BADERS in FREMONT

Ernest Frederick Bader

Big thanks to my intrepid cousins, Philip Bader and John Bader, who just returned from a fact-finding mission to Fremont, NE, in search of more Bader info! Among other things, they plundered a goldmine of info from the Fremont High School yearbooks, including these senior class photos and bits of doggerel for five of the six children of J. R. Bader.

The dispatch Philip sent to me also includes yearbook pics of the daughters of Frederick Bader (J.R.'s brother), family homes in Fremont, and headstones. I will post these soon, but this is plenty of material for one post! I'll let Philip describe it all in his own words! 


John and I returned last night from a road trip that took us, among other places, to Fremont, Nebraska. As Hugsweier in Germany is the European birthplace of the Bader family (so far as we know right now), Fremont might be called the American birthplace, or at least where the Bader brothers Jacob and Fred first put down solid roots.

At the Keene Memorial Library, we found yearbooks from Fremont High School and managed to salvage photos of most of JR Bader's children and all of Fred's children. The only one missing is the Reverend Carl Bader. The library did not have yearbooks going back to his senior year. 

Captain of the baseball team

ERNEST FREDERICK BADER

Ernest graduated from Fremont High School in 1907. According to his yearbook entry, Ernest's nickname was "Pater". He was junior and senior class president, president of the athletic association, vice-president of the literary society, a 1st Lt. and then captain of cadets (perhaps ROTC, though not sure). He also captained the baseball and basketball teams, ran track and was a member of the men's glee club.

Captain of the basketball team (front row, right)

Here is his brief bio that appears next to his picture:

"'Pater' is a jolly good fellow and all-round athlete. He is not bothered by the girls; it is the girl that bothers him. Bader has tried, with considerable success, to get a corner on offices."

The entry is accompanied by this quote from Tennyson:

"I am part of all that I have met."

Member of the Track team (front row, middle)

Eleanor Olga Bader

ELEANOR OLGA BADER


Eleanor graduated from Fremont High School in 1909. Her entry lists the nickname of "Ella". She participated in women's glee club. Her entry in the yearbook is accompanied by this poem:


"To school she does come,
Good marks she gets some
In her studies all of the while;
Is quite fond "Art",
They say lost her heart,
Not Gibson, but "Baldwin" her style."

Alma Christina Bader

ALMA CHRISTINA BADER

Alma graduated from Fremont High School in 1912. Her nickname was "Snip". Her yearbook entry includes this poem:

"Alma, sweet Alma, whence
came your fame? From
studiousness, talent or simply
from name? No matter
the answer, for whate'er it
be, your virtues are many,
that we can see."

In her short freshman year biography, Alma's occupation was described as a "great Botanist", her disposition was "bashful", and the reason she was liked was her "long hair".

CLARA BARTON BADER

Clara Barton Bader

Clara graduated from Fremont High School in 1916. She was a member of the women's glee club, the Zetalithian literary society, the yearbook staff, and something called Emanon. I think this was some sort of social club, though I'm not certain.

The poem accompanying her yearbook photo is as follows:

"Clara has a fuzzy head,
and her "future", it is said
shall be spent in work of Art,
for she's surely got her start."

Clara's junior year biography reads as follows:

"Our fussy, persnickety member always has the latest style in hair dressing. Is also very witty and whenever she hears a new joke she'll always Springer. Intends at some future time to go to Berlin and study art."

Jean Bader

JEAN RICHARD BADER

Jean graduated from Fremont High School in 1922. He played on the football team and the track team. He was a member of the Hi-Y club ( a precursor to the YMCA), president of the dramatic club, a member of the men's glee club and the F club, served on the yearbook staff and the student newspaper, for which he served as editor in chief as a senior. He also served two years on student council.

According to the text accompanying his senior yearbook photo, Jean had the following characteristics:

"Occupation: falling in love with a new one."
"Means of identification: Will you write this up—"
"Destination: a minister"

Jean was apparently a gifted offensive lineman for the football team. His team biography reads as follows:

"One of our few fairly heavy men. Held down his guard position like a million dollars. Those who got behind him had to get help and climb over, and a few there were who did it. And the way he ambled into the opponents line on offense always reminded us of a gay young Percheron at play. And those Jean didn't hurt, he scared to death. We hate to see Jean graduate."

Jean Bader: Member of the football team

Note from Lisa: it's funny to think this beefy "young Percheron" was the same little tyke seen riding on the moon with J. R. and Emma in this early post!

Also: click here to see a great family portrait of these Bader siblings as small children!

THE DOYLES

Thanks to Daniel Bader, here's a photo of Clara Bader Doyle, founder of  the other branch of California Baders.

Clara Barton Bader, born in Fremont, NE, 1898, was the youngest daughter of Jacob R. and Emma Bader, and Carl George's youngest sister. In 1921, she was studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. This portrait is dated 1923, when she was 25 years old.

In 1925, Clara married Thomas F. Doyle in Omaha, NE. Their first two children, Thomas (Tommy) and Sheila, were both born in Omaha, in 1925 and 1927, respectively. But by 1929, when daughter Sally was born, the family had moved west to Oakland, CA. Two more children., Millicent (born 1931) and Jerome (born 1932) were born in Oakland. Another daughter, Carlotta Ann, died in infancy.

Clara Bader Doyle was an artist, and a member of several Bay Area art and watercolor associations. Here's a link to a watercolor portrait of a friend that she painted in 1940.

This is the only image of her work I've been able to find on the web so far, but I did find this wonderful childhood photo that her granddaughter, Catherine Doyle Sullivan, posted to the Ask/Art website.

Catherine Doyle Sullivan, of Arcata, CA, is the daughter of Tommy Doyle and La Verne Heisen. Catherine is also an artist.

Sheila Doyle married Arthur J. Tormey in Oakland in 1947. Their daughter, Carlotta Ann Tormey, of Placerville, CA, is also a commercial artist. Here's her website

(Big thanks to Carlotta for sending Daniel the photo of Clara, above, which he sent to me.) 

Here are some photos of the Doyles out of Barbara's collection. That's Thomas Doyle in the center, with daughters Sally (left) and Sheila (holding the cat, right). They are flanked by Manley Christensen (extreme left), his wife, Alma Bader Christensen (Carl George's sister, right of Sheila) and Emma Elsner Bader (extreme right), who was Alma's mother, Thomas' mother-in-law, and grandmother to the Doyle children.

And here again is Alma, her nephew, Tommy Doyle, and matriarch Emma Elsner Bader. Judging from the age of the Doyle kids, I date these photos around 1940-1942-ish.


Absent from these photos is Clara Doyle. Maybe she wasn't on this trip back east to visit the relatives, or maybe she was holding the camera? But the fact is, I've never seen any pictures of Clara before now.

Thanks, Daniel!