Adela Elizabeth Hoelscher

Adela Elizabeth Niehues Hoelscher, 106, of Ballinger, formerly of Olfen and San Angelo, Texas, passed away Tuesday evening, December 29, 2009.

A rosary service will be held at 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 1, 2010, at Lange Funeral Home Chapel in Ballinger, Texas. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 2, 2010, at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Olfen, Texas, with Bishop Leroy Matthiesen O.M.I., Bishop Emeritus of the Amarillo Diocese, and Rev. Chinnapparaj Mariasavary con-celebrating. Burial will follow in the St. Boniface Cemetery.

Mrs. Hoelscher’s grandsons will serve as pallbearers and honorary pallbearers.

Mrs. Hoelscher was born March 12, 1903 to Bernhard and Amalia (Matthiesen) Niehues in Runnels County, Texas. Her grandparents, Bernard and Elizabeth Matthiesen, were early pioneers of “Fuzzy Creek” (later known as Olfen). They traveled by train from the Live Oak Hill-Ellinger area of Texas to Ballinger in 1893. In 1894, Adela’s father, Bernard Niehues, traveled from Frelsburg, Texas, to Olfen but he did not make Olfen his home until 1901. Fuzzy Creek was a mostly unsettled area at that time. It was a prairie land inhabited by coyotes and prairie dogs. As the first couple to be married in the new Catholic Church in Olfen on November 26, 1901, Adela’s parents were given the privilege of naming the new church according to custom. They chose the name of Saint Boniface in honor of the German saint and their ancestral German homeland. Adela was the second baby baptized at St. Boniface Catholic Church, and her father was the church organist until his death.

Adela’s father died in 1920 when she was 17 years of age. The family remained on the farm. Being the oldest of seven children, she worked hard and helped with the family farming using horses and a one-row planter and plow. They were blessed to have had generous and caring family, friends, and neighbors. Her experiences in life during those early years and in the Great Depression made an indelible impression upon her. Mrs. Hoelscher instilled in her own children and grandchildren the importance of strong faith in God, devotion to family, and the value of hard work. Adela graduated from Olfen School and enjoyed participating in church, school, and community activities.

Adela married Edward G. Hoelscher on July 27, 1926 at St. Boniface Catholic Church, in Olfen. After their marriage, they lived at Terry’s Chapel near Barclay in Falls County, Texas, where Mr. Hoelscher was co-owner and operator of a cotton gin. In 1944 they sold the cotton gin and she returned to Olfen with her husband and their four daughters, living on the same section of land on which she was born. They were active members of St. Boniface Catholic Church and the Olfen community. Mrs. Hoelscher belonged to the Christian Mothers’ Society and the Home Demonstration Club. Edward preceded her in death on February 1, 1975. Mrs. Hoelscher continued to enjoy life on the farm and watching the crops grow. She always took a keen interest in farming, even until her own death. She later moved to San Angelo with her oldest daughter, Gladys Hoelscher. There Mrs. Hoelscher became a member of Holy Angels Catholic Church and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Visiting with family and friends was a great enjoyment to Adela. She always had a delicious meal or dessert and coffee to serve guests when they came to visit at her home in Olfen and later in San Angelo.

Mrs. Hoelscher was preceded in death by her husband, Edward G. Hoelscher, daughters, Gladys Hoelscher and Dolores Hoelscher, son-in-law, Paul Kobel, grandson, Douglas Frerich, and great-granddaughter, Macy Lynn Ruiz. Five brothers and sisters, Alma Hirt, Arthur Niehues, Leona Franke, Olga Hoelscher, and Walter Niehues, also preceded her in death.

She is survived by two daughters, Bernice Kobel, of San Angelo and Mildred Frerich and husband, Leon Frerich, of Norton, 10 grandchildren including John Kobel and wife, Sheryl, Paul Kobel and wife, Penny, Mary Boone and husband, Larry, Susan Ruiz and husband, Sam, Howard Frerich and wife, Debbie, Annette Frerich, Linda Binns and husband, Quint, Teresa Boatner and husband, Hank, 27 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. Her brother, Werner Niehues and wife, Ruby, of San Angelo, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins also survive her.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to Mrs. Hoelscher’s at-home caregivers, Beulah Rivas and Minnie Hernandez, to Hospice of San Angelo, Rev. Charles Greenwell, Rev. Hubert Wade, Jr., and the doctors, nurses and staff at Ballinger Rehabilitation Center for their compassionate care and kindness.