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- Cordavee "Blees" Heupel, Sturgis, South Dakota
Ancestral villages: Landau, Rastadt and Speyer [Beresan District]; Kassel [Glückstal District]; Beresina, Kulm, Leipzig and Tarutino [Bessarabia]
"I was born in Bowman, North Dkaota, to Roszella (Mosbrucker) Blees and John Blees. I lived and attended school in Bowman. Then I attended X-Ray Technological Training in Bismarck, in 1957-1959, when I married Ray Heupel, a South Dakota native. Ray's parents are Nora (Rattei) Heupel and Alfred Heupel. My mother's parents immigrated from South Russia, while my father's parents came from Luxembourg to Minnesota. My mother's parents homesteaded in Slope County, North Dakota, along with my grandfather's parents. My husband's families all came from South Russia to North Dakota.
"After marriage, we lived in Mobridge, South Dakota, for four years before we moved to Pipestone, MN. We lived there until 1968 when we moved to Bowman, to my parents farm. We raised five children there and then moved to South Dakota in 1979.
"I got my interest into genealogy when I was in high school, writing down all the new babies in the family as they were born. Sad part is: I never visited with my grandmother about her family and where they lived in Russia. She passed away in 1959. I got back into genealogy again in the late sixties, when I attended my first workshop in Rapid City. I researched many books and libraries, etc., traveling as much as my finances would allow for a hobby at that time.
"By adding my husband's genealogy to mine, I kept attending workshops to learn more about the country, where my ancestors came from. I would be all 'gung ho' until I hit a dead end, when research would get put away again until someone would write or ask about someone. Then I would dig again. Several times I was fortunate enough to find someone else who had done knowledgeable research, such as Phylis Feser or Gwen Pritzkau. They came to my rescue and helped me get on track again.
"My X-ray training has fallen by the wayside, while banking became my job in Mobridge, Bowman, and now again in Sturgis. My husband has always been an auctioneer and seems to end up working in livestock barns, besides his love for horses and cattle which he raises.
"Our children were raised beyond North Dakota and South Dakota. The oldest, Colin and his wife Debbie are team truckers out of Denver, Colorado Our oldest daughter, living with us at this time, is going to school part-time for a degree in Elementary Education. She already has a degree in Agriculture Education, but has a tight job market. Our other daughter is a counselor in a group home in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She is wanting to get her masters degree.
"The middle son spent this summer working for the world's largest hot air balloon company, traveling the USA by balloons. Then he returns to Big Sky Country of Montana, to work on Big Mountain making snow for the skiers, for the last eight years. Our youngest son lives in Frederick, Maryland, with his wife. He works for FEMA doing all their TV programs and filming disasters. This is pretty much the history of our family."
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1939 - 2012 (73 years)