Theodore "Ted" Warnecke was born on 21 September 1897 in Illinois to Frank Warnecke (28 Apr 1857 - 02 Jul 1914) and Mary Elling (26 May 1870 - 02 Mar 1944). He died 24 July 1982.

Theodore had 6 brothers and sisters. One brother, Bernard (01 Mar 1888 - 08 Aug 1972) was from Frank's previous marriage to Maria Revermann. The other 5 siblings were Frank and Mary Elling's children: Henry Warnecke - 28 Oct 1893 - 07 Dec 1910, George Warnecke 17 Feb 1899 - 11 Jun 1961, Herman T. Warnecke 7 Jun 1905 - 14 Nov 1970, Frank J. Warnecke 02 Apr 1901-19 Feb 1973.

Thanks to Christy Santiago, the granddaughter of Ted's brother, George, Clinton Co. ILGenWeb is proud to make available the following scans of Ted's writings. To read the documents, follow the links below to the Photo Gallery then click twice on each image (clicking twice enlarges the images).

1897 - 1964 Autobiography of Theodore F Warnecke (121 images)

5 - 24 July 1964 Motor Trip to West Coast and Back (18 images)

Our Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary Vacation 22-27 Oct 1968 (6 images)

1897 - 1973 Autobiography of Theodore F Warnecke (3 images)

Christy Santiago, who so graciously made these documents available, tells about their discovery:

I'm certain my great Uncle "Ted" would be very proud his memoirs are "going to publication". One thing that really tickled me about his memoirs was that he wrote, "Please overlook typographer errors, misspell and punctuations, for a Six Grade Elementary Scholar" at the beginning of most of his writings. There are many errors throughout the writings, however, it didn't make a difference to me. Reading about my family, how they lived, and their holidays was the most awesome thing I've experienced in a long time.

I read an article about his memoirs this past March (2008) when I was scanning old family photos. It was in a box with the photos. It was about Ted's wife Anna Schwarz turning 100 years old. The article stated she was looking for his memoirs. She said he had written 3 books, but only 1 and part of another could be found. Over the years they were loaned out to family members and weren't returned. When I read it, I got goosebumps just thinking about the possibility of finding one of them and reading it.

As the year went on I continued contacting family members for information and photos. Thoughts of the books/memoirs were gone. I met with a cousin of mine in July/August at the Dew Drop Inn in St. Jacob to share family photos and information. We planned to eat dinner and enjoy karaoke for the evening. She brought a big bag of stuff and said she made a special trip to pick up something for me today. It was a surprise, but she said she had to draw it out ... keep it suspenseful. First she pulled out some family photos, next she pulled out articles about her dad being a prisoner of war.

Next, she pulled out the article about Anna Schwarz' 100th birthday celebration that referenced searching for Ted's memoirs. Once I saw the article, I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said, "you don't actually have the book do you?" She pulled it out of the bag and the tears continued to stream down my face. I was so overcome with joy. I never dreamed I'd ever have the opportunity to actually read or hold Ted's writing's in my very own hands. She didn't understand why I was crying over "some book" but it was a link to my heritage. As I flipped through the book, I came to page 36 which was titled, "As I Remembered Mama". It was about my great grandmother and Ted's life as a child. It referenced their Christmas Holiday and life on the farm.

I will be forever grateful to my uncle for these writings. Because of the impact it had on me, I am now writing about my family and my life for future generations to enjoy. If the writing's of "a 6th grade elementary scholar" can have such a tremendous impact on me, I'm certain I'll do just fine.

Christy Santiago nee Warnecke

Submitted by: Christy Santiago nee Warnecke

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