Melba Rose Schultheis

 

People of Wisdom

 

Name: Melba Rose Schultheis

Parish: Member of Holy Cross Church, Fort Branch, since 1961

Married, number of children: Widow of Hilary Schultheis, who died in 1985 after 45 years of marriage; 12 children, 25 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

Tell me three things about yourself that defines who you are: I’m a mother, and I enjoy spending time with my children. I was a florist, which I loved. I enjoy being retired now, because I have more time to get involved in different things at church.

Where and when were you born? I was born in 1921 in Haubstadt. At age 3, my family moved to St. Wendel, where I went to school for eight years. When I was 14 years old, we moved to Fort Branch because my parents bought the Fort Branch Gardens, a greenhouse and flower shop. My husband and I took it over in 1961, after I had received floral training in Michigan. I sold the business after my husband died. It had been in my family for around 50 years.

What are your childhood memories? My dad was a gardener. At our home in St. Wendel, we had 72 acres with gardens, hills and creeks, and it was great for gardening, because you could raise everything — and we did! Our dad taught us how to work and how to do things right! As a young child, I loved to go with him to sell our fruit and vegetables at the farmers’ market. Sometimes we had two stands, and my sisters and I would get to wait on customers, which really taught us a lot. He went to market on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It wasn’t unusual for us to have eight or nine bushels of butterbeans to shell or loads of berries to pick.

Who was your hero or someone you looked up to as a child? My parents: George and Catherine Rexing. They were good parents, and active in the church. They helped Holy Cross parish when we moved to Fort Branch. Since we had the greenhouse, Dad would plant flowers in front of church, and my mother would decorate the altars and help take care of the priests’ vestments and aisle runners.

Who is your hero now? Someone who has taught me something new is Monica Weber, who also is a member of Holy Cross. I’ve always admired her. She taught me how to stand up and talk before people. We made a Cursillo together and have attended different workshops. I have learned a lot from her.

What are your hobbies? I am still quite active. I make table decorations and floral arrangements for the different groups I belong to. I quilt, and I enjoy using the computer. I also really enjoy cooking and baking. My children are scattered all across the United States, but they are all coming home for Thanksgiving this year. We should have more than 70 people here for the meal. I still love it . . . I love to cook.

Where did you learn to cook? Not from my mother . . . she didn’t like to cook, but she had to since there were 10 to cook for! My oldest sister helped her, and the rest of us worked outside in the gardens with our dad. When I got married, I taught myself how to cook. When my children were younger, I used to cook and bake when they were napping. I had so much time when the children were sleeping! I used this time to go through my recipes to find inexpensive ones that we could afford. I still use many of these same recipes when I cook for my family today. They all really like my chocolate chip cookies!

How did you and your husband meet? We met at a dance at Lamey’s, right before Easter. I was just 18. I was almost 20 when we got married. He was from Haubstadt.

Where was your first job? Working at the White Swan Laundry.

What are you or have you been involved with at Holy Cross? I lead the rosary before the daily Mass. I have served on the Stewardship Committee, Parish Council, the hospitality committee and the RCIA. I also take care of the votive lights and altar cloths in church, and I belong to the Daughters of Isabella.

What is your first memory of church? I remember never getting to sit with my parents in church on Sundays at St. Wendel. All of the children sat with others in their age group at school.

What do you like most about being Catholic? I can’t think of it any other way. There’s been so many things that have happened in my life that I know would not have happened without God. My faith helps me a lot.

What is your favorite religious item? A rosary that one of my daughters gave me. It is a reminder to me that my children have not lost their faith.

Have you ever experienced a miracle or God’s intervention in your life? When I was having my 10^th child, I went through a difficult time. I had pains every day for a month before she was born, and I was worried about how we were going to handle having one more child in the house. I just didn’t know if I was going to make it! One night, I had this dream. I know I was not awake, but I was aware, because I still remember it to this day. God came into our bedroom and stood over our bed, just as tall as He could be. He held His hands over me and said it would be all right. He didn’t actually say it, but it was there in His eyes. Later, when our baby was born, there were complications. She was born feet first and was so jumpy that they didn’t bring her to me right away. The doctors thought she would have problems her whole life, but they were wrong. Today she is 48 years old, a college graduate who is married with children of her own. She has a wonderful life! There is no way this could have happened without a miracle. When God put his hands over me, it also changed my life and my attitude. I had two more children after that, and I began to enjoy my Catholic religion more and more.

What’s the best advice you can give someone else? Pray often, trust in God, and He will surely take care of you.