Keeping up with the Thorndale Exes

How about this Texas weather? Never know when you go to bed at night what you will wake up to in the morning. And of course, the coldest morning this week our central heat went out. Our thanks to nephew, Derek Daniell, Class of 1999, for coming over to help us get it going. Bad time for no heat. Derek received the Tolbert Laurence Memorial Scholarship, got his degree and works for Christianson in Austin. Those scholarships do help a lot. It won’t be long before we will be giving out more in May. Our condolences go out to the family of Jerry McDaniel, Class of 1959, who passed away Feb. 8, 2019. He will surely be missed by many loved ones, family and friends. He was always so good to help us find addresses for our exes. Our congratulations go out to our Bulldogs for tying for bi-district in basketball and being the top seed in their next game this week. The Lady Dogs won bi-district out right so we are so proud of all of these athletes. Noticed in the paper that they are planning the 3rd annual Graham Dickerson Memorial 42 Tournament out at Pleasant Retreat where Graham attended church. Our late Graham, Class of 1935, was such a big part of our organization and our community. He will always remain precious in our hearts. He and my dad were such good friends and he dearly loved Graham. There was a great big colored picture of Melton Guthrie, Class of 1977, of Rockdale, as he looked through his camera lens. In the lens you could see his daughter, Stonie, sliding into base in a softball game. His art, which is so very good, is on display at the Taylor art show. We congratulate him on such a showing. Our condolences to the family of Norma Faye Richards Crowder who passed away Feb. 10, 2019. She was mother-in-law to Renee Lehmann Crowder, Class of 1977, of Pflugerville. We know she will be lovingly missed by many. Lovely picture of her with the obituary in the paper. 100 Years Ago: Thorndale was getting its first oil exploration derrick and timber for the structure had been delivered to the Will Heintze place on the eastern edge of town. A thorough underground probe was promised. Thanks to the Rockdale paper for this interesting tidbit. Back to the Moerbe Family History for the final episode. During the Nazi regime, it was forbidden to preach in the Wendish language. From a newspaper clipping, from the Texas District Archives, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Thorndale, TX - Jan. 6, 1897, our congregation held its annual meeting. Three new members were received so they now had all 28 voting members. They had to delete the name of Jacob Moerbe (1828-1896) due to his death late the year before. He was called Father Moerbe and was so involved in all aspects of the church. He was a teacher, took part in synnodical matters, and in word and deed, he worked in the external and internal affairs of St. Paul Lutheran Church. This written by the late Bill Biar, Class of 1937 the interesting history of the village of Guttau where many of the Moerbes came from. All the years of wars for a village of about 700 folks when the article was written. In the first half of the 15th century the Hussite War raged the area. During the Thirty Years Was (1618-1648) Upper Lusatia was invaded repeatedly. During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) the Austrians defeated the Prussians in the Battle of Hochkirch, not far from Guttau. In 1813 during the Battle of Bautzen of the Napoleonic War, Guttau was burned completely to the ground with only two houses escaping the flames. In 1972, Bill Biar was there and noticed the bullet marks on the parsonage, a reminder of WWII. There were probably tribal wars before recorded history. Around 800 the Germans repeatedly invaded this territory and around 1000 the Sorbs lost their independence. Lusatia which was the scene of many bloody conflicts and at various times belonged to Poland, Bohemia and the German Empire. This ends the Moerbe Family History, very condensed, but also so interesting. Again, many thanks to Vernetha Brandt Moerbe, Class of 1950 for the loan of this wonderful history. We haven’t heard from anyone, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. We can be found on the web at www.thorndale.txed.net or you can e-mail locojo@austin.rr.com. You can call 512-898-2072 or you can write to Thorndale Ex-Students Association, P. O. Box 393, Thorndale, TX 76577. We love to hear from our exes.