe Clara. During this time, there was a forest fire and they almost died, but somehow Frank drove the horse & buggy out of the flames. They were slightly burned. They sold the lumber camp and somehow Frank didn't get his fair share, but what he had he put down on the Michigan Street house, rented it out and then lived on the Scray's Hill farm again. Then in 1931 they moved into the bottom half of the Michigan street house and he worked at trhe brickyard. During this time, Gertrude and Christine worked as housekeepers for some wealthy families. They turned their small wages over to Frank to support the rest of us. They couldn't go to high school. They moved to town when I was one month old. Frank also worked on building the Claude Allouez bridge. Then he went to work for the city of De Pere driving truck. That was a good steady job. Some of the most exciting times I can remember are when it snowed and he came and picked us up and we rode with him to plow the snow.
Frank and Etta were very much in love and had fun together. He was a storyteller and kept us laughing about the funny things at work. The first thing I know I can remember is him running in the house and saying "I'm okay Etta. Barney & Hank went through the ice on the river by the college. I have to go help out." Hank Van Vonderen was the street superintendent and there was an election and dad won. Fred Hendricks was one of the people he beat out. He was made street foreman on the east side. Then when John McCabe died he got both east and west De Pere. Things went okay for us until 1944 when mom got sick. She died in 1946 and it almost killed him. He lost his love and his best friend. She was sick and in and out of the hospital for 2 years before she died with stomach and bowel pain. In about 1932 she had a breast removed but no one knew about cancer then. They just removed some of the tissue and pulled it together with thread. Dr. Kersten took care of her and then he died. Then 6 months before Aug 19, 1946 we took her to Madison Univeristy Hospital. Right away those doctors said, "Didn't they know she has cancer?" They operated on her and she had a colostomy. She stayed there a month and dad stayed in a home near the hopsital. I went to stay with Toots and her family on North 6th street and walked to high school every weekday. John was a baby and Rick was 2. He was bright and would call my name when he saw me come home. Usually he was out in the playpen. He was so cute and happy. The family all had bad flu and his fever stayed high for days. My theory is that this is when something happened to his brain. I think this was a happy time for the family. Smitty was still at Cleveland Cliffs Coal Company. Bob "Beeler" lived up to his name. There were high steps on the back porch and he would say "Hear go " and jump off. He was trained and every time he had a bowel movement he would yell "pass the toilet" and someone would get him some toilet paper. One day he couldn't quite make it in time and sat on the curb and did his job and was yelling "pass the toilet." Gertrude was a little embarrassed but had to laugh. In the last 6 months she came a lot and helped take care of Etta. John was sitting up and she would get him some toys and he would be happy. I think Carolyn and Ken were in St. Boniface School. It was a terrible summer for Frank and Etta and all of us. She was in so much pain. We just went to the doctor's office and got bottles of morphine and Frank or I would give her a shot every 4 hours. She would be crying for it after 3 hours. She remained awake and able to talk until the last 3 - 4 days.
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- Jeanne D. Hendricks, age 82, of Green Bay, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at the McCormick Memorial Home. She was born March 9, 1931, daughter to the late Frank and Etta (Lieffort) Denissen. She married Denis (Denny) Hendricks on July 12, 1952 in De Pere. He preceded her in death on February 8, 2001. Denny and Jeanne raised their 6 children in De Pere, and family meant so much to them. Jeanne enjoyed her monthly meetings with high school girlfriends throughout her life. "The Club" meetings kept her in touch with wonderful friends. She also enjoyed sewing, playing cards, singing, crocheting, gardening and reading. She especially liked being a grandma and a great-grandma.
She is survived by her 6 children: Geri (Mark) Norman, Shawano, Scott (Barb) Hendricks, De Pere, Marcia (Mike) Jaskulski, Florida, Lee Ann (special friend Bob Lynett) Hietpas, De Pere, Sandy Taylor, Arizona and Tracy VandeLoo, De Pere. She had 11 grandchildren: Andy (Beth) Norman, Krissy (Dave) Dahms, Mike Hendricks, Scott Hietpas, Heidi Hietpas, Katie Jaskulski, Carly Jaskulski, Charlie Taylor, Max Taylor, Fred Taylor and Addie VandeLoo. She had 3 great-grandchildren: Beatrice Norman, Cooper Dahms and Lucy Dahms, 2 sisters-in-law, Joyce Hendricks and Marilyn Denissen, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Jeanne was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Denny, son-in-law Daniel VandeLoo; 3 sisters, Gertrude Smits, Clara Trout and Christine Wicker; 4 brothers, Dick Denissen, Mark Denissen, Joe Denissen and Dave Denissen, 1 brother-in-law, Gerry Hendricks and a niece, Nancy (Hendricks) Hadler.
Family and friends may visit at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 220 S. Michigan St., De Pere, on Monday, May 13, from 2:00pm until 3:45pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 4:00pm on Monday, with the Rev. Richard Getchel officiating. Interment in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, De Pere. Cotter Funeral Home is assisting the family. Online memorials at www.cotterfuneralhome.com.
The sisters want to say a special thank you to our brother, Scott, for his constant love, loyalty and special care shown to our mom.
The family extends a special thanks to Unity Hospice and all those at the McCormick Memorial Home- her 12 years there brought her peace of mind and gave her a real purpose in life. This was really her 'home.'
Published in Green Bay Press-Gazette from May 11 to May 12, 2013
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1931 - 2013 (82 years)
Has 20 ancestors and one descendant in this family tree.
Obituary
, d. 15 May 1953, De Pere, Brown, Wisconsin, USA 
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