The (-1G), etc., after the names indicates the number of generations before Erven Thoma.

Her father was originally named Johann Kristmann. He was born ca 1877 in Modes, Hungary of German ethnicity. He immigrated on 17 June 1907 at Ellis Island, New York on the ship S. S. Cambroman which left Antwerp, Belgium on 30 May 1907. Johann (John) was 30 years old and was marked as married, yet he was traveling alone. He was classed as a laborer and citizen of Hungary. His destination was St. Louis, MO where he had a friend. John was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, dark complected, with brown eyes and hair and a scar on the left cheek. He was in good physical condition and not lame or crippled.

Johanna's brother Andrew was born in 1902, probably in Hungary. He immigrated in 1911. He was a salesman. His wife Laurencia was born in 1928 and died in 1976. His wife Helen was born on 17 Jul. 1906 in Illinois and died in 1988. Helen and Andrew married when he was 22 and she was 18. They had a son in ca. 1927. Andrew and both wives were buried in Sunset Memorial Park in the Kristmann lot.

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Johanna was born in St. Louis on 21 Dec. 1909 according to her death certificate; according to the cemetery monument she was born in 1910. Her siblings might have included Andrew Kristmann, born 2 May 1902. Her parents were born in Austria. I have yet to discover the parents' birth dates, mother's exact birthplace, mother's immigration information, and parents' death dates.

The middle initial used at the top of this page is found in the Marriage Index, Application and License. We also find the same initial in the 1935 St. Louis Directory where we see Johanna B. Kristmann, prsfdr Ralston Purina Co., r 4400 S. Broadway. At the same address we find John Kristmann, barber, and Catherine, who are most likely her parents. Another source gives "R." as her middle initial.

In the St. Louis Directory of 1937 we see an entry for her soon-to-be husband, Albert Thoma, a plasterer, living with his parents at 4163 S. Compton Ave.

Her marriage license (#367776, vol. 128, p. 472) was issued on 29 May 1937; they married on that day in a ceremony conducted by a Lutheran pastor with the address 4250 Shaw Blvd (in St. Louis). Johanna was 27 years old, living at 4400 S. Broadway and Albert was 25, living at 4163 S. Compton..

Her Social Security number was 492-09-1896. According to her death certificate, her usual occupation was press-feeder at Ralston Purina in St. Louis.

The pictures below were provided by Keith Benze of the Gebken-Benze Mortuary in St. Louis. Click the thumbnails to enlarge the picture in a separate window.

Here is a picture of Johanna. The date and place is unknown, but certainly before Aug. 1940 and after 1930. The location is perhaps her home.
Here is a picture of Johanna, on our right. The identity of the other person is unknown. The date and place is unknown, but certainly before Aug. 1940 and after 1930. The location is perhaps her home.

Here is a picture of Johanna with a friend or relative. They seem to be at a pool.. The date and place is unknown, but certainly before Aug. 1940 and after 1930.
Here is a picture of Johanna. The date and place is unknown, but certainly before Aug. 1940 and after 1930. The location is perhaps her home in St. Louis.

In the 1939 St. Louis Directory Albert Thoma is listed as a plasterer, living at 2837 Mount Pleasant. There is a separate listing for Johanna as a clerk at R P Co., also living at 2837 Mount Pleasant. In this Directory her middle initial is "K" for her maiden surname.

She did not bear any children.

A living relative said she died after a brief bout with pneumonia or some other common malady on 8 Aug. 1940. However, I obtained her death certificate (No. 6726) which gives her death date as on the 6th at 5:25 A.M. from various complication after appendicitis. She died after a six day stay at the Missouri Baptist Sanitorium. At this time the address of Johanna and Albert was 2837 Mt. Pleasant Ave. in St. Louis. The names of her parents and their birth-country are given. Johanna's birth date and place are given. Her age is given as 30 years, 7 months and 15 days. Her occupation and employer are given. Albert was the informant. The funeral home was the J. H. Gebken Co. (now called the Gebken-Benz Mortuary) at 2842 Meramec. She was buried in the Kristmann lot (section 12, lot 232) in Sunset Burial Park (now called Sunset Memorial Park) on the 8th. The monument on the lot gives her birth year as 1910, but the death certificate and funeral home records have 1909. I need to get the Social Security application and birth certificate (or baptism record) to check the birth date.

Here is the grave site for Johanna in Sunset Memorial Park, section 12, lot 232. The Kristmann monument marks the graves of Johanna and her in-laws on one side and her parents and brother on the other side. The second picture is merely a close-up of the first.

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Her father died only five days after Johanna died. Her mother died only two months later. Both were buried in Sunset Memorial Park in St. Louis County, in the Kristmann lot.

Created 26 June, 2000.  Updated 04 Feb. 2005.