Stella Gertrude Schriner (1899-1990)

A letter written by Louisa Margaret (Radecke) Stoll to Stella, her granddaughter by her first marriage to Albert Schriner, Sr. From the letter's mention of my mother, Jean, in connection with vocal lessons, I would guess that the letter was written in the early 1930s. I would think that Dorothy, Merle's oldest sister, would have been too old for Sunday School, so perhaps Merle's going home from Sunday School with her meant that Dorothy was married by then and they were going to her house. Robert was Dorothy's and Merle's younger brother. Spelling and punctuation are as in the actual letter, although I couldn't make out the "Miss Jennie" in the first paragraph; the paragraph breaks were inserted by me for readability.

From my mother Jean's notes on the back of the letter:

    Merle, Dorothy & Robert Stoll - her grandchildren from 2d marriage

    Bertha Gunther - unmarried sister of Charlie Gunther (whom I met with "Pop" [Herman Henry] Schriner one day)

    The church referred to was a Lutheran church in ________?

    Mom [Stella S. Ivey] also knew Mrs. Peterman.

An inventory of her life, apparently written towards the end of it. I'm not sure what the first couple of entries are referring to.

• C. Miller
• Reading law in Johns office.
• Maryland genealogy & championship bridge.
  
  
• National Bank of Baltimore; Union Trust. 23 years total as a teller and assistant branch manager.
• Baltimore & Ohio Railroad - city ticket office, assistant manager, 1942-1946.
• Johns Hopkins University School of Higher Studies, Executive secretary and organizer, 6 years.
  
  
• The Shipleys of Maryland - Treasurer for several years; served on the Book Committee for and contributed to The Shipleys of Maryland 1968.
• Maryland Historical Society - member.
• Anne Arundel County Historical Society - member.
• Mt. Clare Mansion - curator.
• National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (Maryland) - financial secretary; librarian; served on a number of committees: house, historic something, book, exhibits, and genealogy.
  
  
• Treasurer for the 4208 North Charles Street Corporation.
  
  
• 1960-67 - care of home and sick sister.
• 1978 - fell on ice and broke back.
• 1980 - fell and injured back.
• 1984 - sister died.
• 1984 - back injured at Dartmouth Avenue and Knox Road (College Park, MD).
• 1987 - Sacred Heart Nursing Home.

Actually, her sister, my "Aunt Louise", spent a year in the hospital back in the 1960's. She thought she would never see the light of day again, so, when she finally returned home (4208 N. Charles St.), she would never allow the blinds to be closed in her bedroom, no matter how brightly the sun shone in. Her legs, nearly useless already, got even weaker as time went on. (Our family doctor said she had a very slow form of ALS.)

Grandma Ivey cared for Aunt Louise up until 1981, when it got to be too much for her - remember, they were both in their 80's - and Aunt Louise was moved into a nearby nursing home. Grandma went out to see her one icy day, slipped, and broke her back. The nursing home, meanwhile, wasn't very good, so my mother and father got a hospital bed and brought Aunt Louise down to live with them until her death in 1985.

When Grandma was released from the hospital, she also came to stay with my parents. After recuperating, she returned to Baltimore; several years later, my mother convinced her to move down to an apartment in College Park where it would be easier for us to care for her. Grandma lived there for several years, before finally having to go into Sacred Heart Nursing Home - kicking and screaming, figuratively speaking! (My father had a heart attack in 1984 and major heart surgery in 1986, and my mother's health was beginning to fail, so they couldn't take her in.)

The Baltimore News-Post, January 15, 1963.

And in another newspaper, unnamed and undated. Both articles spell her name incorrectly!

Death notice - The Washington Post, August 24, 1990.