Yoba Family he Yoba family name was brought to

 

 Yoba Family 

 

 

he Yoba family name was brought to 

Frankenmuth in 1917 by Julius, his 

sister Helen, and a brother Mike, all 

orphans at the Lutheran Children’s 

Home in Bay City.  They were brought 

to St. Lorenz Lutheran Church on a 

Sunday morning and introduced to the 

congregation members with hopes of finding a home for 

them.   

 

Helen was taken in by the Conrad Loesel family and 

Julius was taken in by the Jacob Woelzlein family.  

Mike, who was crippled from a siege of polio, could not 

be placed and was taken to Monroe, Michigan and 

placed with a family there. 

 

The children’s parents, Julius and Elizabeth nee 

Szankowski, came to Monroe from Debreczen, Hungary 

in 1910 with their two daughters, Betty and Helen.  Mike 

and Julius were born in the Monroe area.  Julius and 

Elizabeth hoped to make a better life for themselves and 

their four children.  They worked doing seasonal farm 

work, thinning and hoeing sugar beets, etc. 

 

Within six to seven years both parents died leaving the 

four children as orphans.  An uncle in Alger, Michigan 

tried to care for the three youngest children but the 

Department of Social Services felt he didn’t have the 

means to support them so they were taken to the 

Children’s Home in Bay City.  Betty, the oldest 

daughter, was old enough to go with a friend to Chicago 

to find work there. 

 

Julius, born in 1911, could only speak Hungarian when 

he was taken in by the Woelzlein family.  Going to 

school at St. Lorenz, Julius learned “high” German but 

always had trouble with the Bayerisch dialect that the 

rest of his schoolmates were speaking.   

He was confirmed at St. Lorenz in 1925.  Julius married 

Hildegard Zehnder on July 26, 1942. 

 

Julius farmed for many years on Dehmel Road, south of 

Frankenmuth.  After the children had grown up and none 

of them had an inclination to farm, Julius and Hildegard 

retired from farming. 

 

In 1969, a home for the elderly, the Lutheran Home, was 

opened in Frankenmuth.  Julius and Hildegard both 

worked there, Julius as maintenance supervisor, and 

Hildegard as admissions director. 

 

Julius and Hildegard had five children:  Judy Bonner was 

an administrator at Genesys Home health organization in 

Flint, Michigan; Jerry was vice-president of Great Lakes 

Gauge in Bridgeport, Michigan; Tom was a graphics and 

sign designer in Houston, Texas; Marilyn Rodammer 

was co-owner with her husband of the Listening Room in 

Saginaw, Michigan; and Sue Gilbert was a paralegal 

specialist for the Social Security Disability Program. 

 

Julius and Hildegard had ten grandchildren and two 

great-grandchildren as of the year 2005. 

 

Julius managed to get in touch with his sister and brother 

after 36 years of separation from Betty, and 50 years 

from his brother Mike.   

 

Julius faithfully served his church as an elder and the 

community on the school remodeling building 

committees.  He also served on the Board of Education 

for the Frankenmuth Public Schools and helped organize 

the Frankenmuth Conservation Club.

 

 

Researched & Compiled by Bavarian Inn Lodge 

For copies of Family Histories go to www.bavarianinn.com/familyhistory