Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Gerardus Bernardus Denkers

Last time I wrote about Bernardus Albertus Denkers.  His father is Gerardus.

Gerardus was born on July 21, 1843 in Deventer, Overijissel, The Netherlands.  He grew up there and married Aaltje Brand when he was about 25.  A few years later, he and his wife joined the LDS church -  early converts in the Netherlands.

Gerardus worked in the printing business.  His granddaughter, Norma, tells the story that after he was baptized, he went to work, where his boss asked him what religion he belonged to. He responded that he belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His boss asked if that was the Mormon Church.  When Gerardus said it was, his boss responded by saying that he did not care to have a Mormon in his employment and fired Gerardus.

From my research on the church's early days in the Netherlands, it appears that many Dutch did not like "the Mormons", so it is very possible that he could have gotten fired just because of his church membership!  Norma continues:
"Grandfather left the shop wondering how he would provide for his wife and children, but the Lord was with him. He picked up a paper from the street and in it was a request for an experienced foreman in a printing office in Almelo . . . He answered the request and was hired, and inside a week he had moved his family to Almelo."

This must have happened around 1875, because Pieter Jacob Denkers was born in Almelo on December 21, 1875, the first of the Denkers children to be born in that city.

This picture of the family was taken about 8 years after the family left Europe on the ship Wisconsin and came to Utah .  Like many of the LDS Dutch immigrants, they settled in Ogden.  Gerardus died there in December of 1911 and is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Bernardus Albertus Denkers

Bernardus Denkers

Most of our ancestors came from England.  One exception is my father's mother's ancestors.  For my nieces and nephews, your Grandpa Smith's grandpa, Bernardus Albertus Denkers, came from the Netherlands.  (Sometimes people mistakenly call this country Holland.)  Bernardus is your great-great grandfather.

He was born in 1874 in a small city called Zutphen.

Zutphen is only about 3 1/2 hours drive away from Frankfurt, where Allison is serving her mission.

Bernardus's father joined the LDS church in 1872, one of the earlier members in the Netherlands.  This was a very courageous move in a country where people did not like the "Mormons."  At the time, there were many false rumors about the church, including one that members were baptized in tubs full of mud!

In 1890, when he was sixteen, Bernardus's family immigrated to the United States.  They settled in Ogden, Utah. Five years later, Bernardus returned to the Netherlands to serve a mission, and when he came home he eventually went into the furniture business, learning upholstery and cabinet making. 

In 1899, he married Lettie Phillips.

Lettie and Bernardus

After he was married, Bernardus was called on another mission to the Netherlands.  He had to leave his pregnant wife and young son to serve.

Denkers family at home in Pocatello

Bernardus and Lettie eventually had 11 children, one of whom is my grandmother, Lettie Denkers (on the left side of the group in the white dress.  Her father, Bernardus, is on the right, with the mustache).  I never knew my grandmother because she died long before I was born, but I have visited with her youngest sister, Norma, several times.  Norma lives in Salt Lake City and will be 94 years old this year. Not long after Norma was born, the family moved to Pocatello. She remembers that she would run to the corner to greet her father when he came home from work and carry his lunch bucket. She said that he always had a treat for her in his lunch bucket.

Bernardus, or Bernard as he was then known, worked for the Union Pacific Railroad while they lived in Pocatello.  Norma remembers that they received passes on the train and took family trips to Yellowstone and Lagoon.  Sometimes when they were out as a family, passers-by would stop to count all the children!

When she was seven years old, Norma remembers that her father was sick with pneumonia, but was asked to help another sick person.  He got up from his sick bed and went to help.  Not long after, he died, at the age of 52.

He had two funerals, one in Pocatello and one in Ogden, where many friends attended.  He is buried in Ogden.