Bio-Minard, Effie Pelsma Thomann

Effie (Minard) Pelsma Thomann
(1876-1950)

Effie Ruhama (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.

When Effie was a young girl of three, she and her parents and siblings migrated from Missouri to Kansas, settling in Richland, south of Topeka, Shawnee County, in 1879. There, she was raised to adulthood.

On New Year's Day 1893, when she was 16, Effie married 25-year-old Klass W. Pelsma (1866-1939). He was a native of Warakusa, IN and was nine years older than his bride.

As her sister Frankie Minard Dumars also had been wed at age 16, one can only imagine the reaction of their strong-willed father to marriage at such a young age. Or perhaps he was a driving force behind the decision.

A copy of the Pelsmas' marriage license, found on microfilm in the probate court office at the Shawnee County Courthouse, is seen here.

The Pelsmas resided in Indiana, making their residence in the towns of Westville and Crocker, Porter County, where their first two children were born -- Elma Jane Hunter and Maude Frances Olsen Smith.

Effie and Klaas then moved to Chicago, Cook County, IL, where they had twins born in 1898 -- Bernard George Pelsma and Berniece Dora Carson.

Sadly, Effie and Klass divorced shortly after the twins were born. The children apparently were divided among the parents, with Klass taking Maude to raise, and Effie receiving custody of Elma, Bernard and Berniece.

The twins -- Berniece and Bernard. Just who is whom?

At some point, Effie moved to San Francisco, CA and was not heard from for many years. Some relatives feared she had met her demise in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Others heard that she was cohabitating with a man named Rucker, either within or without wedlock.

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 (1872-1945).

Oscar was a chef in a cafe in Fort Collins, Larimer County, 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 Cole, Effie was residing in Fort Collins, where she and Oscar helped raise two of their grandsons. In all, Effie resided in Fort Collins for a quarter- century.

Click for a memoir authored by a granddaughter which provides more detail into the mysterious years of Effie's married lives.

Effie's first husband passed away in 1939. Nothing more is known about the details of his demise.

Oscar died in about 1945, at the age of 73, in Fort Collins. His ashes were scattered in Pleasant Valley, north of Fort Collins, in a ceremony attended by the family.

Now widowed, Effie moved to Euclid, near Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH, into the home of her married daughter and son in law, Maude and Dewey Olsen. The Olsens made their home at 21641 Edgecliff in Euclid.

Fort Collins - at the busy intersection of Mountain and College Avenues and Linden Street

Effie suffered from obstruction of the bowels, caused by intestines twisting together, and also cirrhosis of the liver. She died in Cleveland's Doctors Hospital at the age of 73 on Aug. 9, 1950. Her remains were returned to Topeka for burial at Mt. Hope Cemetery, to be placed into eternal rest with her father and mother and sister Emma Frances "Frankie" Dumars.

Her grave marker seen on this page was photographed in September 2010 by the founder of this website. After many years of separation from her family, she is joined together with them in burial.

Graves of Effie (foreground, left) and sister Emma Frances Dumars (right) with their father's Civil War marker in the background, at Topeka's Mt. Hope Cemetery

Daughter Elma Jane Pelsma (1893?-1970) married Edwin Hunter on March 11, 1913, in Topeka, Shawnee County.

The Hunters had two children -- Jean Louise Porter (1918-2004?) and Harold Hermis Hunter.

Daughter Berniece Dora Pelsma (1898- ? ) married George Wilson Carson on Jan. 19, 1918. They are seen at right. Later that year, he was shipped overseas, serving in France during World War I with the U.S. Army. Upon his return, they lived in Junction City, Geary County, KS circa 1920-1921.

They had three children -- Dorothy Louise Baber, Lura Berniece McCraw Scott and Ralph Edwin Carson.

In 1925, they made their home in Topeka, and in about 1929 moved to Winfield, Cowley County, KS. The 1930 census of Winfield shows George working as a sales manager for a bakery company. They stayed in Winfield a few years before migrating again during World War II to Washington State. In about 1944, they relocated to San Diego, where their elder daughters were already living.

Son Bernard Pelsma (1898-1966) and his sister Berniece were twins, but they were not raised together. He is seen at left in a portrait taken in 1917, when he was about 18 or 19 years of age.

As an adult, Bernard lived in San Diego and was married to Norma Serena Andersen. They had at least two sons, James Minard Pelsma and Bernard George Pelsma Jr.

At the age of 68, Bernard died Feb. 23, 1966 in San Diego County and is buried in Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Son James Minard Pelsma (1937-2002) married Nancy Lou Klumpp in 1958. His middle name was pronounced "Men-NARD." They made their home in Glendale, AZ. James passed away on Feb. 7, 2002, at the age of 65.