Emma Petrus, in 1903, from West Alexandria School 5th, 6th, 7th grade photo.
Emma Petrus/Thiels
Emma Petrus was born September12, 1886. She married Louis Thiels (born June 7, 1877) in Alexandria, Louisiana. Emma and Louis' children were:
John August Thiels married Alice Hickman. Their children were Mildred Thiels, Marguerite Ann Thiels, Marilyn Thiels and Leo Thiels
Louis M. Thiels married Bessie Lee Hale. Their children were Kathleen Thiels, Sammy Thiels, Noel Thiels, and Jane Thiels
Ferdinand J. Thiels
Frank A. Thiels married Marguerite Dekeyzer. Their children were Elisabeth Thiels, Tommy Thiels, and Judy Thiels/Snow.
Alice Thiels married Francis Joseph Van Mol. Their children were Maureen Van Mol, Emma Lee Van Mol, and Ray Van Mol.
Cecilia Thiels married Ferdinand Van Mol. Their children were Ferdinand Andrew Van Mol, Anne Alice Van Mol, and John Louis Van Mol
Anna Maria Brems/Thiels and Henry Thiels (on left).
Son Louis his wife Emma (on right) and their children Alice, Cecilia, & John.
Photo courtesy of Anne Moseley.Emma apparently inherited some of her mother's fiery disposition.
I really enjoyed visiting my grandmother because she would tell me stories about the family. She had a picture of Emma Petrus in the hallway and I can remember thinking that if there was ever a burglar in the house they would run away once they saw that picture. It was almost as if she could burn a hole right through you if you looked at her picture too long. -- Christine Poole
Louis and Emma.
Edith Elise White/Petrus shares a similar story.
James is always telling me a story about Louis. Aunt Emma was one of these real strict old ladies, well a young lady at the time. She found him drinking and she raised you know what with him about that. One time he got drunk and she hit him over the head with a skillet (laughing). She straightened him out! -- Edith Petrus
Emma died June 12, 1946 and was buried in the Pineville LA cemetery alongside her husband who died four years earlier (February 23, 1942).
I remember Grandmother Emma Petrus Thiels very well as I was about l2 years old when she passed away after having a tumor removed from her abdomen. She was not yet 60 years old. My fondest memory of my Grandmother Emma Petrus was the beautiful dresses she made for me especially my First Communion dress and Confirmation dress. She very definitely had an outstanding talent for fine sewing. She was a devout Catholic; at Sunday Mass I would always go and kneel with her and if I so much as moved she would pinch me good and hard. My grandmother and grandfather also had a smoke house out back where they smoked and cured meat, also vegetable gardens as times were hard, however I feel she also had an appreciation for the finer things of life as I recall her dressed in a long black coat and of course a hat. -- Anne Moseley
Emma's obituary was found, along with other newspaper clippings, in a box of memorabilia belonging to Anna Petrus/Parkhill (donated by Margie Petrus of Skidmore, Texas).
THIELS -- Emma P. Thiels age 59, of Lecompte, died at a local hospital Wednesday, June 12, 1946 at 5:20 p.m. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Frances VanMol and Mrs. Ferdinand VanMol, Route 2, Alexandria; four sons, John Thiels, Woodworth, Louis M. Thiels, Route 2, Alexandria, Ferdinand J. Thiels and Frank A. Thiels, route 1, Lecompte; two sisters, Mrs. Ann Parkhill, San Antonio, Tex., and Mrs Mary Holstein, Nixon, Tex.; two brothers, John Petrus and Frank Petrus, Skidmore, Tex.; and fourteen grandchildren. The funeral procession will leave Kramer's Funeral Home at 9:15 a.m. Friday, June 14, 1946 and proceed to the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church for services. Internment will be at the Rapides Cemetery in Pineville under the direction of Kramer Funeral Home. The Rosary will be said tonight at the funeral home at 8 p.m. If you have information about this individual, please write or email me at: ckpetrus@mac.com
