Effie
(Minard)
Pelsma-Thomann
(1876-1950)
Effie (Minard)
Pelsma-Thomann was born on Nov. 12, 1876 in Black Oak, Caldwell County, MO, the daughter of Nathan
W. and Sarah Jane (Woodruff) Minard. She and her parents were pioneer
settlers of Kansas.
On New Year's Day 1893, when she was 17, Effie married Klaus W. Pelsma ( ? - ? ). They had twins named Bernice Carson and Bernard Pelsma Sr., and perhaps 2 other children, Maud Pelsma and Elma Pelsma.
Klaus's fate is unknown.
At some point, Effie moved to California and was not heard from for many years. Some relatives feared she had met her demise in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. But in about 1920, Effie unexpectedly came to the home of a niece residing in Oregon. At that time, she was married to her second husband, Elfred 'Oscar' Thomann (1872- ? ).
Oscar was a chef in a cafe in Fort Collins, CO. Later, Effie and Oscar are said to have owned a restaurant in California. Oscar is known to have specialized in a delicious poached salmon dish.
In 1941, at the death of her sister Ida Bell, Effie was residing in Fort Collins, CO, where she and Oscar helped raise 2 of their grandsons. She resided in Fort Collins for a quarter-century, before moving to Cleveland, OH, presumably into the home of her married daughter, Mrs. Dewey Olsen.
Effie
died in Cleveland on Aug. 12, 1950. She was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Topeka,
Shawnee County. Her grave marker is seen here as photographed in
2003.
The fate of Oscar is not known.
Effie's twin children both resided in San Diego, CA in adulthood.
Copyright © 2001-2003 Mark A. Miner