2023 LEISZ FAMILY REUNION IN TURTLE LAKE, WISCONSIN—A BIG SUCCESS!
FAMILY TREE
This family tree from ancestry.com shows Michael's firstborn child, Herbert, with first wife Alvina Louise Wabschall, followed by six children with second wife Rosalia Prosser.
LONG LOST COUSIN HERBERT AND HIS DESCENDANTS
Two wives, two families
Leisz Brother Michael had a son Herbert with first wife Alvina, divorced, then wed Rosalia Prosser and had 6 more children.
MICHAEL'S SON: Bernard "Bruno" Emil Leisz
Helping local youth
Bruno owned and operated the Turtle Lake Implement Company for more than 47 years. His business partners were his brother Ed, and "surrogate son" Dan Helling of Turtle Lake. The business began as an Oliver farm equipment dealer. About 1953 the brothers left the farm equipment business and began selling Whirlpool and RCA appliances.
Bruno believed that, given the opportunity and encouragement, each young person could become a successful adult. Several young men began their business with a part-time job at Turtle Lake Implement.
Bruno's advice to them was, "Learn all you can every day by keeping your eyes and ears open. Then, when you don't have anything else to do, sweep the floors."
Army Veteran
Bruno was an Army Veteran of World War II. ENLISTMENT RECORD
Loved playing sports
Bruno was born December 19, 1913 in Turtle Lake, the son of Michael and Rosalia Leisz. He was the third eldest of six children, with siblings (oldest to youngest) Edward Michael (b. 1910), Rosalia Elizabeth (b. 1911), Margaret Anna (b. 1915), Mildred Clara (b. 1918), and Florence Marie (b. 1921).
Bruno attended Turtle Lake schools, where his love of athletic competition began with his participation in football, basketball and baseball.
Family life
Bruno was united in marriage to Marion DeBoer on May 5, 1945. The couple had one son, Michael, and a daughter, Laura.
Bruno's passing
Bruno died on Wednesday, October 19, 1994 at his home in Turtle Lake. He was 80 years old.
Funeral services were held Saturday, October 22, 1994 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Ann Catholic Church in Turtle Lake. Father John Spanjers officiated. Burial of cremains was at St. Ann's Cemetery in Turtle Lake.
Pallbearers were David Sheldon, Douglas Ritchie, Larry Raffesberger, Merlin Wagner, Kenneth Wagner and Michael Janikowski.
Bruno was preceded in death by his wife Marion, who passed on October 13, 1990, and by his brother Edward, as well as nephew James, son of Edward.
Survivors
At the time of his passing in 1994, Bruno was survived by son Michael and his wife Julie of Chippewa Falls; daughter Laura M. (Mrs. Clifton Johnson) of Pine City, MN; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; three sisters, Elizabeth Rosalia Wagner of New Brighton, MN, Florence Leisz of Chicago, IL, and Margaret Raffesberger of Almena.
SEE BRUNO'S DISCHARGE PAPERS FROM CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS. WHERE HE ENROLLED IN 1935 AT AGE 21.
First child, two marriages
Michael's first child
Most descendants of youngest of the Leisz Brothers, Michael (shown as a young man in photo at left), are aware that his first child was a son from an earlier marriage. We dug a bit deeper into this story, and came away with some very interesting information.
DON'T MISS THE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW WITH PHOTOS FROM THE FOLLOWING STORY.
Son Herbert
Michael Leisz's firstborn child was named Herbert. His mother was a young woman named Alvina Louise Wabschall. Born in Michigan City, Indiana in 1889, Alvina was living in Decoria, MN in 1900, according to the U.S. Census.
She married Leisz Brother Michael on September 26, 1905 in Barron, Wisconsin when she was 16, and Michael was 23 years old. VIEW THEIR MARRIAGE INFORMATION HERE. Alvina gave birth to the couple's only child, a son on June 8, 1906, and named him Herbert William.
Second family
Michael and his second wife Rosalia Prosser (1891-1979) had a son, Edward Michael, on January 5, 1910, the first of six children they would have together.
It appears that Michael and first wife Alvina had divorced, as by September 1911 she was remarried to William Tecumseh Peisley in Turtle Lake. Alvina lived 60 more years, passing away in 1976 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
But what became of her first child Herbert with Michael Leisz?
Herbert's family located
With some detective work on ancestry.com and Facebook, we found descendants of Herbert William Leisse. Note that the spelling of his last name is not Leisz but Leisse, yet genealogy records are definitive in identifying Herbert's parents as Michael Joseph Leisz and Alvina Louise Wabschall.
Herbert passed away on February 25, 1985 in Clackamas, Oregon at age 78. He was married twice, first to Vera Fern Counts (1911-1999) on December 19, 1931, in Vancouver, Washington. Herbert's second wife was Frances Irene Whittlesey (1916-2005) on July 5, 1940 in Multnomah, Oregon. HERE IS THEIR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.
Note that Herbert lists the name of his father as "unknown" on this certificate. Why did Herbert refuse to acknowledge his father Michael Leisz? This is not known.
Herbert and Frances had three children including a son Bob Leisse, 74. In October 2018 Bob contacted Denise Leisz, granddaughter of Leisz Brother Joseph, who had reached out to him via Facebook. Bob has two sisters, Carol, 76, and Janet, 72.
"Dad was raised in Turtle Lake," recalled Bob, who himself lives in Oregon. What brought Herbert to Oregon is unclear, but Bob noted that his dad had made the trip back to Turtle Lake over the years to see relatives there.
In fact, Herbert looked up his dad's eldest son from his second marriage, his half-brother Edward Michael Leisz (1910-1985). Edward's late daughter Barbara Leisz Seeger confirmed this with her first cousin, Janice Raffesberger Warner.
Efforts are underway to connect Herbert's children Bob, Janet and Carol with their Leisz relatives, and also to get a photo of Herbert Leisse to post to this website. Stay tuned!
More about Michael
Gladys Wagner Broker, granddaughter of Leisz Brother Michael, was very close to her grandma Rosalia, Michael's second wife. Gladys recalls that her grandpa couldn't receive Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church for the majority of his life. This is likely because he was divorced from first wife Alvina. Also Rosalia Prosser Leisz, Michael's second wife, couldn't receive Holy Communion until after Michael passed away in 1944. Rosalia lived another 35 years, and could receive the sacraments once her husband had passed away.
Thank you for all your birthday wishes to Gladys!
Gladys Wagner Broker turned 88 years old on May 29th. She is the granddaughter of Leisz Brother Michael, and the eldest member of that branch of our family.