The Real Anna Rickert, 12/29/1937

This one is definitely Anna Rickert, Joseph's sister. She died December 28, 1937, at her brother Joseph's home. Apparently, 2 of their sisters became nuns. It's a pity we can't tell which ones, of course. The Rickert children included 1 priest, Alphonse, and 2 nuns, and the next generation produced at least two priests, as well - Loretta and Joseph's sons Joseph and Eugene were both priests. What a blessed family!

Anna Rickert
A solemn requiem mass will be
held Friday at 10 a.m. for Anna
Rickert, who died suddenly yesterday
at the home of her brother,
Joseph J. Rickert, 341 President St.,
in the St. Agnes R. C. Church, Hoyt
and Sackett Sts.
Miss Rickert, who was a practical
nurse, and a lifelong resident of
Brooklyn, is survived by three broth-
ers, Rev. Alphonse M. Rickert,
head of the Catholic Seamen's Institute,
Joseph J. and Frank . J .
Rickert; and three sisters, Sister
Therese Marie of Maryknoll, Sister
Margaret Elizabeth, S.S.J., and Mrs.
Lawrence J. Maier. Interment will
be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

This shows that of the Rickert siblings, only August A. had died by 1937. The 8 of them were 4 girls and 4 boys; of the boys, Alphonse, Joseph, and Frank survived through 1937, and other than Anna, all three of the girls were still alive, though we don't know - yet - who was Mrs. Lawrence Maier, who was Sr. Therese Marie, and who was Sr. Margaret Elizabeth.

Not done with the Rickerts yet!

This is the 1920 Census of what I believe to be Loretta and Joseph Rickert's family. Why aren't I sure? Because of this oh-so-confusing Anna Rickert. Joseph had a sister named Anna Rickert, but she wasn't his wife, of course. This Anna L. Rickert is listed as his wife, and her age, 31, means she should have been born around 1889, which is pretty close to how old Loretta Rickert should have been. (I think she was born in 1888.) Joseph's sister was Anna M. Rickert, and she was his older sister, and should be closer to 40 than to 30. Now, Loretta Madigan Rickert is usually listed as Loretta A. Madigan and/or Rickert, while this Anna Rickert is listed as Anna L. Rickert. Could a Loretta Anna or an Anna Loretta have gone by Anna sometimes and Loretta other times? Maybe she's listed as Anna here because Joseph called her Anna, after her middle name.

After all, everyone knows that Almanzo Wilder called Laura "Beth" from her middle name, Elizabeth.

The thing is, I just don't know. Was Joseph living with his sister instead of his wife, and the lady of the household was accidentally listed as being his wife? Or did he call his wife Anna?

Anyway, the Rickert family, whoever they consisted of (gosh that's bad grammar), lived at 81 Union Street. Joseph is 38, and was born in NJ, with two parents both born in Pennsylvania. He's a salesman though I can't tell in what industry. He was a WWI veteran. Anna/Loretta is 31 and was born in NY. Her father was from Ireland and her mother from New York. (That sure sounds like Loretta's family, and not anything like what Anna M. Rickert the sister's family would have looked like.) Their son Joseph is 2 years and 11 months old, and Eugene is 2 months old. That means Joseph was born around the beginning of 1928 and Eugene was born in the vicinity of November of 1919. Both were born in New York, and, predictably, both of their mothers were born in NY and their fathers in New Jersey. Joseph is listed as being able to speak English, while Eugene is not.

If you skip down a few lines, you see another Rickert family listed at 81 Union Street. This is Joseph's brother August A., his wife Olga, and their two sons August Jr. and Thomas. August and Olga are 33 and should have been born around 1887. August Jr. is 7, born around 1913, and Thomas is 4 years and months old, born around 1915. Olga and August were both born in NY, which would seem to mean that the Rickert family moved from New Jersey to New York sometime between when Joseph was born and when August was born. August's parents, in keeping with Joseph's parents, were born in Pennsylvania, and Olga's parents were German-born. August is a salesman, and it looks like he sells newspapers. He, too, is a World War I veteran.

Rev. Joseph John Rickert, Peruvian Missionary

I've been up to my eyeballs in Rickerts lately. I've ascertained that Loretta did, in fact, marry a Joseph Rickert, and that all the Rickerts who were in plays and choruses with them were, in fact, his siblings. I'm sure I should show you those censuses, first, and I will get around to it, I promise, but first, this is really cool. I hope it's legible. It's a short article, a blurb, really, printed in 1946 and complete with picture, about Loretta and Joseph's oldest son, Joseph John Rickert, a priest. He looks so young to be a Peruvian missionary! The Alphonse Rickert mentioned is one of Joseph Sr's many brothers. (I couldn't figure out how to crop the giant irrelevant ad out, so just look for the picture of the priest in the top left-hand corner. You can zoom in with the buttons on top.)

Rev Joseph Rickert