Vonderheide Wyoming Home

Home of August and Anna Vonderheide (1920-1925)
Village of Wyoming, Hamilton County, Ohio

I've always been fascinated by this house.  Research has shown that my great-grandfather, August Vonderheide, moved into it sometime in 1920.  It is the residence listed in the phone book as their home from 1920-25.  It makes sense that they would have wanted to move into a bigger home at this time because it coincides with the marriages and the starting of new families, all of whom initially lived there.

My grandmother and grandfather, Virginia Vonderheide and Roy Ryan, celebrate their wedding day there on September 1, 1921.  Virginia's brother, Val, also moved in with his wife, Clara Wheeler about that time. My mother, Virginia, and Val's daughter, Dolly, were born while living in that home.

I've always cherished my grandparent's wedding pictures. I recently upgraded my photo-editing software to Photoshop Elements 10 and decided to try my hand at layering these treasurers over the one picture I have of the home.  Here are the results:

Roy Ryan and Virginia Vonderheide Courting

Wedding Guests:  Top Row: Ray Ryan, Virginia VDH, Roy Ryan, August VDH, Anna VDH, Rose Gross Ryan, Clara, Emma Woermann, Victor Becker, Ed Woermann, Julius Gross, Henry and Joe VDH  Bottom Row: Florence Ryan, Josie Turner, Aunt Sophie, Ceal VDH, Emma Huff and Woermann Children

Wedding Day:  Virginia and Roy, September 7, 1921

Of course, their marriage led to the inevitable birth of my mother, Virginia, on July 17, 1922.  Here she is pictured on the porch with her father and grandparents.

Anna, Virginia (baby), Roy, August 

I'd love to show you what the house looks like in 2012.  The address of this home is 416 Springfield Pike, Wyoming, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati with many large, stately, restored homes). However, in the 1960s, this property was combined with a couple of others and torn down. Replacing it is a very sterile, uninteresting building that houses the Wyoming Board of Education.

Current home of the Wyoming Board of Education

I want to acknowledge my Vonderheide cousins who had a copy of the house in their collection and made it available to me.

Update:  A reader suggested that I combine pictures 2, 4 and 5.  What a great suggestion!  From right to left I now have my grandparents courting, getting married, and their first-born child, my mother.  Love it!

Before I Move On . . .

I have a few pictures that I've not been able to fit easily within other posts -- but I don't want to move onto a new topic without including them. Here are some of my favorites.

This picture is taken at Virginia and Roy Ryan's home at 6385 E. Galbraith Rd. before the porch was enclosed. I don't ever remember seeing my great-grandfather dressed casually. He always looked sharp. I'll have to check with my brother, Tim, to see if he recognizes the car. (Tim just called. He said that G-Grandpa is standing in front of Charles McCafferty's 1953 Green Ford. He also said the car in the garage on the right is a 1956 Buick Grandma had. I have no idea how he does this).


Pictured from left to right starting at the top: Val VDH, Sr., Roy Ryan, Clara VDH, Dolly VDH, Val VDH, Jr., August VDH, Gus VDH, Bob VDH, Virginia, Virginia VDH Ryan, and Evelyn.


The picture above contains Hansen and Ryan grandchildren pictured with Roy and August. From top to bottom, and left to right: Carol, Bill, Roy, Patty, Pam, August, Peggy, Terry, Diane and Jim.


Evey, Mary Ellen and I worked to identify all of the cousins pictured. Bottom row: Kathleen, Evelyn, Chuck, Mary Ellen, Bill, Carol. Top row, it is Diane, Tom Karen, Roy, Jim, Patty, Tim. Lesson learned -- label your pictures!


This picture shows Anna Vonderheide holding her granddaughter Virginia (my mother) with Roy and August. I just hate it that that house was torn down.

Finally, here is a picture of August Vonderheide. His parents made the right decision to come to America.

Anna Moser Vonderheide

The picture to the left was cropped from the family picture of the wedding of my grandparents, Roy and Virginia. It was taken in the yard of their beautiful Wyoming home on Springfield Pike that was torn down to build the Wyoming Board of Education Building.

When Roy and Virginia got married, they continued living in her family home. Virginia's brother Val married Clara Wheeler, and they, too, lived in the family home. Within a couple of years, Virginia gave birth to my mother, Virginia, and Clara gave birth to a daughter, Dolly. Pictured is Anna holding her new granddaughter, Virginia.

Virginia was anxious for her young family to move into their own home. Aunt Evelyn tells me that Roy was only too happy to stay because Anna was a great cook. They rented a home in Carthage before buying their family home in Wyoming. Anna eventually had 8 grandchildren. Here she is picture with the first six.

Pictured from left to right are: Florence, Virginia, Dolly, Evelyn, Val and Jim.

My mother always spoke of such fondness of her grandmother, Anna. Unfortunately, she died at the young age of 54 of uterine cancer. She died on March 7, 1931 when my mother was only 8 years old. She is buried next to her husband, August, at Mother of God Cemetery in Covington, Kentucky. August was a widower for 28 years.