JOHN D. FECHT AND MARY EFFIE THOMAS FECHT

John David Fecht was the second child of Elizabeth (Walsh) (f-28) and William Charles Fecht (f-27). He was born on the 5th of August 1891 in Mexico, Audrain County, Missouri. He, like his brothers and sisters, attended Maple Grove School, a one room institution near his home outside of the town of Mexico. John, who was called “Jack” by family and friends, was baptized a Roman Catholic Christian and was Confirmed in the Catholic Church on the 7th of June, 1905. The presiding priest was the Most Rev. John J. Glennon, Archbishop of Saint Louis. (church records acquired for this history by Carl and Thomas Fetterhoff in 2002.)
He went to Montana, with his sister Anne, brother-in-law Harry Candy and brother William to establish a homestead as a young man. Jack may have lived near his maternal Aunt Hannah Walsh in Montana. The effort to homestead the prairie was a disaster, and the humiliation of failure loomed great in 1917.
Jack volunteered to serve his nation when World War One was declared in 1918. He was assigned as a military policeman in the military and was stationed in Florida. When he was discharged, Jack returned to his earlier life as a farmer in Missouri, an occupation he pursued without much success for the remainder of his life.
The first wife of Jack Fecht was Mary Effie Thomas, but nearly everyone called her Effie. She was a sister to Lena, who married Jack's younger brother Lawrence. Effie and Jack were married on the 14th of May 1924 at Saint Brendan's Roman Catholic Church in Mexico, Missouri.
Often in the evenings after preparing a huge Sunday dinner for visitors and family, Effie would set aside her vast apron and sit down to play. One of the favorite stories of her nieces and nephews was a time when they got her to sing over and over again a song she had been practicing for a women's choir, called the Jube Laute (“Let Us Rejoice.”)
Mildred Fecht nursed her sister-in-law Effie in the last days of her life. Effie is buried next to John David Fecht at St. Brendan's Cemetery in Mexico. After Effie died Jack Fecht married a widow by the name of Willa Barnes. The ceremony was held on 2 April 1956 at Saint Brendan's Church in Mexico.

PHIL SHIRE'S INSIDE JOKE

L to R: Francis (FranK) Fecht, Lawrence Fecht, William T. (Bill) Fecht, William Charles Fecht, Jimmie (boy), John D. (Jack) Fecht, John C. Fecht, Hugh Hogan (Julia Fecht Hogan's husband), and Phil Shire (Ann Fecht Shire's husband).

Phil Shire had a wry and much loved sense of humor. Here Phil mocks Uncle John C. Fecht's stance.

THE MEN OF THE FAMILY

This photograph was taken in 1941 in a town called Chillicothe, Missouri. The village is about half way between Corning, Iowa and Mexico, Missouri, and the site of a family gathering.
Left to Right
John D. (Jack) Fecht, William T. (Bill) Fecht, Bernard Sullivan, James L. (Jimmie) Fecht, Hugh Hogan, Lawrence (Buck) Fecht and Dan Sullivan.
I believe this event took place while Jimmie was still in high school or had just graduated from St. Brendan High School, and prior to the outbreak of World War II. Both Jim and his cousin Bernard Sullivan would serve in the armer forces.

JOHN D and WILLIAM T. FECHT

John David Fecht (United States Army Military Police) and his brother William Thomas Fecht (United States Army Air Corps) 1918.
Both young men were born on a farm just outside of Mexico, Audrain County, Missouri.
Photo # 26

SONS OF WILLIAM CHARLES FECHT

Fecht Brothers - Collection of Gerald Fecht
Elizabeth Ann (Walsh) and her husband William Charles Fecht had four sons. They are shown here according to their ages.
L to R: John (called Jack), William (called Bill), Laurence (called Buck) and Francis (called Frank).
This photograph may have been taken at the time of their father's funeral, since all four are in suits. The house in the background was the "home place" where their parents lived.
Hierarchy was an important social factor in the family. The oldest daughter, Annie was the most influential of the Fecht children, then Jack etc. This was a matter of frustration to younger family members, especially to younger inlaws.

Refer to Picture # 18

JOHN DAVID FECHT HOMESTEADER

John D. Fecht c. 1918 Montana

This photograph of John David Fecht (Uncle Jack) was taken on his homestead in Montana, about 1918. To be honest, the coming of World War I must have been the perfect excuse for the Fechts to give up on their sad effort to make Montana into Missouri farmland. Jack, like his brother Bill, enlisted into the United States Army. Jack was sent to Florida where he was trained as a military policeman. Bill was placed into the Army Air Corps and sent to chop the spruce timber in Washington State.

The back of the photograph, in Jack's handwriting states"
"The cattle were scattered. There are about 80 head in the bunch and the Kodak didn't catch many.
Say Bill if I could catch a woman as easy as I can catch a cow, I wouldn't be an old bachelor long. ha ha."

Dr. Dan Sullivan adds:
Notice that he's wearing a sixgun!
I've generally thought that my folks met after jack went to Villisca (Iowa) to work at the power plant.

Refer to Picture # 12