Bio: Weber, Catherine (104th Birthday – 13 Jan 1968)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Weber, Heidle, Mertens

----Source: THORP COURIER (Thorp, Clark County, Wis.) 18 Jan 1968

A Civil War orphan, born after her father left for the war and never returned, celebrated her 104th birthday, Saturday, Jan. 13, 1968. Born on that date in 1864 in Charleston, Calumet Co., Catherine C. Heidle was 15 months old when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April of 1865.

To celebrate her birthday Saturday, a private Mass was said for Mrs. Max Weber at her home by her grandson, the Rev. Michael Mertens, La Crosse, Chancellor of the La Crosse, Diocese. Mrs. Weber makes her home with her daughter, Miss Olga Mertens, in Thorp (Clark Co., Wis.)

The oldest resident of Clark County was married Feb. 10, 1885 to Michael Mertens and they farmed near Thorp until his death in 1890. They had three children, Osca and Irma, both deceased, and Olga, who cares for her mother. In 1891 she married Max Weber, a Civil War veteran and they made their home in the city of Thorp until his death in 1928. Since then she has lived with her daughter.

Mrs. Weber is the oldest living member of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Thorp, and until human frailty intervened, was a regular attendant at services there. She is visited frequently in her home by her pastor, the Rev. Francis J. Brockman, who comes to her with Holy Communion.

The Civil War “baby” credits her good health and long life to the fact that she has never used tobacco or alcoholic beverages, tries not to worry, and lives each day as it comes. “By keeping busy being friendly and cheerful, and with a sincere faith in God,” she comments, “I face each day with courage.” She loves flowers and has always had a vegetable and flower garden to keep her in God’s great outdoors.