JTB Genealogy
JK Penner Family Photo
1922 or 23
| Back Row, Left to Right |
Front Row, Left to Right |
| 1. John J. Penner |
1. John Edward Penner (in lap) |
| 2. Peter D. Claassen.
He lived in Newton and worked at a flour mill. He was married to
Elizabeth Penner Claassen. I knew (Great) Uncle Pete and Aunt Elizabeth. |
2. Elisa Claassen Penner |
| 3. Herman M. Claassen (in arms) |
3. Ruth Elizabeth Penner |
| 4. Henry Claassen |
4. Elizabeth Penner Claassen. She married Peter D. Claassen. When I was a child we visited Uncle Pete and Aunt Elizabeth in their home in Newton. |
| 5. Cornelius Penner |
5. Helen Dorothy Claassen. I remember as a child being in the presence of Helen Dorothy. I did not know her well. |
| 6. Wilhelm Penner |
6. Margarete Penner Claassen |
| 7. Anna Penner Toevs. Anna Penner married Gustav R. Toevs in 1934. |
7. Ernest Gerhard Claassen (in lap) |
| 8. Henry Penner |
8. Henry William Claassen |
| 9. Paul W. Bartsch, Sr.
(He was my Grandfather. He lived in Topeka, KS when I knew him. We
would see him and his second wife, Esther Toevs Bartsch, my
step-Grandmother, when we visited them in Topeka, typically at Easter
and Christmas, but more often than that.) |
9.
Johannes K. Penner (known as J.K. Penner). He was my Great-Grandfather,
though of course I never knew him. He participated in the Great Trek to
Central Asia. |
| 10. Anna Marie Bartsch (in arms).
She was my Aunt. She married Byron Spallinger and lived in an apartment
above our ground floor residence at 613 SE 2nd St. in Newton, Kansas.
She died of cancer August 18, 1951, at age 29, having been married
barely a year. She died upstairs in the apartment above our home. I was
4 years old and not permitted to see my deceased aunt. |
10.
Helene Jantzen Penner. (The wife of J. K. Penner. She was my
Great-Grandmother, though of course I never knew her. She, too,
participated in the Great Trek to Central Asia.) |
| 11.
Gertrude Penner Bartsch (my biological grandmother, the daughter of
J.K. Penner and Helene Jantzen Penner. She died on Oct. 30, 1930, at
age 39.) |
11. Catherine Penner |
| 12. Helen Claassen |
12. Marie Penner |
| 13. Henry Claassen |
13. Helene Penner Claassen |
| 14. Anna Claassen |
14. Elizabeth Claassen |
| 15. Paul Claassen |
Anna Penner Toevs, my "Great Aunt Anna." Anna married Gustav R. Toevs. Some in my family have wondered if
she was the mother of Irvin Toevs and Esther Toevs Bartsch. She was
not. She was the second wife of Gustav R. Toevs, and thus, the
step-mother of Irvin and Esther. The first spouse of Gustav R. Toevs
was Maria L. Schroeder, the mother of Irvin and Esther. Maria died in
1933. Gustav married our "Great Aunt Anna" in 1934. When we knew her,
she owned the home on 613 SE Second in which we lived in Newton. She
later moved to Bethel Home for Aged, where she died. Return to Anna Penner.
This Page Updated September 9, 2025
Genealogical Documents Compiled
by James T. Bartsch