Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Kirchner Family

My dad was born a Kirchner in Ulm, Germany then adopted and became a Bean. My last name is Bean but everyone calls me by my last name not my first name. It stuck after I got out of the Army. They go by last names in the Army. Had my Dad not been adopted I probably wouldn't be here today. My dad was born in Ulm, Germany. Its in Baden-Wuertemburg Germany. My dad was adopted when he was young, he hadnt even learned to talk yet so he never learned German. My Grandpa Bean was stationed in Ulm and thats where my Bean grandparents adopted him. They eventually settled in Townsend TN. My dad got to live on several different Army bases. He was an Army brat growing up. My Grandmother was a teacher I believe. Growing up my Dad was told different stories. He was told he didn't have any siblings. Another story he was told was that his mother ran off and left his father with the children meaning he did have siblings. So he didnt know what the truth was. But I believe my grandparents told him that to spare him from the awful truth that was my Grandpa Kirchner. Growing up I always wondered about my family history and felt like something was missing. The truth was missing, what happened I didnt know. I always wondered about the Kirchner's. I got all interested in my family history and started researching it on Ancestry.com. I had a paid account at one time but I still couldnt find anything on the Kirchners. Its hard to do family research when your family is in another country and you dont know the language. Well I have started learning the language so I know some German now. So as a teen I was on a quest for the truth. I wanted to find my dads family if he had any. I found an adoption website and posted an ad and finally dad got a reply. Last February my Aunt Erika, my dads sister and her husband my Uncle Paul came to visit. As well as my dads half brother, my uncle hank and his wife my aunt marcie. So I have aunts and uncles. And I have cousins. Whom I speak to alot. I have family, we have family. I had finally found my Kirchner family. My Aunt Erika had been adopted as well but Uncle Hank lived with Grandpa Kirchner his whole life. He took care of Grandpa Kirchner in his old age. I was told he died from Dementia. While he was at the doctor one time he told the doctor he was going to kill him so they came in Grandpa Kirchner's house and took all his guns away. They are not clear of what happened to Grandma Kirchner. I guess only Grandpa Kirchner knows that truth and he died in 2002. It was nice meeting our family for the first time after all these years of not knowing anything. Aunt Erika remembers dad when he was a kid. Dads name was Johann and they called him Hans. When dad was adopted his name was changed to Harvey Bean. Since Uncle Hank lived with Grandpa Kirchner he and Aunt Marcie had all the details about him. Them coming here and meeting us was great finally we had found our family. Mom was happy to find out that Aunt Marcie and Uncle Hank were Jehovah's Witnesses like her. Aunt Marcie said I was a lot like Grandpa Kirchner in many ways. She said Grandpa Kirchner used to put a lot of sugar in his coffee too like me. He was a coffee drinker, a big one and so am I. Grandpa Kirchner had dogs like me. If you saw a picture of Grandpa Kirchner and my dad you would see how much they look alike and you will see I look a lot like both of them. I look like my dad and grandpa when they were younger. I have 4 cousins on Uncle Hank's side and 2 cousins on Aunt Erika's side. Uncle Paul is a golfer and he was in the Air Force in Canada. Oh I forgot to mention they live in Canada. My dad was the youngest of three kids. There was Georg Jr, Aunt Erika and my dad. We dont know what happened to Uncle Georg. I think Aunt Erika might know but since having a traumatic childhood I think she supressed those memories. She went thru hynotherapy to bring back those memories but she still doesnt remember some things. I think Uncle Georg died, I believe that's what Aunt Erika said. I remember her saying that Grandpa Kirchner was a mean man and abusive and that one time her and uncle georg were hiding in a closet from grandpa kirchner. It was also said that possibly Grandpa Kirchner killed Grandma Kirchner and Uncle Georg but everyone was so young they dont remember or have blocked those memories from their minds. Anyways after Uncle Georg and Grandma Kirchner "disappeared" Grandpa Kirchner got remarried. His new wife and him had two kids. One being Uncle Hank and another boy but I cant remember his name because not much was said about him except that he had a rough abusive childhood because of my Grandfather and he was adopted by another family and he doesnt like talking about it. Aunt Erika said she met him years after that but he didnt want to talk about their childhood. Juliet I think was the name of Grandpa Kirchner's second wife. So after Juliet and Grandpa Kirchner got married they had two boys. Which left Aunt Erika, Uncle Hank who's name is actually Heinrich (Henry) but he goes by Hank and then Uncle Hank's brother. Dad had already been adopted. They continued to live in Ulm, Germany but eventually moved to Canada where Grandpa Kirchner became a Tobacco Farmer. And they settled in Ontario Canada somewhere. And that's where my family is now in Canada. Uncle Hank and his side of the family live in British Columbia. Aunt Erika and Uncle Paul live in Ontario. So I have family on the east of Canada and the West. If Grandma Kirchner and Uncle Georg survived and are still alive or were still alive and escaped the wrath of my Grandpa it was told to me that they went back to Austria. Grandma Kirchner is from Austria and Grandpa Kirchner is from Hungary. Grandpa Kirchner was a foot soldier for the Nazi Party in the German Army. Aunt Marcie told me that Grandpa Kirchner was a Crane Operator for a steel factory in Germany. I cant remember the name of the factory but Aunt Marcie told me what it was. Apparently my Grandpa Kirchner was a mean, abusive man and heartless too. Since I never knew him I want to think about all the good things about him not the bad. I know nothing really at all about my Grandmother. I wonder if her and Uncle Georg are still alive and if they are where are they at? I am still learning about my family. I seem to be a lot alike with the Kirchner's. I get my mental illness from the Kirchner side. My Cousin's have ADHD also so we have that in common as well. Its so nice knowing we have family and that we found them. I wasnt going to give up. Im still searching for my Uncle Georg and Grandma Kirchner I dont want to give up hope. I have a picture I edited of my dad and my grandpa side by side I believe. I will have to post it on here.

No comments: