Fuhrman Family

Lena and Joseph

Magdelen (Hepher) and Lawrence

Catherine M Fuhrman and Andrew C Sommer

Catherine Fuhrman was born March 16, 1916 to the parents of Joseph and Amelia (Loos) Fuhrman near Parkston, South Dakota. Catherine was one of five children, four daughters and one son and grew up on the family farm. On April 24, 1934 she married Andrew Charles Sommer with a double wedding with her sister Josephine in Parkston. A reception was held in Joe and Amelia Fuhrman barn with bootleg beer provided by John Tischler. Catherine and Andrew had four children of their own. "Katie" as we knew her, was world famous for her fried chicken and extremely fast-talking, (only second in talking to maybe her sister Josephine). She was a quite a person. Her sons from the stories I have heard may have cut some years off of her life or at least gave her gray hair earlier, we all know that is could not have been the fried chicken. In her later years after they moved into town she was working at the local Corner Cafe as a waitress. Then she took retirement until her sudden death in 1988. Her parents were:

Joseph Fuhrman and Amelia Loos

Joseph Fuhrman was born April 26,1885 in Sankt Andrä, Austria/Hungary to Lawrence and Magdelen (Hepher) Fuhrman. Joe had one sister Lena which I have no other information other than her name. I have also found the second spelling Fuhrmann in some naturalization records. Sometime around 1906 the family moved to the United States and settled in Sykeston, North Dakota. For some reason Joe ended up in the Parkston area where he met Amelia Loos and later moved back to Sykeston. There he married Amelia Loos, Daughter of Andreas and Theresa (Thuringer) Loos. Later sometime before 1916 they and started a farm near Parkston, South Dakota. According to my father about 1951 Joseph and Amelia quit farming and moved to Mitchell, South Dakota. Amelia passed away in 1967, one of the first funerals that I attended at a small child. I knew Joe personally and was at his home in Mitchell several times until his death in 1973. What I remember most was he could hardly speak any English. And this was in the early nineteen seventies. I can not remember anything of Amelia, I was very young when she died.
 The only information I have on Joe's parents are their names. 

Lawrence Fuhrmann and Magdelen Hepher

Lawrence Fuhrmann was born in Sankt Andrä, Austria/Hungary. Not a lot is known about him at this time. He moved to the United States around 1906 to Sykeston, North Dakota where he shows up in the Naturalization records about 1910. On those records he declares Hungary as his birth place. While in Austria/Hungary he married Magdelen Hepher and they had two children that I know of. They are Joseph and Lena. Lawrence and Magdelen are said to be buried in North Dakota, But I have found a Lorenz and Magdalena Furhmann buried in Parkston, South Dakota. Once again I have more questions then time when on Vacation. I may have to wait another year. 

Thank you Sr. Laverne for the photo's to make this possible.

I would also like to thank Florence
 for the new photo's and information on this family.