Person Page - 1929

     Charles E. Ochs married Hattie M. Moore in October 1888 at Orange Co., IN.

     Elizabeth Ochs married Jesse Roeller.¹

     Flora Ochs married Ralph W. Savidge, son of Hon. Clinton R. Savidge and Louise Essick, in 1906.¹

     Note: WEBSITE -

www.indianahistory.org/HBR/business_pdf/ochs_tetrick.pdf

Ochs-Tetrick Funeral Home Founded: 1860
Location: Corner of Jefferson and Second Streets, Orleans (1860–68); northwest corner of town square (1868–1930s); 187 East Jefferson Street (1930s– )
John Ochs, Sr., a native of Bilkeim, Germany, founded a furniture-making
enterprise on the corner of Jefferson and Second Streets in Orleans in 1860. He had
learned his trade at his father’s knee and after a five-year apprenticeship had come to
America. He had lived in New Albany from around 1856 to 1860 before settling in
Orleans. He made furniture from his home on Second and Jefferson Streets until 1868
when he purchased a frame building on the northwest corner of the Orleans town square.
The building served not only as a workshop and undertaking establishment but also as the residence for the Ochs family. John’s wife, Margaret Grauert Ochs, also a native of Germany, did not come to America until her husband sent for her in May of 1856. She arrived in New Albany carrying two children and only fifty cents and without the ability to read or speak English. She became a partner in the furniture business, responsible for the finishing and varnishing.
When a fire swept through the square in 1873 it wiped out the Ochs furniture and undertaking business and left the family of nine almost penniless. Ochs rebuilt the shop and started the business anew. Margaret died in 1891, and the Ochses’ daughter Amanda Ochs Alvis, a schoolteacher, took over the duties her mother had previously performed.
When John died at the age of eighty-six in 1906, his son, Charles Ochs, took over the family business.
Charles, born in 1863 in Orleans, had learned the cabinetmaking trade at home. In 1888 he married Hattie Moore. After attending school he started a construction company that he continued to run with the help of his two sons, Everett and Robert Ochs, until 1915. The construction firm was very successful. Charles and his sons built many of the homes in Orleans until the company ceased operation. In 1913 Charles gave the furniture business to his son Everett and son-in-law Edward Fields. Hattie, as her mother-in-law before her, was a true partner in the furniture and undertaking business. When a casket was ordered, it was her job to sew the bedding, muslin, and silk in the interior. If the order came late in the evening, she had to not only prepare the coffin but also cook breakfast for the customers before they left in the morning. According to family members, “a great part of the success of their business was attributed to her, as she went on every call . . . ministering to . . . families in many ways.”
The management of funerals was handled differently in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Around 1900 a poplar wood casket cost around $10. The average length of an Ochs-made casket was around six feet, but they sometimes made smaller ones for shorter people, children, and even pets. As was then the practice, many undertakers throughout the state, including the Ochses, prepared and embalmed bodies in the homes of the deceased, and showings did not take place in a funeral parlor.
Invitations arrived by post announcing the funeral of an individual, and horse-drawn carriages transported the deceased to cemeteries. In 1922 the East Jefferson Street site was purchased for the family residence and was transformed into a funeral home only in the 1930s. In the lot next to the home the family erected a furniture-making establishment in 1925, an operation that continued into the early 1970s.
When Hattie Ochs died on the eve of the Great Depression, her daughter Margaret and son Robert began to assist their father Charles in the businesses. Then their brother Everett, a World War I veteran, graduated from a mortuary school in 1935 and took over the funeral division from their ailing father. After Robert’s death in 1937, Margaret and Everett continued to run the furniture company and the funeral home until 1965, when Everett passed away. Margaret remained head of both operations for another eight years.
Margaret and Everett’s sisters Gretchen Ochs Jackson and Bonnie Ochs helped in the business until their deaths in 1937 and 1955, respectively. Gretchen was the only child of Hattie and Charles to have any children—one daughter, Barbara Jackson Hancock, who had two children, Patricia Hancock and J. Brent Hancock. None of the relatives claimed the 112-year-old set of companies in 1973, and they were sold.
Charles Lewis and Frank Braman bought the funeral business, keeping it for only two years before selling it to Lewis and Georgia Tetrick. Since that time, the couple has renovated the home on East Jefferson Street to provide for more spacious viewing rooms and handicapped entrances. In 1999 the Tetricks continued to operate the home, which was the fourth-oldest funeral business in the state and the oldest continuously operating enterprise in Orange County.

NOTE: This article is in error regarding the gender of Bonnie Ochs - Bonnie Ochs was a male & served in the military.

Gretchen C. Ochs was born on 1 April 1899 at Indiana. She was the daughter of Charles E. Ochs and Hattie M. Moore. Gretchen C. Ochs married James Fred Jackson, son of Zephania Jackson and Margaret Jane Jackson, on 30 August 1918 at Orange Co., IN. Gretchen C. Ochs died in April 1955 at Orleans, Orange Co., IN, OBITUARY:

MRS. GRETCHEN JACKSON
Orleans - Mrs. Gretchen Ochs Jackson, 56, died Monday night at her home in Orleans. She was part owner of the Ochs Funeral Home in partnership with a brother and sister, Everett Ochs and Miss Margaret Ochs. Other survivors are her husband, Fred; a daughter, Mrs. Eugene Hancock, and two grandchildren of New Albany and another brother, Bonnie Ochs of Indianapolis.
She was a member of the Orleans Christian Church, Tri Kappa Soroity, Easter Star lodge and the American Legion Auxiliary. Rites will be tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at the funeral home with burial in Fairview Cemetery.

