Sophie Krob

KROB, MRS. SOPHIA DIES WHILE SURPRISE PARTY FOR HER IS UNDER WAY As members of the Ladies Aid Society of the German Lutheran Church visited her to observe the 80th anniversary of her birth yesterday, MRS. SOPHIA KROB, well-known resident of Connellsville Township, died at her home. The party was planned as a surprise and death came while members of the society were with the aged woman. In poor health since 1919, MRS. KROB had been bedfast for the past three months. Yesterday was her 80th birthday, she having been born on November 11, 1851 in Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, a daughter of the late PETER and MADALINE MILLER FEES. [sic] MRS. KROB spent her early life in that country, where she was married to JACOB KROB. In 1888, a widow, she came to this country with her five children and settled in Connellsville, where she has since made her home. She was a member of the German Lutheran Church. Two children survive. They are LOUIS KROB at home and HARRY KROB of Toledo. Another son, JACOB, died in 1919; a daughter, MRS. NELLIE K. HELLMUTH, died in 1929 at Baltimore, MD., and a third child, MRS. SOPHIA K. HIRCEL[sic], died in Toledo. Courier Thurs. 11-12-1931

Douglas Kellner note: I personally observed the birth record of Sophie Fess in the Mairie of the Commun de Schalbach, Moselle, France, which is the source for the birthdate in this profile. As noted in the obituary in the Courier and confirmed on her tombstone, Sophie Fess Krob claimed that her birthday was November 11, 1851. Until someone returns to look at the Schalbach birth records, I will stick to my notes made during my personal visit in August 1976, and I will assume that in later years she decided to celebrate her birthday on Armistice Day, when her birthplace was returned to France.