I love my pets, oh! excuse me -- I mean my family.  On this page I'll describe them and their special place in my life.

 

But, first of all, I will talk just a bit about our pet -- which is a black feline cat, who did find that special place in our lives.  When he came, I was at the stage of my life, where I had enough of pets. I didn't want any more.  I just wanted to do my own thing, for the little bit of time, that I got left on this God forsaken waring planet of greedy humans.

 

In our family, it seems like our daughters were the one's that kept us always supplied with a cat. Our oldest daughter gave us our present cat "MAXI".  He was supposed to be with us just for a little while, but like usual, the old man was stuck with it again, and like usual he really got to like this cat.  I think that it was mainly a battle of wits.  Who was going to outsmart the other first and the most often? 

 

Well, the old man had lots of cats, and by now he figured that he could handle any darn feline, but this cat was smart, had a mind of his own, and was affectionate (not overly affectionate), and he loved to see what he could get the old man to do.

 

More about him later, about how he became such a special member of our family.  Above is a photo of him.   I think Rose got the best of him, because she even trained him to open the door if he wanted to go outside.

 

That's (me) Herb and my better half -- Rose in the photo above.                                                      

 

The Heritage of this great family did not start with Maxi, nor does it end with him.  Past family records go back as far as the late 1700s to the early 1800s.  Herb's Great-Great Grandfather, Joseph Hinz got married in 1826 to Anna Tietz in Tollnigk, Ostpreussen, Germany.  There is no record of their births, they must have been born in the late 1700s or the early 1800.  They had one son named Anton -- who then became my Great Grandfather.

 

Anton was born on April 4, 1827 in Tollnigk, Ostpreussen, and died August 8, 1887 at Liewenbwerg, where they had moved to.  He married Anna Schulzki in 1857.  They had three sons -- Anton Jr., Joseph (my Grandfather), and Johann (John). 

 

Anton Jr was born on November 14, 1858, had a son named Andrew, and died in Berlin in 1938.

 

Joseph (the second son of Anton Sr.) was my Grandfather, and around whom most of the Hinz history revolves.  He was born in Tollnigk, Ostpreussen, Germany on January 6, 1861.  He married Anna Lindenblatt on February 13, 1888, and had nine children.  Joseph died in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 28, 1938.

 

John, the third son of Anton Sr. was born in Tollnigk also, on March 12, 1871.  He married Ernestina Wissmann on January 12, 1897 and had seven children.  He died in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada on August 15, 1947.

 

Joseph (my Grandfather) and family moved to Wilmersdorf, a suburb of Berlin, where he became a street cleaner.  They had two daughters -- Mary and Anna.  There was great unrest in Germany at the time, so they decided to move to the New World in America.

 

In the cold early spring of 1892 Joseph and Anna immigrated to Ogden, Riley County, Kansas, U.S.A. by a sail ship, which took three weeeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean, because of adverse winds.

 

They farmed in Ogden, and prospered for eight years.  All the rest of their children were born in Ogden, including Bernard, my father, who was born on January 21, 1903.  In the spring of 1906, they sold their farm, and moved 160 miles southwest of Ogden to Liebenthal, Rush County, Kansas.  Life was much different here, and in fact it was a disaster, farmwise.

 

So in early 1908, they moved again in the cold spring to Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada, where they prospered again.  Some of the family went by train to Muenster, and the rest went by wagon and sleigh, with their livestock, and the remainder of their possessions, that wasn't sent by train.  They started in Kansas with the wagon, but when they got to the north of the States, there was lots of snow and it was cold -- so they had to switch from the wagon to the sleigh.

 

They arrived in Muenster, Saskatchewan on the bitter cold day of March 21, 1908.  Bernard (my father) was only 5 years old at the time, and he went with his mother and sisters on the train.  He reacted just like any five year old boy would do on the train, and kept his sisters busy, watching over him.

 

They had to live in an 18 foot by 32 foot log house, with another family, until they finished building their new home in July.

 

In 1914, when World War 1 began, Joseph and Anna's two oldest sons, Andrew and Joe, aged 21 and 20 were of age to be called up to go to war.  That year Joseph bought both Andrew and Joe, each a farm.  This kept both out of the army, as farm owners were not conscripted into the war.  In the early 1920's Grandfather Joseph bought Bernard a farm also.

 

Bernard married Katherine Schneider (my mother) on October 25,1927.  They had two sons and adopted a daughter.  Arthur was born on August 12, 1928, Herbert (that's me) was born on October 11, 1930, and Myrtle was born on March 23, 1933.

 

About seven years after they got  married,  Bernard was hospitalized with a gallstone operation. On December 7, 1934, he fell out of the hospital bed and ruptured the stitches.  An infection set in, and he died of peritonitis.  I was only four years old at the time, and I barely recollect my father.

 

Katherine (my mother) kept the farm going with the help of family and friends, and a particular family friend, named Joseph Pokolm, who immigrated in 1928 from Freudenburg, Ostpreussen, Germany.  Grandfather Joseph had sponsored Joe Pokolm, and Joe worked on Grandfather's farm to pay off the debt and to learn English.  This man was to influence my life in the future, more than anybody else.

 

On September 29, 1936 he married my mother, and therefore he became my step-father.  He was a hard-working, honest, strict and extremely intelligent person.

 

Joe and Katherine had four children - one son and three daughters, named Joseph (Joey), Doreen, Dolores, and Darlene.  Joey was born on June 16, 1937 and died from cancer on March 14, 1993.  Doreen was born on March 9, 1940, and Dolores was born on March 30, 1943.  Darlene was born February 22, 1949. 

 

All of us children grew up to know and regard Joe Pokolm as our father, and as a result we all called him Dad.  Myrtle, the adopted daughter, was always considered as a sister, and loved by all.

 

Under Joe's guidance, the farm prospered.  He was a mechanically inclined person, and was also a blacksmith -- which really came in handy on the farm.  Farmers came for miles to have their plow shares sharpened by him.  He built machinery, such as stone pickers and brush cutters for himself, and sold others.

 

A few years before Joe passed away -- they left their son Joey take over the farm.  Joe and Katherine then retired to a house they bought in Humboldt, Saskatchewan -- which is the town, just west of Muenster.

 

Joe Pokolm passed away from cancer on October 12, 1970, and we all missed him very much. 

 

 

Arthur married Margaret Lange on June 20, 1949.  They had two daughters, Janet and Geraldine.  Both daughters had three children of their own.

 

Herbert married Rose Edgington on November 18, 1955, and they had seven children -- Darrell, Kevin, Rodney, Daphne, Cheryl, Sandra and Brian.  There were nine great-grandchildren.

 

Myrtle married Roman Lange on June 5, 1951, and they had six children -- Kenny, Deborah, Leona, Garry, Edna, and Darrell.  There were five great-grandchildren.

 

 

Joseph Jr (Joey) married Louise Tebbe on September 4, 1956, and they had six children -- Perry, Murray, Lerry, Della, Darren, and Terry.  There were nine great-grandchildren.

 

Doreen married Edwin Knoblauch on July 20, 1959, and they had four children -- Dinah, Gerald, Wayne, and Ginger.  There were ten great-granchildren.

 

Dolores married Leo Knoblauch on July 6, 1960, and they had five children -- Glenda, Gordon, Darcy, Beverley, and Tammy.  There were six great-grandchildren.

 

Darlene married Robert Zabalotney on March 31, 1973, and they had 2 children -- Dean and Meghan.

 

As of October 12, 2002 there were 32 grandchildren to Katherine Pokolm, and 45 great-grandchildren.

 

Katherine died in Humboldt, Saskatchewan on February 29, 1996 at age 88.