     Catherine F. Ochse was born circa 1861 at Ohio.¹ She married Orion Simon Protzman, son of John Protzman and Sarah Recher, on 24 December 1878 at Montgomery Co., OH.

     Luise Ochsner was born on 16 December 1869 at Freiburg, Germany. She married Julius Bergmann on 23 January 1892 at Berlin, Germany. Luise Ochsner died on 7 August 1940 at Köln / Deutz, Germany, at age 70.

     Sarah Ockerman married Robert Kint.

     Marie Ocks married John Hottel.

     Katie Odair married Frank Trace.¹

     Charlton Odam was the son of Effie Windle. Charlton Odam died in 1965.

     Mary Frances Odbert was also known as Fannie. She was born in June 1852 at Pennsylvania. She married Dr. Francis Carter Larimore M.D., son of Robert Larimore and Susannah A. Doddridge, on 30 December 1875 at Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., OH, 3 children born, 2 living as of 1900 census. Mary Frances Odbert died in March 1927 at Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., OH, at age 74.

     Henry Hamilton Odell married Eliza Jane Fowler.

     Howard A. Odell was born on 4 October 1920 at Port Chester, Westchester Co., NY. He married Mabel V. Butcher, daughter of Eben William Butcher and Anna Lydia Turnbull, before 1959. Howard A. Odell and Mabel V. Butcher were divorced in January 1970. Howard A. Odell died on 2 February 1992 at age 71.

     Lois J. Odell was born on 9 November 1920. She was the daughter of Ogle A. Odell and Forrest Olive Munson. Lois J. Odell married Henry George Weinhold, son of Henry Gotthilf Weinhold and Ella Anna Kanke.

     Ogle A. Odell was born on 31 August 1889 at Jackson Co., MO. He was the son of Henry Hamilton Odell and Eliza Jane Fowler. Ogle A. Odell married Forrest Olive Munson, daughter of Charles Wilford Munson and Matilda Jane Shields, in 1914. Ogle A. Odell died on 15 February 1954 at Carrollton, Carroll Co., MO, at age 64. He was buried in February 1954 at Oak Hill Cemetery, Carrollton, Carroll Co., MO.

     Elizabeth Odem was born circa 1812 at Indiana.¹ She married John Cunningham on 23 March 1832 at Clark Co., IN. Elizabeth Odem died on 29 December 1879.

     Ernest S. Oden was born on 1 October 1883 at Missouri.¹ He married Mary E. Rosch on 23 April 1918 at Miller Co., AR. Ernest S. Oden died on 4 April 1947 at Bowie Co., TX, at age 63.

     George T. Oden was born circa 1847 at Virginia.¹ He was the son of John William Oden and Rebecca E. Conrad.¹ George T. Oden died on 6 November 1865 at Lewis Co., WV.

     John William Oden was born circa 1821 at Virginia.¹ He married Rebecca E. Conrad, daughter of George Conrad and Mary Ann Priest, on 12 May 1846 at Rappahannock Co., VA.

     William Aurelius Oden was born circa 1849 at Harrison Co., VA (now WV).¹ He was the son of John William Oden and Rebecca E. Conrad.¹ William Aurelius Oden married Laura S. Cook, daughter of John A. Cook Jr. and Margaret Ann Bird, on 23 December 1875 at Lewis Co., WV. William Aurelius Oden died after 1930 at Chickasha, Grady Co., OK.

     (?) Odenbrett married Dorothy Mae Scott, daughter of Theodore Scott and Bertha Irene Munsinger.

     Mary Odle was born circa 1817 at Tennessee Age per 1860 census, Overton Co., TN, p.187B. She married Jesse Boone, son of Jonathan Boone and Susannah Nixon.

     Walter Bernice Odom married Frances Opal Bell.

     Maggie Oefelen married Walter Elby Lampson, son of Orval S. Lampson and Elizabeth Ellen Stover, in 1894.¹ Maggie Oefelen died on 17 June 1911.¹

     Augusta Oelklaus married John Sherry.

     Donna Lee Oelschlager was born on 11 April 1929. She was the daughter of Elmer Henry Oelschlager and Madelyn Mary McDonald. Donna Lee Oelschlager died on 26 January 1995 at Sun City, Maricopa Co., AZ, at age 65.

     Elmer Henry Oelschlager was born on 9 February 1900. He married Madelyn Mary McDonald, daughter of Henry McDonald and Laura Louise Faulhaber, circa 1927. Elmer Henry Oelschlager died on 6 June 1981 at Omaha, Douglas Co., NE, at age 81.

     Jean Joseph Oelschlager was born on 17 August 1934 at Lincoln, Lancaster Co., NE. He was the son of Elmer Henry Oelschlager and Madelyn Mary McDonald. Jean Joseph Oelschlager died on 26 July 1951 at Omaha, Douglas Co., NE, at age 16.

     Robert Oelschlager was born on 23 March 1928. He was the son of Elmer Henry Oelschlager and Madelyn Mary McDonald. Robert Oelschlager died on 21 February 1931 at Lincoln, Lancaster Co., NE, at age 2.

     Wilford Earl Oelschlager was born on 16 May 1905 at Eagle, Cass Co., NE. He married Sylvia Helen McDonald, daughter of George Harry McDonald and Dorothea Helen Faulhaber, on 24 June 1931, no children. Wilford Earl Oelschlager died on 13 September 1959 at age 54. He was buried in September 1959 at Wyuka Cemetery, Lincoln, Lancaster Co., NE.