Emilie Gamer
born 1860
BiographyWilliam Martin Bender (born October 6, 1859, Baden, Germany) and Emilie Gamer (born October 6, 1860, Baden, Germany) married on January 26, 1882. The family came to the United States in 1889, arriving at Ellis Island with four children: Emilie, Marie, Frieda, and Martin. They settled eventually in Pittsburgh where Martin worked as a farmer. Martin Bender and the children died in 1891 of typhoid, except for Marie. By 1900, Emilie Gamer Bender was living in Reserve Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She worked at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Home as the Assistant Deaconess and is listed in the 1900 census as the mother of six children, one living. In 1901, she married Louis Strache (himself widowed by the typhoid epidemic) who had two sons, Gustave and Charles, from his first marriage. Emilie and Louis had one daughter, Frieda. Both Gus and Charlie served in WWII and returned in bad health. Gus apprenticed as a stockbroker and returned to that profession after the war. Charles apprenticed as a baker, but committed suicide not long after his return due to what the family now believes was PTSD.
