Germanna Foundation

Preserving the historic heritage of the original settlers of the Fort Germanna Colonies in Virginia

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You are here: Home / People / Germanna in Memoriam

Germanna in Memoriam

November 15, 2018 By Germanna Foundation Leave a Comment

The Germanna Foundation extends condolences to family members of people in our Germanna community who passed away recently:

Horst Schneider

The board received with regret news of the death of Trustee Emeritus Horst Schneider of Siegen Kaan-Marienbborn on 3 October 2018. Horst succeeded his good friend Heinz Prinz on the Germanna board when Heinz died in 2004. He served a decade on the board, retiring at the 2014 Reunion, at which time the Foundation awarded him a plaque in gratitude for his exceptional service on behalf of Germanna in Germany, and named him Trustee Emeritus.

Born in Siegen on 22 January 1941, Horst was the son of innkeepers in Kaan-Marienborn, the home village of the Hitt family. After completing his education, Horst worked his entire career at increasingly important positions with the government of the county of Siegen-Wittgenstein, homeland of all the 1714 and later Little Fork Germanna settlers.

He was a co-founder and vice president of the Heimatbund, or association of local historical societies in Siegen-Wittgenstein, and a co-founder and longtime officer of the Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft (DAG), the German-American Association of Siegen-Wittgenstein, and played an active role with the Tourist Association of Siegen-Wittgenstein. Horst received the Walter-Oerter Medal in 2011 in recognition of his extensive community service.

Horst attended Germanna Reunion several times, and each summer from their beginning in 2003 until 2015, Horst and his colleague Kurt Muelln organized the visit to the villages and museums of the Siegen area for the Germanna Foundation. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his widow, Elisabeth, their son Markus and daughter Petra and their families.

Forest Wayne Crigler

Longtime Germanna member and Jacob Crigler descendant Wayne Crigler of Emerald Isle, NC, died on 13 September 2018 at his daughter’s home in Pinnacle, NC, while evacuated from his home during Hurricane Florence.

The son of James Franklin Crigler, Sr., and Ruth Lillian Nicholas Crigler, Wayne was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953 during the Korean War. He held electrical engineering degrees from the University of Missouri and Lehigh University. He was a researcher at Bell Laboratories for 22 years, then volunteered through the Bell Lab Aid to Black Colleges program as a professor of electrical engineering at North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro for 12 years.

An avid golf and tennis player, Wayne traveled extensively and took part in mission trips to Peru. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elaine, their four children, 13 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. The Germanna family extends its condolences to all of Wayne’s family.

Chester E. Ramey, III

Longtime Germanna member and former volunteer, Chester Eugene Ramey, 55, died on 30 October 2018 at Blue Ridge Hospice in Winchester, VA. Son of Diane Zerkel and Chester Ramey, Jr., he was raised in Arlington and Vienna, VA, but moved to the Shenandoah Valley to be active in family and historical research in that region.

He was proud of his Germanna heritage and worked as a volunteer for the Foundation in years past and attended several Reunions. He chaired the German Fest, sponsored by the Germanic Heritage Museum in the Shenandoah Valley. Chester worked to help persons with disabilities and was actively involved in community affairs.

He is buried in Riverview Cemetery, Strasburg, Va. We extend our condolences to his father, siblings, and other family members.

Bob Sexton

Robert M. “Bob” Sexton, 75, of Fredericksburg, a devoted Germanna descendant and member of the Reunion Committee, died in Richmond on 8 November.

Born and raised in New Wilmington, PA, Bob graduated from Westminster College in PA in 1965 and married Nancy Jane Hollabaugh that summer. Bob was employed by the U.S. General Accounting Office from 1965 until he retired as a Senior Evaluator for Strategic Issues in 2001. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1966 to 1972.

Bob was a life member of the Amburgey Family Association. He traveled to Germany in 2008 with the Germanna group to visit Boennigheim, home of Conrad Amberger, his 1717 Germanna ancestor.

In addition to his labor on the Memorial Gardens at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center and his work on many Reunions, Germanna friends will remember with pleasure the heated auction battle in which Bob beat other bidders to the precious bottle of wine from the Kraichgau with an exceedingly generous donation to the Germanna Foundation.

Besides Germanna, Bob had an active interest in the Lions Club and in the Heatherstone Homeowners Association, serving as an officer for both. He is survived by his son John of Fredericksburg and daughter Heather Bryant of Mechanicsville, two grandsons and three granddaughters. Bob’s many Germanna friends extend their condolences to his family.

Ann Howard

Ann Howard, wife of Germanna’s Visitor Center volunteer coordinator and librarian, John Howard, died on 10 November 2018. Born in LaCrosse, WI, in 1939, Ann and John lived in Virginia for 51 years. An active gardener at their Lake of the Woods home, Ann is survived by her son and daughter and 5 grandchildren, to whom we extend our heartfelt condolences.

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Germanna Foundation’s Mission and Stewardship

The Germanna Foundation tells America’s story of liberty through the frontier experience of her settlers and descendants using archaeological, historical, and genealogical research and interpretation. We are stewards over these important properties and initiatives:

  • Fort Germanna Visitor Center campus which includes a Museum, Genealogy Library, the Hitt Archaeology Center, and the Germanna Memorial Garden
  • Siegen Forest – 170-acre Hiking and Nature Trails along the Rapidan river
  • 1714/1717 Fort Germanna Archaeology Site
  • Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood’s home “Enchanted Castle” Archaeology Site
  • 1757 Georgian-style Salubria Manor
  • 1800 Peter Hitt Farm
  • Publishing “The Germanna Record” genealogy/ history books
  • Maintaining a genealogy database with over 130,000 records of descendants of the Germanna colonists

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Germanna Foundation

The Germanna Foundation
MAILING: P.O. Box 279
LOCATION: 2062 Germanna Highway
Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279
Phone: 540-423-1700
Fax: 540-423-1747
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Fort Germanna Visitor Center, Museum & Library

2062 Germanna Highway (Route 3)
Locust Grove, VA 22508
(Next to the Germanna Community College campus)

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Saturdays, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Closed on Sundays

Out of town visitors are urged to call us at 540-423-1700 to confirm or to make special arrangements for groups.

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Hike Siegen Forest!

Behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center is our 170-acre Siegen Forest nature and hiking trails along the Rapidan river. Trails are OPEN 7 days a week, during daylight hours. When visiting the trails, please practice “Leave no Trace” ethos. If you enjoy the trails, consider donating to the Germanna Foundation to help support their upkeep.

 

About

The Germanna Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the Colonial Virginia frontier via the historic 1714 Fort Germanna and its German colonists and their descendants.

It conducts archaeological exploration and conservation, genealogical research and publishing, and historic preservation and interpretation.

The Foundation owns and maintains several historic sites and properties, such as Salubria Manor, that were part of or closely connected to the Germanna colonies, the town of Germanna, and the other early colonial Virginia settlements and towns in the Piedmont area of Virginia.

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