Nettie Augusta Riedel (1906-2000)

"Nettie Riedel van Raaphorst, amateur biologist, family historian, writer, teacher..."


Nettie ('Nan') Augusta Riedel
Nettie ("Nan") Augusta Riedel

Nettie (Nan) Riedel van Raaphorst was an amateur biologist; family historian; writer; teacher of Latin, German, and English; and unofficial materfamilias of her large circle of family and friends.

Born in Minden City, Michigan, on December 5, 1906, she lived half her life in Michigan and half in California.

In spite of complications from a stroke she suffered at the age of 82, she lived a full life until her death in June 2000 at the age of 93.

She was proud that the family history she collected all her life was published in two books sent to many family members and friends, and also donated to the LDS (Mormon) Church Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Her intellectual curiosity, love of life, and indomitable spirit have been an inspiration to many people whose lives she touched.

Individual Facts

  • Name: Nettie Augusta Riedel
  • Sex: Female
  • Also Known As: Nan
  • Birth: 5 Dec 1906 in Minden City, Sanilac, Michigan, USA
  • Migration (Domestic): Bet 1951 and 1952 , Marysville, Michigan, to Los Angeles County, California
  • Migration (Domestic): Nov 1975 , Downey, California, to San Jose, California
  • Death: 27 Jun 2000 in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, California, USA
  • Cremation: Ashes scattered in Forestville, Michigan, USA, Delaware Township Cemetery

The 'Thumb' of Michigan, Nettie's birthplace
The "Thumb" of Michigan, Nettie's birthplace

Minden City, Michigan, small town with a promising future

(Content generated by Perplexity AI)

In 1906, when Nettie was born, Minden City was a modest Thumb‑area railroad village on the Port Huron and Northwestern line (later Pere Marquette), serving as a shipping point for lumber and farm products moving between the Lake Huron shore and larger markets.

Nettie’s father, Louis H. Riedel, a German immigrant who had first settled in the older lumber‑and‑farming community of Forestville on the lakeshore, chose to move his growing family inland from that dock‑oriented village to Minden City so his lumber business—and ultimately six children, with Nettie the next-to-last—could benefit from the more dependable, year‑round rail connection developing between the Thumb and Detroit.


Riedel 'Red House'
Riedel "Red House"

Shared Facts

  • Marriage: (Johan Nicolaas van Raaphorst) 05 Mar 1939, Minden City, Sanilac, USA
  • Children: 1 daughter, 1 son

John and Nan van Raaphorst, 1939
John and Nan van Raaphorst, 1939

Relationships

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