THE VIRGINA ANN BARTHLE FAMILY

Welcome to

Virgina Ann Barthle; Jul 14, 1940, married Feb 23, 1960 to
Charles Edwin Gordon; Jan 14, 1940 - Mar 23, 2003, they have two daughter and three son.

Their first son was named Alan Charles Gordon; He was born Dec 06, 1960

Their first daughter was named Carla Elizabeth Gordon; She was born May 15, 1962

Their second son was named Richard Louis Gordon; He was born Sept 28, 1963

Their third son was named Benjamin David Gordon; He was born Jun 30, 1966

Their second daughter was named Rita Mary Gordon; She was born Jul 13, 1967

BARTHLE FAMILY -family tree INDEX (A list of the names) for DESCENDANTS click here
The life of Virgina Ann Barthle
(The first daughter of Louis & Eda Barthle)

I, Virginia, was born July 14, 1940, early in the morning on a sunday they say - because that very morning, I was taken to Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart Church and baptized, I was born at home with the assistance of Dr. Bradshaw who still made house calls for births. I believe he lived in San Antonio. My Godparents were my grandparents who moved here as very young people and were married here and both Mon and Dad were born here and lived here all their lives.
When I was young, I liked to play with our closest neighbors, the Petters. Ruthie is the youngest daughter of Uncle Charlie and Aunt Emma Petters. I would go over to her house and she would come over to ours. We played in the groves, hide and seek from her older brothers, Raymond and Clem. A memory is that Ruthie and I were in a tangerine tree one day and one of those boys shot me on the foot with their BB gun. Another is that, since I was the oldest, Mom lots of times told me to tell Buddy (Charlie) and David to do this or that and sometimes I would go to Mom and say, "Mom tell them to do such and such" and she would and it would make them sooo mad!
Other things we played at home were baseball or softball, played with cars and trucks out in the back yard in the shade, played cowboys and indians. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans was a favorite. We especially loved going to the drive-in movies to see cowboy movies - Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, etc.
On Sunday afternoons, we always went to Grandma Gude's house and then I played with my closest in age cousin, Patsy Scharber. Sometimes, her cousins, Agnes and Dorothy Blommel would come with her and we'd play at Gramdma's. We loved sitting on the front porch swing and going up stairs in the old house. Of course, on holidays like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, weddings, my first communion, etc., we had big family dinners at Grandma's house.
When we got old enough, chores at home inclouded feeding chickens. picking up eggs - cleaning , weighing, and packing eggs. After I got to be school age, I can remember spending almost every afternoon in the cellor weighing eggs and packing them I used to turn on the radio and listen to a ball game or some music. I could name nearly every player on several of the National or American league teams. especially the New York Yankees, which was my favprote team for years. Of course, I could sing lots of the songe on the radio too. During the school year, when it was fruit picking time, we would earn a little extea money by oranges or kumquats.
I started school in 1946 at St. Joseph School in first grade. When I was in second grade, there was only me and Dorothy Blommel in that grade. So, our teacher, Sr. Rita, put me up to third grade with Ruth Petters and Lucille Gude. I took some piano lessons from Sr. Mildred. Sr. Catherine was one of my teachers and also Sr. Gemma in 8th grade. After I graduated from 8th grade, I went to high school at Holy Name Academy. The three of us, Ruth, Lucille, and I went all through school together.
I liked sports very much all through my school years. At St. Joe, every lunch and recess, we played baseball of some other game. I played some basketball in high school, but didn't get to go out for the team because I couldn't stay for practgics after school. Our ride to Holy Name was with the sisters who taught at St. Joe. They drove out to St. Joe and we drove to Holy Name. Then, after school, we drove back out to St. Joe so the sisters could go home.
Throughtout school, I always sang in the choir and enjoyed being in plays. Once in 7th or 8th grade, I played Ebenezer Scrooge in a play.
When I was a teenager, our church had a youth group. We had meetings and there was a youth night on Tuesday nights in San Antonio at the Old Knights of Columbus Hall. We'd go there and play the jukebox and play pool and dance. Also, during these years, Charlie and David were playing Dixie Youth League Baseball in San Antonio at the park. On these nights, we met some of the boys from San Antonio - the one of importance in this story is Charles Gordon. By the time I was sixteen (old enough to date), from spending many ballgames and teen nights and meeting at the movies and anywhere else we could think of, he and I had decided we were a couple.

for DESCENDANT click here